Hi,
I need to move back into my property and my tenant and I have agreed that he will move out on 25th November even though I offered 25th December which would have been 2 and a half months. He said he wanted 25th November to get sorted before Christmas. Fine with me.
However I am unable to serve official notice as it is less than 2 months even though that’s what we have both agreed. What can I do?
TIA
You can end a tenancy by mutual agreement at any point. The notice period is there to protect both parties, but if you have an agreement (and ideally written evidence so this can’t come back to bite you) then you can just end the tenancy in November.
But it doesn’t let me do it officially, as it says it’s less than 2 Months.
what is the “it”? you mean open rent
Ending a tenancy by mutual agreement is different to serving a Section 21. Get the agreement in writing and go to your tenancy page on OpenRent, at the bottom of the page there will be some end of tenancy options. You’ll be able to set the end date of the tenancy as a date in the future.
Edit - looks like OpenRent has some content on surrendering a tenancy: https://help.openrent.co.uk/hc/en-gb/articles/4410491523857-How-Can-a-Tenant-End-Their-Tenancy-Early
Both of you fill in a ‘Surrender of Tenancy’ form on the day they leave as they actually have a legally binding active tenancy to the end of the term unless they ‘surrender’ their rights. I believe it needs witnessing and signing by someone not related to LL or T to be a water-tight document. info on Openrent.
The official end of tenancy. It has sent the email to tenants to inform them but I haven’t completed the official bit. The section 21 I guess. Open rent said what I have done so far isn’t the official end of tenancy
What you have done on Openrent is just an administrative step, and does not end the tenancy.
You either issue a Section 21, and give the required period of notice, or you mutually agree with your tenant to end the tenancy sooner, in which case you will both need to sign a legal surrender.
I suggest you issue a valid Section 21 notice, and then if your tenant wants to leave sooner, he can serve his own notice to end the tenancy agreement earlier, or you can both sign a surrender when he leaves to end the tenancy agreement at that time.
… nor will this end the tenancy, but it will allow you to begin the lengthy legal process of ending the tenancy if the tenant does not leave.
I think this is what I will need to do. Open rent haven’t been that helpful. So there is no way to officially end a tenancy apart from section 21? I’m confused as some are saying that doesn’t end it either. 
A Section 21 gives notice to a tenant to move out. If they don’t move out, the contract rolls on (ie it does not end). You’d need to evict via the courts to end the contract.
You have chosen to self-manage your property. This is what Openrent is for. If you need advice etc, consult others. Its not Openrent job to advise you.
Because you apparently have the tenant’s agreement, what you need to do is get a Deed of Surrender drawn up and signed by you and the tenant and a witness to those signatures. Because this is a legally binding document, it’s worth getting a solicitor to create this for you if you’ve no experience doing it yourself.
You don’t need to issue a S21 if you both agree to the tenancy ending early.
I agree. Its worth adding that a deed of surrender should not be signed/witnessed until the moment the tenant is leaving.
Also that you dont have any unilateral right to end the tenancy at this stage Michelle53, it has to be by mutual agreement, so needs sensitive handling.
I’m going to just do the section 21 notice with the extra time on. I’m not in the country to do the Deed of surrender. I think it’s the easiest way forward. And I’m covered if the worst should happen.
Thank you all for the comments, after a further week in the property the tenants did leave.
Thank you all
This is why I suggested issuing the Section 21 now, as this is back-up for if the tenant changes his mind, and doesn’t want to sign a deed of surrender further down the line.
The s21 would need to be for the full two months plus extra days for postal delivery. Michelle could then verbally agree that the tenant could leave before the notice expires.
Get a template off the internet for a “surrender of an AST lease”. Very easy and very simple form.
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