Not at this stage - I would personally deliver the letter to the agent once signed by all parties. You may wish to go in with a co-tenant videoing the delivery of the letter as witness on a phone. Ensure you have a copy of the letter and await a response.

Break clauses are usually additional clauses added to the contract prior to the commencement of the tenancy and have to be specific. The landlord upon an AST cannot have a break clause purely in their favour as there must be one for the tenant also. A tenant can have one in their favour only. Usually a landlords break clause MAY read something like: It is hereby agreed between the parties to this agreement that the landlord may serve upon the tenant 2 months written notice to terminate this agreement anytime after the expiry of 6 calendar months from the commencement of this agreement. The clause you provide above is not a break clause but a std clause written into AST's

Two things concern me here: 1. That the property MAY only have planning consent for Holiday Lettings and this may cause an issue if you wish to stay long term especially if the council put 2 + 2 together. 2. All the utilities if the tenant is liable for them should be in the tenants name only. You could inform EON that you were the tenant from a certain date (tenancy start date), provide the meter reading from the start date until now and request a bill. Otherwise, personally I would refuse to pay the landlords bill until such time as you can see/verify/query the original bill and I would write to him informing him of this.

Have you written to the landlord requesting that your deposit be put into one of the 3 govt backed schemes within a reasonable time frame and failure to do so will result in possible action? Courts like to see that attempts to rectify matters were taken prior to action.

As we believe your tenancy is an assured short hold tenancy - these can be arranged either verbally or in writing. I would write to the agent a letter signed by all named tenants stating that a 12 month tenancy was agreed from 10th Oct 2011 to 9 Oct 2012 and signed upon whichever date you were at the agency and the Notice you have been provided is therefore invalid as you have a fixed term contract until 9th October 2012 and there are no break clauses allowing either the landlord nor tenant to serve notice during the fixed term (assuming this is the case). Tell them that if they dispute the that this tenancy exists you will seek legal advice and to acknowledge receipt of your letter in writing. Request again a copy of the fixed term tenancy agreement/extension that you signed.

To the OP - unfortunately the part about Section 21 (1)b here is totally incorrect - see my earlier post. Your tenancy can be brought to an end using the correct notice - as to whether you move out is something completely different and then the landlord would need a court order to evict you - this takes a lot of time even if under the Accelerated Possession Procedure.

Not strictly correct - a S21 (1)b can be served on the tenant at any time during their tenancy and even within the 1st six months of a fixed term. The expiry date of the Notice is the key. For instance a Section 21 can be served upon the tenants on the 1st day of their tenancy which requires possession six months later. The Notice requires the landlord to give a MINIMUM of two months notice. It is common practice within a good agency to serve this on the commencement date of the tenancy and it is then superseded if an extension to the tenancy is agreed. I do not think it can be stated that the Notice you have been given is invalid without seeing a copy of it. A Section 8 Notice is something completely different and is a notice of intention to take legal action against a tenant through the courts upon anyone or multiple of 17 Grounds.

OK - is there a section in the tenancy agreement which relates to how notices or correspondence should be served by the tenant to the landlord/agency? If so, whether these notices/correspondence should be done jointly or whether one tenant's signature is sufficiently binding for all of the named tenants.

Agree with the above about getting assistance. One thing that MAY be worth finding/obtaining is a copy of the tenancy agreement from the tenants who currently occupy your property. It should show who is the named landlord and the current status of the tenancy - fixed term, month to month etc (assuming it is an assured short hold tenancy).

I am presuming that there is one tenancy agreement for all named parties stating that all tenants are jointly and severally liable rather than individual tenancy agreements for each tenant?

Changing the tenancy to a fixed term of 12 months also ties the landlord in to this period as well as the tenant unless there is a break clause written into the agreement. If you are happy with the increased security of tenure then it is reasonable to expect a charge for drawing up the new contracts. If you are not happy with the charge and refuse to pay it, the landlord/agent can either set it up anyway without charge to you if you are willing to sign it, or leave the tenancy on the current statutory periodic and run the risk that the landlord can serve 2 months notice at anytime for you to vacate.

Accelerated possession procedure can be instigated when a S21 1(4) has expired and the tenant has failed to vacate. No other grounds needed by the landlord although it must be proven that there is a written tenancy agreement and the deposit is held within a govt backed scheme for tenancies commencing from March 2007 iirc. If the claim is straightforward sometimes the judge does not require a hearing but can provide an order following correspondence with all concerned.

If this is an Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement then no matter what the tenancy agreement states relating to serving notice you only need to serve a minimum one clear month to terminate the agreement once the fixed term is coming to end (ie so ends on the termination date of the agreement) or if this agreement falls into a Statutory Periodic again only one full month's notice is needed.

Regarding the first letting it is a statutory obligation for a landlord (via an agent if instructed) to provide valid Gas and Electrical Safety checks. I would be informing any governing body and the local trading standards about this agency. I would also mention the lack of safety certificates to the dispute service. Good luck.

Whilst the agent may have initially acted in good faith in the hope that the property was available, they most certainly should have held the funds until such time as either the current tenants vacate or you request a return of the funds. Also can the agent prove that the funds were transferred to their client or are they awaiting for you to take the matter further?

I would not personally serve a Notice to Quit if you are wanting to stay on at the property. What if the landlords circumstances change and he accepts the notice (which should be one clear month btw - a tenancy agreement cannot overwrite a statute!). If the letting agency is any good their terms and conditions within the contract (agency agreement) with the landlord will tie the landlord in whilst you are still resident or have penalty costs. As previously stated this is not your issue but something that the landlord must negotiate with the agency.

Agree with the above but as a tenant clearly you want out without any further costs - difficult but if you can find a new suitable tenant that the landlord is willing to accept this may help. Did the landlord use an agency or was it a private advert? More likely to incur greater costs if an agency is involved. Should a surrender be agreed ensure that a proper document and duplicate is signed and exchanged by both parties. Such a document can be found upon the tenanttrouble.co.uk website - not that you a troublesome tenant!

Does the agency belong to any governing bodies such as ARLA, RICS or ANAEA? If so you can write to them if you get no where following a letter to their CEO. Sounds like an estate agency "playing at lettings" rather than a professional letting operation though could be wrong! Good luck.