Letting company not accepting notice

[Jy2408]

Hi all,

We’ve secured a completion date for a property we are buying and handed in our notice to our letting agents on 23rd August to leave on 23rd September (the contract we signed states we need to give one month’s notice). The letting company are insistent that we can only end our contract on 31st September (which doesn’t exist, so I assume it’s the 30th) which we are confused about. Do we have a leg to stand on by insisting our lease should be terminated on the day we give notice, or in the right to state it must be end of September?

We have lived here since April 2021 - from April 2021 to April 2022, and April 2023 we have signed yearly contracts. We are now on a rolling lease since April 2023 - we didn’t sign anything new after April 2022.

Replies from the letting company:
“We do need at least one months notice in line with rent due date, so I have sent this to admin to process for 31/09/2023” (notice in line with rent due date (1st of every month) is not in any communication to us or documents that we signed)

“Your contract does state that you must give at least one months notice before the end of the current term.
Current term being rent due date.”

TIA!

I would expect a full rent month, and often with renting it's two. But either way, if you pay on the first, your notice period goes up to the end of the month before. You can choose to leave on the 23rd, but you'd still have to pay that extra week (because you pay the full month.)

Is it an Assured Shorthold Tenancy

Yes this is correct, you give notice from a rent day - however, you can leave on the 23rd if you want, but you will need to pay rent to the end of the month

All the contracts I have ever seen state one month's notice from date of rent payment, so I think your estate agent is correct.

It really depends on what your contract says though, read it, and it will tell you what the notice period is, and when it can start from.

Yes sounds right to me too from experience renting. Best thing to do is use the extra week and a bit for time to move at leisure rather than in and out same day. We did that going from renting to owning, had a clear 10 days and it made things much easier. It's annoying perhaps if you thought you would have a lower rent that month but in the scheme of buying a house and fees it's a drop in the ocean.

Yes you need to pay all of September rent. You can leave the week before though or use that week for a gradual move

I've done the same as you, and argued that the contract didn't state notice aligning with rental period. They reluctantly admitted I was correct, and we prorated the rent.

The new property was available in 2 weeks, so we still had a useful overlap to arrange carpet cleaning, decoration, and a more gradual move.

Yep, I agree that's right. I would also use that time to move more leisurely and clean new house etc