I’m a landlord and have a tenant on a 12m AST fixed term tenancy. There is a break clause within the contract after 4 months with minimum 2 months notice and I use Openrents RentNow facility for rent collection. So recently I was noticed by the tenant that they are going to leave due to a new job that his partner has got and that they are going to leave in 3 days. I informed them that is not acceptable in that you haven’t given any written notice which has to be in writing. He said he didn’t know about it and a new job came about and he needs to start the new job in a weeks time. He already has shifted half his things from the house. We are in month 8 of the AST contract.
As a landlord I lose out obviously and 24th of every month is when the new rent period start so its quite likely he won’t pay. I do have his one month deposit which Open rent have in a deposit scheme but even then he hasn’t given notice. What options do I have available?
They may have vacated the property, but until they give the correct notice and the tenancy is terminated, they are liable to continue to pay the agreed rent payments.
The Open Rent AST contract stipulates that the tenant must give minimum at least 2 months notice in writing after 4 months. The tenant has not provided any written notice only verbally although I did follow it up in writing to him that he needs to give notice in writing and the steps that follow after that. He never responded to date. If they just leave over the next few days what options do I have given that they have already moved some things and he states he will start new job next week in north of england?
Your only remedies are through legal services. If you don’t have the tenant’s contact details at the new address or place of employment you may need to employ a search agent. You can apply to the deposit holder to claim the deposit against unpaid rent once you have evidence that the tenant has left your property and that there is clear evidence that it is unlikely you will recieve any further rent for the fixed term of your tenancy. Take care to stipulate within your claim if any portion that is for damage to your property/fixtures.
2 months notice minumum. The tenant left today and left the keys under the wheelie bin in front of house. They are not reachable over the phone anymore. I had a feeling this would happen. I do have his current employers address though he has changed jobs now, not sure if that makes any difference and I have no idea where they have gone.
Why would the 2 month notice not be valid? If the landlord tried to evict the tenant with less than 2 months notice then all the rules of the law apply but if the tenant fobs the landlord then nothing applies.
The common law notice period for a tenants Notice to Quit is a minimum of 1 month expiring at the end of a tenancy period. If the landlord issues a contractual tenancy, they may be able to vary this to 2 months, (although still commonly challenged), but with a regular fixed term tenancy, a 2 month notice requirement is likely to be regarded as an unfair contract term.
If this is the case I’d like to know why OpenRent states a 2 month notice period in their standard contract which should be a legally binding document? Maybe someone from OpenRebt could comment?
Open rent AST contract specifies minimum 2 months notice from the tenant if they wish to exercise the break clause with the AST contract that I have. The periodic tenancy only kicks in after the fixed term period has lapsed, i.e. after 12 months.
Would the two months notice be considered legally fair if it applies equally to the tenant and landlord if there is a break clause during the fixed term? ie. during 12 month fixed term (monthly rent in advance) with break at month 6, notice can be given by either party no earlier than the rent payment date of rent month 4 and becomes unnecessary from the tenant any time after the beginning of rent month 10 if the tenant is planning on leaving on the last day of rent month 12. However, the landlord can given notice right up until the end of rent month 12 - but would be foolish to serve notice after commencement of rent month 12 as can serve shorter notice of 1 month at end of rent month 12 if it looks like the tenancy is going periodic. I appreciate that once the tenancy becomes periodic, it is easier all round that that the minimum reciprocal notice period matches the periodicity of rent payment irrespective of whether the tenancy has become statutory or contractual period.
There is no point in having a 12 month tenancy with a 6 month break clause. You might as well have a 6 month tenancy and then let it go periodic. It achieves the same thing, but is cleaner and less risky.