Hi, tried to search for similar topics on this but couldn’t find a clear answer.
Our tenants gave us 2 month’s notice in the middle of their month (eg. Rental period starts on the 4th but they gave it on the 16th). We have always assumed that the notice would be 2 whole rental months, not the date in which the notice was given. The tenants are asking for a calculation of the remaining days for the last month. Is this normal?
Whether the notice is valid depends on what your tenancy agreement says. Assuming this is a periodic tenancy, (as no valid notice can be served during the fixed term), the default notice period is a minimum of 1 month expiring at the end of a tenancy period. If you have a 2 month notice period in your contract it may or may not be enforceable depending on the circumstances. If you have this, then unless ghe wording clearly requires the notice to run concurrent with the periods of the tenancy, then a bare 2 months notice is correct.
Thanks for the reply David. The tenants are still in their initial term of a 12 month contract. and are using the 6 month break clause. The contract is the standard OpenRent AST. Just to confirm, we just pro-rata the final months rent, is that standard practice?
Sorry it’s just a bit confusing since all our past tenants gave notice to the rental period. Also citizen advice seems to align with our thoughts.
Copy of excerpt from the above link
You can usually give notice at any time, unless you have a break clause or a tenancy agreement that says otherwise.
The notice you give has to end on the first or last day of your tenancy period.
If your tenancy period runs from the 4th of each month to the 3rd of the next month this would mean:
So your notice would have to end on either the 3rd or 4th of the month.
Theyre saying the same thing that I said. It depends on the wording of your agreement, but the default is that it aligns with a rental prriod.
Mutual Break Clause 12.6. The Initial Term of this tenancy agreement may be terminated by either party giving the other at least two months’ notice in writing, such notice not to expire until at least 6 months after the start of the Term. A notice served by the Landlord under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 shal be sufficient notice under this clause. The Tenant is obliged to pay rent up to and including the termination date, so if the tenancy is terminated on a date which is not the last day of a rental period, the rent due for any incomplete rental periods wil be apportioned accordingly.
Sorry, last point of clarification… does the wording here imply that the monthly rental term doesn’t need to be honoured?
I believe that is correct. As David122 already pointed out, it is much more clear cut for periodic tenancies. Whilst, during the term of an AST, the wording of the contract will dictate how rent after valid notice is calculated. In the case of the clause you show, I’d go with a straight 2 months. In reality, trying to squeeze a tenant for the remainder of the current rental period and then two months on top will only cause resentment and potential issues just before the tenant leaves. I had this situation not so long ago and as the tenant had been a ‘good tenant’ throughout, I just went with two months rent.
Now that you’ve reproduced the tenancy clause, I’m struggling to see where the confusion lies. Its spelt out that the notice can expire mid period and that rent is apportioned if it does.