The initial contract has one month and two weeks left now if I decide not to renew the contract. according to the contract I have to give two months notice , which means they will live two more weeks after the ending of the contract? This is a joint contract with 3 girls involved, now one of them told me she will leave in the middle of next month and said she has found the replacement as the other two would like to stay but I want them to go together. Now the situation become a bit complicated. I know if she leave the other two still have to pay for the rest of the term , how about the deposit? Obviously they paid together in one go. If I have to give them two month notice does it mean I can hold the deposit for the real end of the term?
Firstly, tenancies dont have to be renewed. When the fixed term ends, they just become periodic, usually month to month on the same terms. Thats almost always better for the landlord.
Secondly, the individual occupants are all effectively 1 tenant. Indivisable. One cant just leave, even at the end of the fixed term unless they all go. They cant serve a valid notice during the fixed term, so you need to let her know that her notice is of no legal effect. Once the fixed term ends, any one of them can serve notice which will end the tenancy for all of them. They must all then leave or sign a new tenancy agreement. If theyre re-signing you can specify the term and the rent as you wish. If they dont re-sign and just stay put they become tresspassers and can be removed with reasonable force. You should not do or say anything to suggest you are allowing this or you will likely create an undocumented tenancy and that could cause you problems.
Thirdly, 3 unrelated sharers means the property is an HMO. Have you checked whether your Council requires a licence?
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@David122 Out of interest, would creating a new tenancy in this scenario require the prescribed info, inventory, gas safe etc to be served again as you would with the first AST or can carry over? I know the deposit needs to be re-registered with the scheme.
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Thanks very much for the reply. I do have HMO licence from the local council.
If I give them two months notice following the contract that will go over the ending date, is it ok?
Creating a whole new tenancy with a new paperwork is certainly the cleanest way to do it Mark. It may be possible to assign the tenancy from one group to a second group, but I would worry ghat it could be challenged. It also doesnt really deal with ghe deposit issue.
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