To think my lease should end 1 month from today

[SuperLoveFuzz]

I’m in Scotland so the rules are likely different than the rest of the uk. I currently have a short assured tenancy. This was 6 months from November 2016 and has been rolling month to month since then. I have decided to end the tenancy and would like out as soon as possible. My understanding was that if I give notice today (15th) my last day in the house and that rent is due would be 15th of next month. I’ve been told by the agent that this is not the case and the notice is from the end of the month so effectively 6 weeks. I have copied the excerpt from the tenancy agreement that the agent has says confirms this but I don’t agree that it does.

1. THE TERM

1.1. The tenancy will commence on 28 November 2016 (“The start Date”) and will end on: 29 May 2017 (“The end Date”). If the agreement is not brought to an end by either party on the end date, it will continue thereafter on a monthly basis until ended by either party giving no less than one months’ notice to the other party. Should the tenant wish to vacate the accommodation at the end of the term, one months’ notice must be given to the landlords’ agent in writing.

I'd have thought the end of February. You're in a one month contract now, so the next time you can give notice is the last day of this contract. If they makes any sense!

A month from the end of the month.

I think the key is that if you’d wanted to terminate at the end of the original 12 month term, you still would have had to give 1 month’s notice. So that applies to the new rolling monthly contract. You treat each month as a new contractual period, and if you want to terminate you have to give at least 1 month’s notice. You can not terminate at the end of January as the deadline for notice has passed. The next potential end date is therefore end of Feb, for which you have now given notice.

It's a rolling monthly contract, the earliest you can terminate is the end of February. It started at the on 29th May 2017 and continues one (whole) month at a time.

Its not a month in the sense that you can give notice at any point for a month, its a month in terms of how the tenancy runs - so in effect you are giving notice for the month running from the end of January to the end of February

Damn, seems pretty unanimous! Thanks all

Sorry this is not my understanding of a short hold tenancy and I have managed properties. You can give one months notice at any time after the initial term has ended. It’s not a calendar month. If you give notice tomorrow, your tenancy ends on 15th February.

The landlord has to give you two months’ notice, you have to give one.

This is what I thought fern. Are you in Scotland? I am going to contact shelter tomorrow to clarify

I would agree with ferntwist - once your initial lease term has ended, you can give a month's notice. If you had handed me your notice today, I would have assumed the 14th Feb is your last contractual day of the tenancy.

this from Shelter shows the agent is correct.

Depends on how your rent is calculated I guess but generally
a rolling tenancy is on a month by month basis therefore for you it's 28-27 of each calendar month.

If you give notice on the 15 then your tenancy end date is the last full contractual month (so the 27) - I had this last summer when I moved. Although I then actually came to an arrangement with my (private) landlady to have the house a few extra days in order to manage a relocation cross country and ensure I could oversee both the move and end of tenancy clean. I paid the appropriate pro rata rent for those few days of course.

Would a pro rata arrangement be a possibility for you to exit the house early maybe?

Meaning the 27 of the following month sorry not to be clear - it's been a long week already and still only Monday

Thanks for the link Carol but as that is England it doesn’t apply

English and Scottish contract law does vary but both would have the principle that it would be based on what the tenancy agreement says:

rentingscotland.org/tenants/ending-a-tenancy/

So it comes down to a reading of the contract does the terms set out show that you have to give one months notice in terms of a notice as set out in the tenancy agreement

and

scotland.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/advice_topics/renting_rights/ending_a_tenancy

Here it implies that for your length of time it would be 40 days anyway unless it could be seen as the contract overrules that because they say a month: again coming down to how you read the contract

Yeah it should be one months notice but most agents say that notice has to start on the same day when your rent is due. So say you pay your rent on the 28th and you give notice on the 29th your notice period of 1 month wouldn't actually start until the 28th of the following month. Meaning you are actually give 2 months effectively.

It's utter crap but they all do it because they are estate agents and generally arseholes.

It would be one month notice in terms of rent paid though - most contracts you would have to do the same give notice after you have paid.

At the moment she is paid up until the end of the month (from the payment made end December) - so her notice would run into the next month payment - so how would it work, would she pay it all and they pay it back, would she pay half. This way its easy to sort - its a normal contractual generic term most contracts would have