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Question Title: Notice period
| Question: 63 |
| It is my understanding that, should a landlord wish to end an assured shorthold tenancy, he should give the tenant at least two months' notice. The tenant is then obliged to comply with this notice and vacate the property on or before the date that the notice is due to expire. What then if, following service of the landlord's notice, the tenant finds alternative accommodation ? We have a prospective tenant who has a periodic tenancy and has been served with a s.21 notice by her current landlord. This notice is due to expire in six weeks and the tenant wishes to rent a property under our management but, her present managing agents are insisting that she provide a full month's notice or they propose to withhold her deposit in lieu of notice.
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| Answer: |
| In this situation, the tenant is entitled to serve a counter notice to terminate the tenancy but the tenant MUST still provide at least one month's written notice (unless there is break clause or similar termination provision in the tenancy agreement which specifies an alternative notice period) to the landlord prior to vacating the property (s.5, Protection from Eviction Act 1977). Also, to be validly served, the tenant's notice to quit must be dated to expire on the first or last day of a period of the tenancy (common law requirement). If the tenant does not follow the statutory notice requirement, the tenant will be in breach of the tenancy agreement and the managing agents may be within their rights to retain part of her deposit.
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References:
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Pages:
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Hyperlinks:
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Letting Handbook |
Chapter 12 |
letting-handbook-and-factsheets.html
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