How much does my tenant owe me?

[Golaz]

Hi all,

I’ve had a tenant in my flat on for a few years. She’s been on a rolling contract since the first six months. She normally pays rent on the 11th of the month for the month ahead.

I gave her notice on 22nd January, that I would need the flat back by 16th April. (Under a rolling contract I need to give 2 months notice, but I wanted to let her know earlier rather than later, to give her some time to sort something).

On the 4th February she informed me she had found somewhere and would be moving out probably around the middle of February. I followed up today and asked if she had a date. She told me yes- she’s moving out on the 18th and will return on the 20th to clean the place.

How much rent does she owe me? She’s already paid until the 11th. She seems to think she only needs to pay for an extra week until the 18th , but in the rolling contract she’s supposed to give me one months notice so I feel like she should pay until the 4th March.

AIBU?

Is the flat going to be empty until the Summer ? You might need to look at insurance, I think its quite expensive for empty properties and if you don't get it and don't mention it, your normal insurance might be void ?

She's supposed to give you one months notice? You're the one who wants her out it wasn't her choice. You should be grateful she's not being awkward like some tenant's!

You are showing no compassion. Money grabbing cf is my impression of this post. Typical private landlord

Be grateful that she was able to leave many cannot and don’t pay. She has been a good tenant for many years, with no problems you should be happy.

Do you have any idea how hard it can be to get tenants out these days? For goodness sake thank her for moving on so quickly and wish her well.

You are expecting the tenant you evicted to manage her life to suit your convenience and your bank balance. Show a little compassion

You sound like my landlord… do one

You’re taking the piss OP and want everyone to agree with you. Daily rate until keys in hand and thank your lucky stars you had a good tenant.

You gave her notice, she's not obliged to give you any. Just be grateful she's leaving, not trashed the place or making you go through the courts to evict her

You gave your tenant notice to leave so she doesn't owe you any notice. You have known since the beginning of the month her dates so I would say that she owes you until 20th when you will have access to the property.

Greedy Girl.

YOU gave her notice, not the other way around. She will owe you from 11th - 18th. You can't really charge her for coming back to do a final clean.
You gave her notice with a 'BY 18th April ' leaving date, so your tenant will only need to pay for the time I mentioned above UNLESS you have a written clause in the tenancy agreement which states that if she leaves at any time after the last payment period that she has to pay the whole of the next.
When you leave a company, be it broadband or energy etc, they cannot take your usual direct debit if you leave part way through the next cycle. They send a final bill for the remaining time.

What will you do if she changes her mind, stays put and stops paying rent?

This is why it would have just been easier to give th3 two months notice. Whilst you thought you were doing her a favour by giving her three months notice, she probably thought she was doing you a favour by leaving sooner, leaving you time to get the place sorted for when you move back in. You decided to give more notice than what was required, so unfortunately you will have to suck this one up.

If it’s less than two weeks worth of rent I’d let it go.

when I moved out of my old house I left before the end of the month even tho I paid for the whole month I didn’t ask for that last week worth back.

I think the fair thing to do would be to charge her rent up to and including 20th February when she has finished cleaning and has given you back the keys. Once you have the keys back then the property is fully back in your possession and her liability for rent ends. I am not sure what the legal position is but this would avoid any unpleasantness.

@Golaz i don’t really understand what the point was in you letting her know slightly earlier. If she’s contracted to pay you then would she realistically have money for your rent and somewhere new? To me there’s simply no point in it because unless she has the wage (I’m not sure how many would) to pay for a new place and move early and pay you, she may as well wait until closer to the end of her contract when she can actually leave.

Im a landlord, she has to pay until the 20th. you gave her notice to leave by a date, she has found somewhere, she doesnt need to give a months notice. Thats 10 days rent she has to pay - count on yr fingers

I've always leaved my rented homes clean and better than I found them.

However, I was always prepared to engage in tit - for - tat if landlord was to try and be difficult.
Glad it never came to it and both sides were reasonable.

Be reasonable OP, it's all going smoothly thus far.
And no, your tenant doesn't have to give notice, as you already did. Just like everyone else have been saying.

You're not after grown up replies, you're after posters to agree with you. Be grateful she is moving without trouble. If she was homeless as a result of your giving notice the advice would be to stay put until you went through the very expensive eviction process

This! Why ask for opinions and then disagree with everyone who thinks differently? I'd let it go

I also rent out a house. I think people on here don’t realise it’s a business and believe that you owe a tenant something when you’ve given them over two months notice which is generous as most tenants are given a month under a standard contract.

The fact that your tenant has found somewhere within a month is good for them, however they didn’t need to give you notice as you’d already served notice on them.

If the tenant usually pays on the 11th and is moving on the 18th, they’d need to pay for 1 week.
This would mean they are allowed to come back on the 20th and clean. You can stipulate they need to be out and place cleaned by the 20th if she’s paying for a week OR she pays for 9 days rent and hands back the keys on the 20th.

Landlords point of view here.
If I'd a tenant who had taken care of the property, I'd given them notice, and they ended up finding somewhere so there's a gap, I'd suck it up.
Wouldn't go asking for up to 4th March, she's already got a new rent to pay.
Would ask for rent up to the day she hands the keys back, no longer. Chances are if you'd not asked her to leave, she would happily stayed on.

Legally, she doesn’t as you already served her notice so she only has to pay for the days she occupies the property (after notice was served).

If you can only move in in the summer, you should rent your house out as a short term lease.

Ffs I read your comment saying '20th April' and wondered what on earth was happening - throwing a new date into the mix 😂

As for the OP. If you service notice, I think her contractual obligation to serve notice is void as she is under your notice period? So the 20th Feb

Absolutely this.
Having worked for an agent, tenants not leaving, or leaving the place a mess is more of a worry. Don't worry about a few days rent.