Notice period when contract has expired and landlord has been in breach of contract!

[KatF]

I was wondering if anyone can help me...ive been renting a house off my friend who has subsequently got herself in financial bother. Just before xmas she advised me that her and her husband were going to be selling the house, much to my surprise! i looked for somewhere else and consequently told her verbally i would be moving out at the end of february. She is now claiming that she doesnt remember me saying this and that she had told me i had to stay here til april 1st, i disagreed and now she is saying she wants 28 days notice written from me dated the second time i told her i would be out by end of feb which was 6th feb, this will mean that i am going to either lose my other house or have to pay rent for 2 house for 2 weeks. My contract (which was just an old tenancy agreement from a house i had before with a new front page added!) ran out in september last year and doesnt state any notice period at all. I pay my rent fortnightly would this mean i can give 2 weeks notice? For the duration of my tenancy she has been in breach of contract by not having the central heating fixed and leaving me to rely on a gas fire heating the whole house with a six year old daughter living with me? Please help!

[MrShed]

When did you give her verbal notice?

[MrShed]

What specific date did you give notice?

 

Its important.

 

were there any witnesses to the conversation?

[KatF]

It was in janauary and no there wasnt any witness

[MrShed]

Date?

[KatF]

in fact thinking about it was before her husband got back from deployment which will mean i told her in november but i cant remember the date

[MrShed]

If it was November, thats OK.

 

You are liable for rent up until the 5th of March, due to the way the new periodic rolling tenancy works, but no more.

[KatF]

Right ok, is there some way i can word a letter saying about how ive put up witht the central heating not working and would hope she can be sympathetic to me moving out before this date?

[MrShed]

Why bother? It wont get anywhere. Just move out and dont give her a forwarding address.

 

In this situation she is being unreasonable.

[KatF]

because she has been a mate for like 10 years! and i dont like confrontation!

[MrShed]

Well you have to weigh the two up.

 

I appreciate that, but ultimately its very unlikely that you can enforce your legal rights (i.e. notice period etc) without some form of confrontation or disagreement...

 

I would have a simple conversation with her stating that you gave notice that was accepted, and that you will be leaving at the end of Feb, paying rent up until 5th March. You are sorry if she feels that is an issue, but you cant do anything more.

[KatF]

Fair one...thanks for ya advice Mr shed!

[MrShed]

You are welcome.

 

Good luck - I dont envy your position, with your personal interests weighed up against a friendship.

 

Friends + tenancies = problems in my experience!

[Esio Trot]

In your other thread you wrote:

I told her in January that i had somewhere i can move into and that it would be at the end of Feb, The signed tenancy was from 9th March 09 to 9th Sept 09 as it was for 6 months, but after reading the contract it has no notice period in it at all.

Your tenancy is periodic, so the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 s5 (as amended) comes into play.

 

For almost all assured shorthold tenancies it means that you have to give notice, it must be in writing, must end on a rent day or the end of a period of your tenancy, and must be served at least 28 days before.

 

Thus your rent day is the 9th of each month and to give the requisite minimum 28 days means that the earliest you can end it is 9th March (provided that you serve notice at least 28 days before).

 

You must then leave on or before 9th March. If you stay even one day longer, your notice fails and you have to serve notice again.