Ending Assured Tenancy Agreements FAQ

My tenants have been served with a section 21 notice and have vacated before their time is up, can I now legally take possesion of the property even though the 2 months is not up?

ANSWER 1: If the tenants have provided you with vacant possession, returned the keys, left no belongings in the property and preferably let you know in writing or verbally that they have vacated then they have done what you asked them to do and therefore you have possession. If they have not returned the keys, contacted you, left personal effects in the property etc then you have not got vacant possession and should wait until the expiry of the two months notice.

My Tenancy Agreement says I have to give my Landlord 4 months notice if I want to vacate the property (even after the fixed term). Is that valid/legal? I always thought it was 2 months notice, maximum.

ANSWER 1: No, that is not valid. You only have to give one's notice to your Landlord.

ANSWER 2: By law, the minimum notice a tenant can give to leave a property (assuming it is an AST) is one month. Any contract must comply within the confines of the law and cannot be legally binding if it contradicts what Statute or Common Law puts in place. Meaning you could choose to give just one month's notice to leave and this would be legally acceptable. Your landlord could state that you're in breach of contract on this one, but the law is clear.

On my tenancy agreement it says I need to give 2 months notice. What happens if i only want to give one month?

ANSWER 1: They'll most likely take a months rent out of your deposit. If your deposit is less than that they'll either pursue you for the difference or, if it's not that much, put it down to experience.

I have tenants in my property on a fixed term 12 month contract which ends soon. My tenants had told me that they were looking at staying long term but have now informed me in writing that they will be moving out asap. As there is now less that a week left before their contract ends. I have read that they do not have to give me any notice at all and can leave on the last day of their contract. I have also read that 30 days notice is standard. There is no mention of notice in my agreement which was drawn up by my letting agent. Which is correct?

ANSWER 1: Your tenant has given you due notice to quit. Quite decent of them to give you a weeks notice since your Tenancy Agreement didn't require any notice from them at all. They only need to give you notice if the tenancy rolls over onto a periodic tenancy. I recommend you get onto your agent and tell them to find you a new tenant pretty damn quickly unless you want a void period on your property.

We served our tenants with a section 21, the tenants told us that the section 21 wasn't valid as we had not protected their deposit in a Government based scheme (we were unaware of the scheme). Is it possible to put the money in this scheme now and serve them with another section 21, without getting into legal complications about protecting the deposit earlier?

ANSWER 1: You can secure the deposit now, and then you will have to serve another section 21 to make it valid. At the moment, legally, if you secure the deposit now, the tenant will no longer have grounds to prosecute you.

My tenant's contract ran out 3 month ago, how much notice do I have to give to get them out?

ANSWER 1: You need to give atleast 2 months notice using a S21(4)(a) notice.

I have an assured shorthold agreement with my tenant, there are 15 months left on this period. My personnal circumstancies have changed and dictate that I need to have my house back, what can I do?

ANSWER 1: Inform the tenant that you will require the property back. If they're nice enough they might just go but otherwise issue a section 21 (notice requiring possession) and if this runs out and they have still not left (after 2 months) then fill out a court form n5b which is a fast track possession order which takes 2 weeks.

Do I have to give written notice to my tenant to leave house if agreemnt is verbal and how long notice I should give

ANSWER 1: Yes, you must serve a section 21 notice (careful as there are 2 - one for in contract the other once it's rolled over to statutory and periodic). Serve at least 2 months before you want possession, prefereably by recorded delivery, keeping proof of posting.

I have one tenancy agreement for 3 individual tenants. One of them wants to move out. Do I have to bring the whole tenancy to an end and create a new one? What do I do?

ANSWER 1: You should create a new Tenancy Agreement, which should be signed with the remaining tenants. You will also need to inform the tenancy deposit company you are using of the changed situation.

Is a text message to terminate a tenancy agreement valid notice?

ANSWER 1: No it is not. In order to be legally served the noice must be sent by post or by fax. Email is not legally recognised as a method of serving notice (as yet).

I currently have a tenant in my property that I am renting, as the landlord I would like to to now move back into the property. The tenants are on a periodic tenancy, can they stop me moving back in and how much notice do I have to give them?

ANSWER 1: You need to give your tenant 2 months notice. You should serve a section 21 (notice to quit form).

What do I do if my tenant breaches a clause in the contract? Can I evict them?

ANSWER 1: There are only certain ways you can evict for breach of contract and these are covered under the section 8 proceedures. If your contract is deemed to be unfair then you will not be able to evict and may have costs given against you u the courts