Given notice to leave tenancy, no response from landlord

jackieblack

Short version: My daughter and son-in-law have emailed their landlord, giving notice to end their tenancy. Their landlord has not responded. What should they do?

Longer version: My daughter and son-in-law have rented the home for 5 years and the landlord has always been difficult to contact and rarely responds - the last time they heard from him was 3 years ago when he emailed them to ask which of his bank accounts they were paying their rent into and whenever they’ve had a problem, eg when the boiler broke down, they’ve ended up having to contact the company the landlord uses directly to get it sorted. They only have an email address for him. They think he lives in the same general area (neighbours have seen him around) but don’t know where. When they took the tenancy originally it was via a letting agent, but have been paying their rent directly to the landlord and have had no contact with the agent since.

The notice period according to the lease is one complete rental month, their rent is due on 17th, so they have given notice to end the tenancy on 16th December. They are no longer living at the house but are still moving stuff out and then need to do a proper clean, shampoo carpets etc. 

They assume they will need to pay one more month’s rent on 16th November. But they are wondering what they should do about surrendering the keys and their deposit. They are assuming the landlord (if he ever even reads their email) will be difficult and find a reason not to return their deposit.

Any advice please?

TIA

marcia_

jackieblack said:

Short version: My daughter and son-in-law have emailed their landlord, giving notice to end their tenancy. Their landlord has not responded. What should they do?

Longer version: My daughter and son-in-law have rented the home for 5 years and the landlord has always been difficult to contact and rarely responds - the last time they heard from him was 3 years ago when he emailed them to ask which of his bank accounts they were paying their rent into and whenever they’ve had a problem, eg when the boiler broke down, they’ve ended up having to contact the company the landlord uses directly to get it sorted. They only have an email address for him. They think he lives in the same general area (neighbours have seen him around) but don’t know where. When they took the tenancy originally it was via a letting agent, but have been paying their rent directly to the landlord and have had no contact with the agent since.

The notice period according to the lease is one complete rental month, their rent is due on 17th, so they have given notice to end the tenancy on 16th December. They are no longer living at the house but are still moving stuff out and then need to do a proper clean, shampoo carpets etc. 

They assume they will need to pay one more month’s rent on 16th November. But they are wondering what they should do about surrendering the keys and their deposit. They are assuming the landlord (if he ever even reads their email) will be difficult and find a reason not to return their deposit.

Any advice please?

TIA

 Do nothing, landlords issue if he is not reading or ignoring emails . Pay rent when due and leave on the date the notice runs out. Ensure they have scrubbed the house and fixed and repairs they caused. Take lots of photos in case of dispute with the landlord. Claim deposit back through the agency it is protected by if the landlord continues to ignore emails 

anselld

Notice should be served in the form specified in the tenancy agreement “address for serving notices”.  That *might* include email but more often is a postal address which would imply posting a letter. (First class, retain proof of posting)

swingaloo

Definitely safer to send notice by post. The landlord may no longer use the email and may not have seen the notice. 

Can they not speak to the letting agent they signed the tenancy with? 

user1977

I also wouldn't be confident that service by email is competent, and they should have taken more steps to find a postal address (which they're entitled to).

Chief_of_Staffy

Pretty much the first reply. And they've not had contact in three years? Has he performed the annual gas safety check on the boiler? If not he's committed a crime that attracts penalties of 6 months in jail and a £6000 fine. Perhaps he should be reminded of this if he doesn't return the deposit immediately.

Smalltownhypocrite

There tenancy and their deposit protection scheme (which should be on the tenancy) needs to fully confirm both sides of the contracts full contact details. It should have his address on there.

Tabieth

As long as they’ve given notice in the way specified in the tenancy agreement, they have nothing to worry about. (They should check that as it’s often a letter). 

I moved out of my rental flat in March. The management company weren’t great at responding and so I sent the letter via Royal Mail signed for delivery. So I had proof it had been received.