We were served a Section 21 (1) (b) Notice Requiring Possession at the very beginning of our tenancy (made us feel very welcome!), but the LLs have decided to sell the property, so they suggested the tenancy would go onto a rolling tenancy upon the expiry of our term. However, we do not have this (alternative) suggestion in writing, and the period has not yet expired, so there have been no rent payments on the new basis (which would, we suppose, create a contract).
We have been looking for a new house since spring (when the LLs informed us of their plans), and have finally found something, which we can move into in just over a month. We are keen to do this, too, as I am pregnant, and don't want to be packing and moving boxes while further along.
We are now ready to give notice tomorrow, and are trying to work out what sort of notice we have to give.
- Does the Section 21 (1) (b) notice have to be formally revoked, for the presumption of continuation mentioned above? (Or are we too late with this?) Shelter's information on this only says, "If you know you want to leave at the end of the fixed-term it is best to give the landlord notice."
- We did have a break clause in the contract, which required both sides to give two months' notice to break the contract. However, is two months the notice period we are tied to in any rolling contract, or is it one month? Nothing has been specified about the length of notice. Naturally, we would rather pay one month rather than two months' extra! And we didn't want to give notice any earlier, because we were having a hard time finding something suitable, not too expensive (rents are getting to extortionate levels...), and rental properties kept being let before we could have our viewings.
I know that we sound very cold and unaccommodating in this post; the relationship with the LLs has not been the easiest, and we still bear a grudge (not acted upon) for the length of time they left us hanging after we paid our deposit and did all the reference-checking business, before deigning to produce and sign our contract. They also refused to repair a very draughty floor, telling us we could do it if we wanted, but "it's not something we would fund".
Many thanks in advance for any advice you can offer on this. We only secured the new house on Friday (though contract not yet signed), so were planning to give notice on Monday.
P.S. I know this is a public forum, so have namechanged, in case someone who knows the LLs informs them of this and causes hard feelings on their side, as well as our hard feelings!