understanding contract

Agusya

I have been renting a flat for 6 months and about to sign long term contract , rolling type. So it would be for a year initially and then just rolling from then.  Does it mean I must stay here for a year , cant give a notice if lets say I need to end the agreement? And then after a year I can give a notice if I need to. Or I can give a notice within that 1st year as normal? thanks

sammyjammy

Unless the 12month contract has a break clause in it then yes you are liable for rent for 12 months minimum, if you've just come out of a six month fixed term just tell them you'd rather go rolling now than sign up again (if thats what you want to do but remember that means they can give you two months notice at any stage).

PRAISETHESUN

At the end of your current fixed term (ie. the initial 6 months) your TA will automatically convert to a periodic (rolling) tenancy. This is enshrined in law and your LL cannot stop this from happening. The terms of the periodic tenancy will either be defined in your current TA, or by statute if there's nothing in your TA. There's no legal requirement for you to sign a new TA if you don't want to, so you would move onto a periodic tenancy by default unless you sign a new agreement.

Otherwise, you will be bound by any conditions in the new contract you sign. Without a break clause you would be liable for the entire 12 month period, unless you can agree mutual surrender with your LL - but there is no legal requirement for them to agree to this. After the 12 month fixed period, you would move onto another periodic tenancy, and would be able to leave with shorter notice same as you would above with the 6 month agreement.

propertyrental

As explained above.

For more detail (and assuming this is England!), see

Post 4: Ending/renewing an AST: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?