Giving notice to landlord before moving

[Mellow Matt]

My girlfriend and I are hoping to move into our first purchased property in the next 2 months, but we have to give 2 months' notice to our landlord to terminate our current tenancy.

Ideally we'd like to give 2 months' notice exactly 2 months before we move into our new place, but we're a bit worried about what happens if our purchase falls through.

Is the best idea to give 2 months' notice now and hope that it all goes well, or should we wait until we're certain that everything is going to go OK, but then have to pay 2 months' rent?

We're a bit worried we'd be homeless if we've given notice and then have nowhere to move to!

[kiethton]

I would wait until everything is 100% sorted, it may even work out for the better and give you a couple of weeks to fully clean the new place and get any jobs out of the way before moving in?

[Sir Bagalot]

Are you sure it's 2 months? It's normally 1 month for tenants.

When did your tenancy start?

[raptor600]

Sir Bagalot said:

Are you sure it's 2 months? It's normally 1 month for tenants.

When did your tenancy start?

What's normal?

I'm sure the OP knows his own situation

[Mellow Matt]

Thanks for the ideas guys, but unfortunately it's definitely 2 months. We had a year's contract, but we've been extending it on a rolling 2 month basis.

If we wait until everything is 100% certain then we'll end up paying £1550 in unnecessary rent, which I'd obviously like to avoid.

I assume this type of thing a fairly regular occurrence, and was hoping that there was something we could do that we hadn't thought of; perhaps some arrangement that would be acceptable to us and our landlord which wouldn't end up with us either homeless or paying an extra £1.5k rent!

[surfymark]

You need to consider the Landlord here. They will want and really need to keep your place full. So you give him the two month's notice and he will look to fill the place before the end of the two months.

If you give the two months notice two months before moving in, then you do run the risk of being homeless but if the place has not filled by then you may be able to stay on a little longer.

I would suggest either get a backup plan (can you stay with your parents or some friends or something?) and give the two months notice early, or wait until the new place is ready and fork out for the extra two months in rent as your backup plan.

If you wait and give the notice later, you will also have a leisurely moving in time as opposed to being out of one and into the other on the same day.

Don't expect the Landlord to let you off the notice period rent due as more often than not, he won't be able to afford to and it is not fair to expect this.

HTH
M

[davel*]

Hi,

I'm currently in a very similar situation and there is case law (can't find it now) that states you only have to give 1 months notice.

The landlord has to give you two months notice if he serves notice to you but they can't do anything as long as you serve a months notice.

[e8_pack]

My advice, let him keep your bond as the last months rent.

Every landlord I've had has stiffed me with the bond. I was a perfect tenant, never missed a beat with rent, even shampooed the carpets with a rug doctor before I left and she still kept the bond.

You've been warned.

[surfymark]

e8_pack said:

My advice, let him keep your bond as the last months rent.

Every landlord I've had has stiffed me with the bond. I was a perfect tenant, never missed a beat with rent, even shampooed the carpets with a rug doctor before I left and she still kept the bond.

You've been warned.

This is terrible advice.

Firstly you have tarred all landlords with the same brush. I have never kept anyone's deposit in the five years I have been doing this.

Secondly, are you suggesting not giving notice at all? This could back-fire. You could be chased for the rent and the landlord may feel inclined to keep the bond as well (upset them and they may find things that have been damaged that may have been overlooked if you had been honest).

If you don't give notice at all then you never moved out. The potential bill if chased could run to much more than your deposit.

Also, you could be entered into one of the Landlord Registers which could mean problems in the future if you need to rent again. Plus if it goes as far as a CCJ, then that screws your credit for a long time.

Personally I feel what comes around goes around and act honestly and you won't have to worry about any comeback.

M

[Mellow Matt]

davel* said:

Hi,

I'm currently in a very similar situation and there is case law (can't find it now) that states you only have to give 1 months notice.

The landlord has to give you two months notice if he serves notice to you but they can't do anything as long as you serve a months notice.

That's interesting, but I'd feel a bit bad reneging on our agreement to give 2 months' notice each way!

I think we're probably just going to have to suck it up

[NerveAgent]

Dont do anything until you have exchanged. You are just going to have to budget to pay for the 2 months rent. If you get lucky, you will have a decent landlord who you can negotiate with after you have exchanged.

We were recently in a similar situation and had to pay 2 months rent as I don't think the agency even bothered to ask the landlord if he was willing to market it early

[e8_pack]

surfymark said:

This is terrible advice.

Firstly you have tarred all landlords with the same brush. I have never kept anyone's deposit in the five years I have been doing this.

Secondly, are you suggesting not giving notice at all? This could back-fire. You could be chased for the rent and the landlord may feel inclined to keep the bond as well (upset them and they may find things that have been damaged that may have been overlooked if you had been honest).

If you don't give notice at all then you never moved out. The potential bill if chased could run to much more than your deposit.

Also, you could be entered into one of the Landlord Registers which could mean problems in the future if you need to rent again. Plus if it goes as far as a CCJ, then that screws your credit for a long time.

Personally I feel what comes around goes around and act honestly and you won't have to worry about any comeback.

M

I didn't say don't give any notice. Notice is always one month. From my experience over countless landlords, the last being outwardly wealthy and me being the perfect tenant for 3 years, still kept my bond.

So if I ever found myself renting again they can have the last months notice and keep the bond. The houses are always perfect when i leave.

You are clearly the minority as far as bonds are concerned, my experience says otherwise. which is also backed by all the legislation protecting bonds but they still keep it where they can. Honesty and landlords are not words i'd put together, but that's just my experience.

Edited by e8_pack on Monday 12th November 17:18

Edited by e8_pack on Monday 12th November 17:21

[surveyor]

If your fixed term tenancy has expired and you are running month to month then the statutory notice period for you is 1 rent period - i.e. usually 1 month. Landlord must give 2. hth.