A quick question, my tenants gave their one month notice on the 25th Feb, I assume they have to vacate a month from then (i.e 25th March)? Or do they have the right to stay a few days more taking them to the day before the new month’s rent is due (i.e 31st March). I don’t mind the latter, I am just not clear about the legal position.
The usual notice period is a minimum of one month ending on the last day of the rental period. In your case your tenants have given you notice in 25th Feb which is several days additional to the minimum requirement.
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Thank you for clarifying Chris.
Based on what you’ve said, they should leave before the 31st.
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Unless they specified the correct end date, their notice is likely invalid. You can make it valid by replying in writing and accepting it and specifying the end date yourself. You should agree this with them verbally beforehand.
Is giving a specific date a legal requirement? If a tenant says they give notice then automatically, under the terms of the contract, isn’t that notice period already specified?
It depends on the wording of the notice.
Could you elaborate?
Usually the notices I receive are emails or letters that simply say, “we’d like to give you notice we’re leaving the property” Then we confirm the date they can leave.
The date doesnt need to be in the notice for it to be valid does it?
If the TA spells out the notice requirement, then a tenants notice could simply say Im serving my notice which will be the duration required by the contract. If the TA is silent on tenants notice then the common law position is a minimum of one month notice ending on the last or first day of a tenancy period. Therefore a notice which is dated and simply says I hereby give my one month notice may be deemed invalid as the tenants intended end date is not clear.
Thanks for the useful info. The TA doesn’t know what she is doing and sent a very obscure email. I have now stated a one month notice, ending the last day of the tenancy period.
I’ve had this too, where I’ve had to go back to the tenant 3 times to get them to re-word a notice to quit so that its clear. In addition to specifying the correct dates, the wording must be unequivocal. So “we are thinking of leaving” or even “we would like to leave” would probably be invalid.
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Its quite clear, its a minimum of one month and can be any length above that. If specified.
It does not have to end on any specific day unless it is coming at the end of the fixed period of the contract.
Best thing is to talk to the tenant to check date they plan to move out and being flexible is always helpful. If that’s less than a month tenant is liable for the month unless you get a new tenant to cover it or if you agree otherwise
I think you’re talking about your own specific tenancy agreement Chris50. Most tenancies are still fixed term with no contract clauses covering tenant notice and in that case the tenant would not be able to serve notice at all during the fixed term. They could serve notice if and when the tenancy becomes statutory periodic, but this would have to end on the last or first day of a tenancy period.
All my tenancy agreements started fixed term and are now periodic. Yes you are right in the contract it states it.
But in practice its whatever the two parties agree that will overide the contractual duty.
I have always accepted a 1month notice and worked on that or an agreed date.
If you use the Openrent tenancy agreement then I think you’ll find its contractual periodic from the start with a variable initial term.
A tenants notice is usually either valid or its not. If its invalid then it can sometimes be made valid by both parties formally accepting it. However, if this doesn’t happen, the tenant could later withdraw it. If it is a joint tenancy, then an invalid notice can’t be made valid without the consent of all tenants.
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Well actually, in practice no one cares what you do unless the T fails to uphold whatever has already been agreed. At that point you need valid notices based on a valid contract so that legally the T can be shown to be in breach of the very contractual duty your comment seems to downplay the importance of.
Yes that’s it, the contract is a failsafe when both parties can’t agree a reasonable outcome acceptable by both.
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I don’t think there are any hard and fast rules on this issue but a month notice is normally required.
I have in the past calculated an accurate daily rental rate and charged this accordingly where a tenant has given notice mid month or needs to stay a few days more. The great bargaining chip with a tenant notice is for them to grant easy access for new viewings.
However I do think that the notice periods on both sides should be levelled up as Landlords have to provide a minimum of two months notice and tenants should be made to do the same unless otherwise agreed.
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| 6.1 | If the Tenancy has lapsed into a periodic tenancy it may be terminated by: |
|---|---|
| … | |
| (b) | the Tenant giving written notice of at least one month and expiring on the last day of a period of the tenancy. |
That clause specifies when the exact date when the notice period will end and, if it isn’t entirely satisfactory, I’d be grateful if someone can point that out to the govt who wrote it.
Most agreements state that when a tenant gives a month’s notice, that month commences on the date of renewal. ie: If the tenancy rent period runs from the 10th and they give notice on the 15th, that month’s notice begins on the 10th of the following month. An entire month’s rent is always due.
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