When to give notice?

[GorgeousLadyofWrestling]

We’re currently renting and had an offer accepted on a property. Just had mortgage offer through, searches are underway etc etc. It appears to all be going through. Our solicitor has advised it will be 8-10 weeks. Our tenancy was for a year and was up in Aug. Our landlord knows we wanted to buy his flat but he changed his mind when he wanted to sell, but understood we’d be looking elsewhere.

We have a good relationship with him. We haven’t signed any further tenancy since it ran out in August and I guess we’re on a rolling tenancy?

We’d like to give him as much notice as possible but also mindful that things could fall through on the flat still. We have three young children and definitely could not temporarily move in with family.

Honest answer? When you have exchanged, as tempting as it may be to before.

I say this because a friend of mine and his partner were in rented and buying a flat. They were assured everything was going okay, so gave notice. Then a problem came to light with the leasehold of the place they were buying, and eventually had to pull out. Their landlord had already found someone new for their rental and they had to move. Things can, and do, go wrong sometimes and I've seen how stressful it has been for my friend!

Check your agreement but you probably only need to give a months notice.

If you can afford to rent for the extra month I'd put off giving notice on the rental until you've got keys to the new house, that way you know you've got somewhere to live and you have time to move things over.

We pay our rent on the 1st so ideally we would complete just before that so we could pay one last month’s rent and give notice, giving us time to paint and put floors down before we move in.

Definitely only give notice after exchange. Not earlier. We ensured that we exchanged on the day when our rental date would coincide with exactly one month till next date with completion about 3 wks away giving us about 9 days overlap.

to join the chorus - at exchange (not contract signing, when your solicitor phones and says 'you've exchanged) and not a moment before.

as an aside, with an overlap - try not to move on a Friday, and if possible not to complete then. It all works so much better on other days, and removals are cheaper too.

your tenancy (even though the term has expired) should say what happens after that, and define notice. It will be at least a month from you. If it doesn't specify then you are on a rolling tenancy depending on the laws of your country. (The UK nations are all different)

Ignore any 'but my landlord can evict us at a whim' nonsense from the Shelter types. No he can't. Only you can end the tenancy, he would need to go through the legal process and it takes six months. You are leaving anyway so just keep him posted informally until you are ready.