I need your help regarding a misunderstanding with my letting agent/landlord.
Our tenancy agreement is a fixed-term AST from 5 November 2024 to 4 November 2025 (inclusive). We have confirmed that we will vacate and return keys on Tuesday, 4 November 2025, which is the last day of the fixed term.
However, the agent has responded stating that we must give two months’ notice to terminate the tenancy. From my understanding, this requirement applies only when a tenant wishes to leave before the fixed-term end date or during a periodic tenancy. Since we are leaving on the last day of the fixed term, no notice should be required, and rent is only due up to 4 November 2025.
Could you please confirm:
That we are correct in not needing to give notice when leaving at the end of the fixed term.
What steps we should take to ensure the check-out process, key return, and deposit refund are properly arranged.
I’d appreciate your clarification so this can be resolved quickly.
You should check your contract for the required notice period. Our standard AST states for tenants wishing to end the tenancy on or after the end of the fixed term:
12.2 The Tenant must give notice of no less than one month, such notice to expire the day before a Rent Payment Day or on the final day of the Initial Term.
Where you’re unsure, you should seek independent legal advice.
The check-out process should be arranged directly with the landlord/agent.
Thank you for your response. I’d like to clarify my situation further.
Around a month ago, the letting agent called me and said the landlord wanted to sell the property and therefore would not be renewing the tenancy when it ended.
Later, the same agent told me on another call that the landlord had changed their mind and wanted to renew, but only if I paid 3 months’ rent upfront.
After considering this, I told the agent that I did not want to renew and would vacate at the end of the fixed term (4 November 2025).
The agent has now come back to say that I should have given 2 months’ notice in line with the tenancy agreement.
From my understanding, notice is only required if the tenant wants to leave before the fixed term ends, or during a periodic tenancy. Since I am leaving on the final day of the fixed term, no notice should be necessary, and the tenancy will naturally end at that point.
Could you please confirm if my understanding is correct in this case?
My understanding is that the only day that a tenant can leave a tenancy with no notice is the last day of a fixed term. The letting agent does not seem to be aware of this exception.
However, the RRA may muddy the waters on this because it effectively does away with fixed terms.
What precisely does your AST say in regard to giving notice during the fixed term?
Thanks for your reply. I’ve now checked my AST. Under the Special Tenancy Conditions (clause 8.1.1) it says:
“Should either party wish to terminate the Tenancy, it is agreed that the Tenant must serve a minimum of 2 months’ advance written notice… The tenancy must not expire within the first 12 months of the Tenancy commencement date.”
This seems to go further than the usual position, where tenants are not expected to give notice if they are leaving on the final day of a fixed term.
I’d be grateful if you could confirm whether this contractual clause is enforceable in practice, given that the statutory position is that no notice is usually needed on the last day of a fixed term.
I haven’t called any shelter helpline yet. I am still trying to understand the situation.
My fixed-term tenancy runs from 5 Nov 2024 to 4 Nov 2025. I’ve told the agent I will be moving out on the final day of the fixed term. The agent says I should have given 2 months’ notice under a special clause in the tenancy agreement, and they also said the landlord might keep my deposit because of this.
Can the landlord lawfully withhold my deposit in this situation?
I think you are right, but you’ll need some legal advice if you want to check that understanding, and fight the agents decision.
You could move out on 4th November, and then fight any deduction from the deposit, via the deposit agency. If the agent loses this, they will likely give up trying to collect additional rent.
Of course, the other view is…. you agreed to this. You were obviously happy with this arrangement at the time, so you should honor your agreement.
It all depends on the type of tenancy agreement you have. If its a regular fixed term tenancy that ends on expiry then you are quite right that you can leave without notice on or before the last day of the tenancy. If you have a Contractual Periodic Tenancy, then you will have to give notice to end it in line with the contract, even if you wish to leave on the last day. You need to check the terms of the agreement to see what it says under the termination clause. In particular, if it says that at the end of the fixed term the tenancy continues on a periodic basis until ended and/or it mentions contractual periodic anywhere in there, then I’m afraid the agent is correct.
This is what the standard OR AST says at 12.2. It says “on or after final day of initial term…the tenant must give notice of no less than one month” so irrespective of whether a further custom clause says 2 months and is enforceable, you have also agreed to at least one month if wishing to end on the final day, if this is in your contract (and OR don’t allow these clauses to be amended by LLs).
I’d assume @mod_harry and OR support think that clause 12.2 is legally enforceable otherwise either it wouldn’t have passed the OR legal team or OR are misleading us when they say they use the most up to date legal case law etc to make sure their standard contract is legal and enforceable and that’s why they won’t sign off anybody else’s custom clauses. Perhaps @mod_harry can confirm after checking with OR legal that all of 12.2 is enforceable including the need to give a month’s notice even on final day.
I’d suggest check asap with legal experts but maybe assume it is legally enforceable and follow the process for giving a months notice asap, in case. You don’t want to be still legally arguing in another month’s time about rent arrears and have to give a months notice then plus arrears, costs of recovery etc.
Up to you but worth considering biting the bullet and fessing up to yourself that you signed a contract saying notice needed even if you didn’t read it properly at the time and left it too late to give notice in time for your desired departure date. Trying to wriggle out on a technicality might be legal but is (and I accept this is subjective) ethically dubious. Remember LL has bills to pay too.
