When should I give notice for leaving a rental property when I've just had a mortgage approval

Jkvism

I was wondering when the best time is to give notice to the letting agent that we will be leaving the property. We have had our mortgage approval this week and want to be honest with the agents. However they are not the easiest to deal with, and are concerned if something where to fall through we might be stuck with nowhere to live. 

FlyMeSomewhere79

Wait until you're at exchange and completion stage, my buyers are in rented and back in Jan we all agreed Feb 23rd so they could give their landlord a month's notice amongst other things.

And even then their solicitor has blown our completion date back by probably almost two weeks by the looks because of mistakes the solicitor made so it's a bit of a balancing act.

user1977

Not until you've exchanged.

Zoe02

Read the contract how long is the notice period required?

Safe bet is once you have exchanged but how long will it be between exchange and actually moving? could be a month in that case you pay a month's rent.

As a landlord having as much notice as possible helps but then you will need a roof over your head. 

RHemmings

I gave notice immediately completion happened. I wish I had been bolder and given notice earlier. But, that's in hindsight knowing that completion happened. 

Today is my last day of overlap. It has been an expensive month.

Plan B for me if I had given notice earlier and things fallen though woild have been to go into an AirBnB or similar and put stuff in storage. 

eddddy

You would give notice when you've exchanged contacts.


Is the issue that you don't want to have an overlap where you have to pay rent on the current property and mortgage payments on the new property?

If so, you can propose your terms for exchange and completion. For example, if you want no overlap at all, you could propose something like:

You require at least 1 calendar month between exchange and completion, and completion must occur on the 12th of a month.


But that might not suit your seller and/or everyone else in the chain. So everyone might have to negotiate and find a compromise. (e.g. maybe you compromise and agree to 2 or 3 weeks between exchange and completion.)

Robbo66

Only once you have exchanged contracts

Jkvism

eddddy said:

You would give notice when you've exchanged contacts.


Is the issue that you don't want to have an overlap where you have to pay rent on the current property and mortgage payments on the new property?

If so, you can propose your terms for exchange and completion. For example, if you want no overlap at all, you could propose something like:

You require at least 1 calendar month between exchange and completion, and completion must occur on the 12th of a month.


But that might not suit your seller and/or everyone else in the chain. So everyone might have to negotiate and find a compromise. (e.g. maybe you compromise and agree to 2 or 3 weeks between exchange and completion.)

We wanted a weeks overlap to allow us some time to decorate before moving in. But ideally don't want longer than that. We're all new to the mortgage process so not sure how we even find out when you may be able to exchange 

theartfullodger

Your notice is that you are ending the tenancy, rather than just leaving.  Just leaving does not end tenancy nor end your liability for rent.

see
https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/private_renting/ending_a_periodic_tenancy/where_to_send_your_notice

Take LOADS of photos , ideally date-stamped or with witness for when landlord tries to hold onto part of deposit.

propertyrental

Assuming England then

* don't serve notice till you've exchanged contracts on the purchase

* check the notice period required: in a fixed term, tenancy cannot end before the fixed term ends unless there's a 'Break Clause'; in a Statutory Periodic Tenancy, it's 1 full tenancy period; in a Contractual PT it's whatever the tenancy agreement says

* agree what gap you (and your seller's) want between Exchange and Completion. This can be the same day, or a week or even a month apart

eddddy

Jkvism said:

We wanted a weeks overlap to allow us some time to decorate before moving in. But ideally don't want longer than that. We're all new to the mortgage process so not sure how we even find out when you may be able to exchange 

You're ready to exchange when you have your mortgage offer and your solicitor has done all the legal stuff.

You can ask your solicitor when that is likely to be. But, for example, if your solicitor is waiting for replies from other people, your solicitor won't be able to guess when the replies will come.


But is there a chain above you? (For example, is your seller buying somewhere else to live?)

If so, you have to wait for everyone in the chain to be ready to exchange. For example, you might be ready to exchange tomorrow, but if somebody else in the chain won't be ready for 2 weeks, you have to wait for them.


A good estate agent should be monitoring what's happening all along the chain. So maybe call the estate agent to see what they can tell you.


If you want to propose any terms for exchange and completion, you should probably do it now. For example, you might want 3 weeks between exchange and completion; or you don't want completion to happen while you're on holiday; etc.

Tell your terms to the estate agent and your solicitor - but as I say, you might have to compromise if others in the chain don't like your terms.