Extension of AST without my agreement

Tenant Discussion
1

Hi,

Apologies if this has been posted before. I ‘was’ in a joint tenancy (AST) with my friend. We activated the break clause in the contract, with the last day of our tenancy therefore being 7th September. She agreed to extend the tenancy to 18th September with the agent and landlord, however I wasn’t aware of this at the time. She has now not paid the rent that is due and I’m concerned that I am going to be held liable for this. I expressed to the agent that I didn’t know about this extension and that I have already left the property but they wouldn’t help at all. Just to clarify also, no new agreement was signed, I believe it has now rolled into what is called a Statutory Periodic Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement however this is all new for me. Am I liable for the rent if she doesn’t pay? Do I have any rights here as I didn’t agree to the extension?

Thanks
Mac

2

This is tricky as you are both required to leave at the end the lease, or both are held liable. The fact that she extended it behind your back is not the landlords problem in law, I would think. But if “you” stayed behind your leaving date it rolls into a periodic where you will need to give notice again.

However, the landlord will/would most likely take those days out of your deposit for the days you went over, unless you have caused him/her to loose a tenant. Then you’ll be liable for that.

3

There is no such thing as an extension to a tenancy. If you both served a valid notice then the tenancy ended on 7 September, and with it your liability for the rent. If the landlord agreed with the other tenant to let them stay on, then they have almost certainly created a new undocumented periodic tenancy with the other person alone. If you’re sure that the notice was valid and you moved out before mid-night on 7 Sept, then simply tell the landlord that your tenancy has ended and he has to take it up with the other person.

1 Like
4

I might be wrong, but do you have anything to back up that viewpoint?

However, doesn’t sound right as not only one tenant of two can move into a periodic and if one person stays beyond an AST both are liable

5

That’s true Per, but the difference here is they both gave notice, which assuming it’s valid, ends the tenancy, (unlike a landlords notice). Once served, the notice can’t be rescinded and the end of the tenancy becomes an inevitability. (See: Shelter Legal England - Tenant's notice to end a periodic tenancy or licence - Shelter England)

Once the tenancy ends, any letting to either tenant must therefore be a brand new tenancy. Its not just a periodic follow-on from the previous tenancy, although most landlords dont realise this and can get into difficulty by letting tenants stay on.

6

If the tenants gave notice and stayed extra days its very likely to have created a new ast. And at very least the landlord could ask for a entire months rent