rental advice (bit of a long one)

wendy_ann1983

All advicgreatly appreciated

Last September my I went ot view a flat, it seemed perfect for me and my OH so i put down a holding fee, my oH came to see it, liked it and we put down a deposit, then we found out from a friend that there is a club underneath it, but the flats are new builds so they must have taken noise into consideration as the club was there first so we went ahead with the move. That weekend we realised how wrong we had been about the noise and after doing some research online we found out that the club, the residents and the council are in a legal battle over noise but we decided to stick it out (didn't have much choice didn't have time or money to move again) some weekends are ok then others are so bad i just can't sleep (OH is gone as soon as head hits the pillow and doesn't hear a thing) I called the council the other week, they came out and asked them to turn the music down but 10min later it went back up, i'm now at the end of my tether.

Its only a 6 month contract that is up at the end of March but I just re read a letter they sent about the contract ending and it says that if i dont reply within 14 days it will continue as a rolling contract and we will have to give two months notice to leave. 14 days are now definatley gone and 2 months would mean sometime in april, i dont know if i can cope that long (i know i should read letters more carefully) does anyone think that the fact they didnt tell us about the club and the noise give us reason to break contract early as i think i may have found a new flat (no clubs near by)

thanks again

wendy_ann1983

have managed to get through to the local CAB office and he said that i may be able to say that they breached their contract by not telling us about the club so will try that.

Doozergirl

You're confused.

You can leave on the very last day of your contract without giving notice.

If you stay one day past that, you go onto a rolling or 'Periodic' tenancy where you then have to give notice. Your letter is a standard one where they assume you are not wanting to renew the tenancy for a fixed period if you do not reply.

It is, of course, polite to give your LL as much notice as possible, but as long as you leave by the last day of your existing tenancy, there is no obligation to give notice at all. It's time to start looking for somewhere else already

wendy_ann1983

Thanks, I'm not very good with contracts and things the words just get all jumbled.

I'm going to look at a flat at 3pm today looks really nice. Just hope the CAB guy was right and I can get out by saying they breached their contract and they don't try and charge us extra, if the flat is good then i'll go and battle it out 2mo, fingers crossed.

Debt_Free_Chick

Just to confirm Doozer's advice.

Your contract tells you that you can rent the flat for "the fixed term". This should be stated in the agreement, but will be six months from the start of the agreement - again, the start date is in the agreement. If you post the exact date, we can confirm this. But if we assume that the agreement started on 1 October 2007, then the fixed term ends on 31 March 2008. If the agreement started on 31 October 2007, then the fixed term ends on 30 March 2008. As you can see, it's vital that you get the dates right, so please post the start date of the agreement and the fixed term if you're not sure.

So ... you have agreement to occupy the property for the fixed term. At the end of the fixed term, you have no right to stay. However, if the Landlord offers you a new agreement, you can stay for the fixed term stated in that new agreement. If the Landlord does not offer you a new agreement and does not issue you with a notice of repossession (i.e. that he intends to repossess and that you must get out), then whilst you have no agreement to stay, you have no notice to get out. So you stay ... and your current agreement then becomes a "statutory periodic tenancy" (SPT). This means that the law gives you the right to remain in the property, even though the old agreement has expired.

If you go on to a SPT (which only starts when the current agreement ends and assumes you have no new agreement and no notice from the landlord), then your right to vacate is governed by "statute" (hence, a Statutory Periodic Tenancy). Stature (law, in other words) states that you need only give one month's notice to the landlord if you want to move out. But be careful here ... the month must run for a rent period. Again, this is usually stated in the (current) agreement but it's often the date the rent is due. So if your rent is due to be paid on the 30th day of each month, your one month's notice would start on the 30th day of one month and run to the 29th day of the following month. So, if you gave notice in April, you can write the letter on any day in April, but the notice period would start on 30 April and you would need to be out by 29 May.

However ... currently ... you can simply move out when the fixed term under the current agreement expires. You have no obligation to give any notice, but it would be polite to do so.

HTH

Debt_Free_Chick

wendy_ann1983 wrote: »

Thanks, I'm not very good with contracts and things the words just get all jumbled.

I'm going to look at a flat at 3pm today looks really nice. Just hope the CAB guy was right and I can get out by saying they breached their contract and they don't try and charge us extra, if the flat is good then i'll go and battle it out 2mo, fingers crossed.

There is no need to declare or prove a breach of contract. You have to leave at the end of the fixed term stated in the current agreement, unless the landlord issues you with a notice of repossession. He can do this now, but it will run for two months.

Are you sure you haven't received a notice of repossession? Does the term "Section 21 of Housing Act 1986 or 1998" appear in any correspondence?

wendy_ann1983

the contract runs from six months from 21st september 2007, was hoping to move out before end of 6 months as the noise is really getting to me. (club is ground floor, im on 3rd floor and can still clearly hear the club, there someone living below me, god knows how they put up with it)

wendy_ann1983

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

Are you sure you haven't received a notice of repossession? Does the term "Section 21 of Housing Act 1986 or 1998" appear in any correspondence?

no nothing like that, just a tenancy renewal slip

Debt_Free_Chick

wendy_ann1983 wrote: »

the contract runs from six months from 21st september 2007, was hoping to move out before end of 6 months as the noise is really getting to me.

A standard Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement would run for 6 months, meaning you have no right to remain after 20 March.

Just check that your agreement states "Assured Shorthold Tenancy" and does it refer to a "fixed term" or any other date?

Debt_Free_Chick

wendy_ann1983 wrote: »

no nothing like that, just a tenancy renewal slip

Never heard of this! (and neither has Google).

Are you in England?

What, exactly, does this "slip" say?

wendy_ann1983

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

Never heard of this! (and neither has Google).

Are you in England?

What, exactly, does this "slip" say?

its a letter from the letting agents that states

"Dear xxx
YOur tenancy agreeement is due to expire shortly, please complete and return this slip in the reply paid envelope within the next 14 days (bit i didnt read)

expiry date of current tenancy 21 march 2008 (?? thought it was the 20th)

[] please renew the tenancy for a further 6/12 months
[]please continue the tenancy on a statutory periodic basis
[] i do not wish to renew and give notice to end the tenancy on... or at the end of any required notice period

if we do not hear from you we will pressume that you would like the tenancy to continue as a statutory periodic tenancy



contract is assured shorthold tenancy