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What to write in a letter to landlord saying I am overstaying my lease?

9 replies

ninjanurse · 05/04/2013 12:03

I wrote about my dilemma a month or so ago. Basically the story is:

I made an offer on a house at the beginning of March, it now looks likely we will complete mid/end May. My lease on my rented house is up on 25th April. I explained my situation to the landlord and that I didnt want to sign another 12 month lease due to my buying a house and asked if I could go on a periodic month by month contract. The landlord refused and basically wants me to sign a 12 month contract or leave on the 25th April. Ive looked into all the legalities and understand I can stay and all the landlord can do is serve with me with notice, then I can give one months notice when I will be leaving. The landlord is now bombarding me with emails and phone calls regarding the contracts being returned.

I know I need to acknowledge this and state what I am going to do but I dont know how to word it in a letter. Can anyone please advise???

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lougle · 05/04/2013 12:32

Has the Landlord issued you with a Section 21 notice yet?

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ninjanurse · 05/04/2013 13:05

no a section 21 has not been issued as yet. landlord is visiting property next Tuesday to inspect some water damage to ceiling so I will have to say something then as I'm sure she will question me on it.

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specialsubject · 05/04/2013 14:38

the landlord should have dealt with this two months ago and issued notice - not that the notice would have forced you to leave, he would then have had to look into costly eviction proceedings. You are now effectively on a month-to-month and YOU need to give a month's notice (it's only a month for tenants, two months for landlords).

the landlord cannot harrass you by changing locks etc.

of course the landlord may have another tenant waiting to move in, who will now have nowhere to go.

you are legally in the right.

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specialsubject · 05/04/2013 14:40

correction - the month to month starts 25th April. So the earliest you can stop paying rent is 25th May if you issue your notice that day.

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ninjanurse · 05/04/2013 14:55

Thanks special subject, that is what I thought. If I give notice on 15th May for example I would pay rent up until 25th May. I would only give notice once I have exchanged contracts on my new house and have a definite date for completion.

What should I say to them though - simply send an email saying something along the lines of 'As the puchase of my house is currently progressing and I look to be completing soon, I will therefore be not signing another 12 month contract. I will give ones months notice when I wish to leave the property and will obviously continue to pay rent until this time. Kind Regards Ninja.

Would that suffice do you think?

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ninjanurse · 05/04/2013 14:55

I mean if I give notice on 15th May I would pay rent until 25th JUNE!

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specialsubject · 05/04/2013 18:07

I think the notice may need to be in sync with the start date on each month, so you need to give notice on the 25th or earlier. Which I think is what you are saying.

it would be courteous to let your landlord know what is happening. This may also stop him starting eviction proceedings if your purchase falls through. You don't want that. You've done nothing wrong, but as your landlord is clearly not happy (although it is his fault for not giving the proper notice) anything to try to maintain good relations might be an idea.

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lougle · 05/04/2013 20:30

The earliest the landlord can now terminate your tenancy is 25th June (the section 21 notice must coincide with a pay period, so 25th April, and it must be 2 months notice, so 25th June).

If you think you'd be in a position to move by 25th May, you can serve notice yourself, which will release you from the tenancy on 25th May as long as you serve it by 25th April.

Legally, it doesn't matter how much you may have discussed it, if they haven't issued the S.21, notice hasn't been served.

I would just be honest with them, and if they say 'I want you out' you can say 'I understand completely. Please serve me with the S.21 notice required.'

You can say that safe in the knowledge that S.21 notice is 2 months.

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ninjanurse · 05/04/2013 20:56

Thats helpful lougle, thanks. I will fire off an email at the weekend to keep them updated. Hopefully the landlord wont get funny about it!