Is there any way to evict tenant before their contract is up?

[WhatABigYikes]

I have two tenants in a flat I'm renting out. They are 6 months into a 12 month contract. There is no break clause. Due to something very unfortunate in my personal life, it would be very very helpful to sell the property ASAP. I wondered if I could ask the tenants nicely if they don't mind looking for somewhere to move - is that allowed? Am I being ridiculous? This was the first time I've rented out my flat and they are the first tenants I have. They are a couple.
Many thanks in advance

Tbh, anyone deciding to become a landlord should know the ins and outs of being one, upside down and back to front. There should be contracts for a start which will detail exactly what’s expected from both landlord and tenant. It’s not something you should go into haphazardly, because there are real people involved here, whose lives can potentially be turned upside down by amateurs not setting things up properly.

Uh huh. And, as yet, OP hasn’t done anything - she is checking if she can, and been told that she can’t. No one’s life has been turned upside down, the tenants have no idea she’s reached out to a supportive (..) forum for advice.

We are going round in circles, so I will leave it there with you also.

My willingness to leave a tenancy early would be directly proportionate to the amount of effort I had put in to find it and furnish it. Extreme example:

2000 miles on the road
6 weeks
1.5k van hire over x3-5 weekends
1-3k worth of white goods
2-3k worth of furniture, curtain rails, curtains, bathroom goods etc that would only fit in that house and possibly not the next one
1k of gardening equipment

So, if a LL offered me one month's rent rebate there's not a chance of getting me budged until I can find a house that my just-bought stuff will fit into, unless the LL was overing to reimburse me for the entire lot, should I only be able to find a house that already has all that stuff installed and there's no room to store my old stuff in (sure, you can sell it, but a £1200, six month old range cooker will only sell for £300 outside of large towns and cities).

I say this with authority because I've had to do it twice in three years!

Hopefully yours is a normal flat where everything was supplied and they just moved from down the road.

Also, you should be aware that if you give them notice now, this is precisely the time LL's put their rents up by 10-25% and they generally don't start sliding down again til September (although I have to say the market is pretty bad this year and I've seen a ton of reductions as early as April and May, for the first time in years).

So, if they have to pay a higher rent, you need to think carefully about what you should offer as a move incentive.

Not any earlier than 2 months before the end of the tenancy unless you had a break clause, which OP does not

I would approach them now and tell them that the contract will terminate at the end of the 12 months as some will think that they’ll easily extend it or it will roll on.

It can be really difficult to find a private rental so the more notice the better for them. You could offer to break it early should they find anywhere else sooner.

This is incorrect information, if youre saying she can give 2 months notice now to leave before the fixed term is up- your tenancy agreement cannot trump the law. The law says you cannot end a tenancy in it's fixed term, unless it hits some specific circumstances (arrears, etc).
You might have been lucky, that they agreed to accept your notice, but it's still not legal.
You can give 2 months notice at the 10 month point, to end it at the point the fixed term ends.

I was asked by my previous landlord if I'd vacate a property 4 months before the end of the contract. We came to an arrangement whereby he gave me four months rent for an alternative property, and also paid my moving costs.

I never said I served 2 months notice on the tenants, I said it was a clause in the tenacy agreement I had with them which was done via an estate agent.

This could only be legal if it was a break clause - which the OP already said she didn't have

Either (1) tell them that if they find a new place and move out, you will refund the final 2 months of their rent. Or (2) sell to another landlord, with sitting tenants in place, so their tenancy can continue.

They should research all of this BEFORE becoming a landlord, not during.

If they are unhappy there,maybe they're happy to leave early, speak to them and see if you can come up with a mutual solution, they might suggest they leave before the 12 months themselves with no penalty and you just charge for the months they are there.

If it's not a break clause, it's still not legal within a fixed period AST.
You can only evict tenants outside of a fixed AST, if there is a break clause at a certain point, or if they hit something that can trigger a section 8. They can put what they like in a tenancy agreement, it's not legally enforceable. If I were you, I would read the contract myself and approach them about it, as you could be up shit street if you ever try to rely on that.

I don't think they had any intention of wanting to end the tenancy early (or evict anyone) people's lives can change suddenly. Sometimes you don't think about problems that you don't envisage happening. It wouldn't make any difference if they were renting it out through a 'proper' renting agency they still need to sell urgently and would still be looking at ways to do so. As said above it may be a non problem since it will probably take 6 months to sell anyway! Or it may be possible to come to some financial arrangement with the tenants, if they are not very happy there anyway they may be quite pleased to get paid a bit to leave early rather than be obliged to stay to the end of the term.

Yy @dogcatkitten - it’s ok to have a handle on the day to day of what you are doing and then seek advice on an unexpected problem. Literally no one is hurt by this because the OP hasn’t taken any action yet

I find it difficult to fathom why posters on the Property section of a chat and advice forum are slating someone for seeking property advice, but it’s a funny old world.

I agree with @cremebruleee . If a landlord lets a property for a year, then that should be the minimum guaranteed duration. The LL’s (financial) situation shouldn’t be impacting the tenant’s contract.

Just tell them you’re selling and they won’t be able to stay past the year. Give formal notice and market the property. If they refuse showings then you’ll given them an awful reference. Most people aren’t utter twats and of course allow reasonable showings. If they find a new place to live before the contract is up then let them break the contract early and go. It’s not uncommon.

Nothing wrong with asking

If they refuse showings then you’ll given them an awful reference.

That would be (a) shitty and (b) counterproductive given OP wants them to find a new rental!

What would the OP claim was 'awful' about the tenants in this hypothetical situation?

A change in the landlords circumstances does not trump the law. There are laws for both tenants and landlords to follow for a reason.

The OP would have zero justification in giving an "awful" reference if their tenants choose to exercise their legal right to the property they are paying for.

It would say far more about the Op than the tenant, and the vast majority of future landlords would instantly know they'd had a retaliation reference from a cowboy landlord

Knowing when you can and can't end a tenancy (and how it ends - so many are clueless on that) is a basic of being a landlord.

And getting advice on a specific landlord forum is a much better idea than somewhere general like MN.

Although.... no one has suggested that she can end the tenancy now. People have suggested ways she might be able to work with the tenants if they are willing. So it doesn't seem like terrible advice on here, specialist forum or not (apart from the poster suggesting an awful reference!)

The OP doesn’t have a handle on anything. They didn’t know they couldn’t just kick out their tenants during a fixed term contract! This is basic information they should know before choosing to become a landlord!

If you’re having difficulty understanding why other LL’s would be miffed at someone without a clue of their legal obligations, why do you keep coming back to post misinformed comments?