Landlord ending tenancy

[Archiebongo]

Hello There

 

Would be grateful of some advice

 

My tenancy agreement runs for a term of 2 years with a 12 month get out clause, we have been in property now for 15 months

 

I Received an email today from landlord stating that they were now selling the property and they were giving me 2 months notice, is there anything that we can do about this at all

[mariner51]

I doubt LLs email amounts to formal s21 Notice.

[Snorkerz]

Can you let us know the exact wording of the break clause?

Can you also confirm if the property is in England/Wales?

[Archiebongo]

Hello there

 

Is states

Both parties agree that this is a twenty four month contract with a twelve month get out clause

 

The parties agree

 

Notice is hereby given that possession might be recovered under Ground 1, Schedule 2 of the housing act 1988 if applicable. That is that the Landlord used to live in the property as his or her main home or intends to occupy the property as his or her only or main home

 

The tenancy may be brought to an end if the morgagee requires possession on default of the borrower under Ground 2, Schedule 2 of the housing act 1988

 

Before the Landlord can end this tenancy, he shall serve notice on the tenant in accordance with the provisions of the Housing Acts. Such notice shall be sufficiently served if served at the last known address of the tenant in accordance with section 196 of the law of property Act 1925

 

The property is in England

 

Many Thanks

[Snorkerz]

IMHO, there is no get out clause. There is a statement that says there is one, but it does not say what notice is required, or how either the tenant or the landlord can exercise the clause.

 

If we put that issue to one side for a moment, this link tells you how the section 21 process works - it is this process that the landlord has to use to bring the tenancy to an end (unless you are in breach of contract, in which case he can also use section 8). http://tenancyanswers.ucoz.com/index/being_evicted/0-21

 

Had the break clause been valid, the LL would have exercised it, and then served a section 21 notice. It is possible that the email contained sufficient information to constitute a s21 notice, but from your quote above Such notice shall be sufficiently served if served at the last known address of the tenant, and he has no way of proving that the email was served at the address specified. To follow through the s21 to the courts, he would need such proof.

 

So, if you do not move out as requested, the landlord would have to apply to the courts. The courts would send you a form and you would claim that the s21 has an expiry date before the end of the fixed term (because there is no break) and that it wasn't correctly served.

 

Did you pay a deposit? Is it protected in a government approved scheme?

[Archiebongo]

Thank you for the advice we did pay a deposit which is with the tenancy deposit scheme.

 

What do we do about this now we have not yet received the letter we were advised by email that we would receive yet which I guess is the S21 you refer to.

It is a minefield isnt it.

Our previous Landlord did a similar thing, we paid a year up front and he said he was looking for a long time let, we did loads to the house and after six months he served notice as he wanted to come back to the house to live.

Now it is such a worry we became self employed since April this year following my husband being made redundent, so what we didnt realise was that in itself would cause a problem when applying for housing in the private sector as you have no real credible work history, the council has no obligation to help as we are both forty somethings with no dependants

So do we just sit this out

[Snorkerz]

What do you do now?

 

Well, as a precaution, I would certainly be looking for a new place.

 

However, wait until the s21 arrives. The countdown doesn't even begin until that is served upon you.

The s21 will have an expiry date, anything from a week after that you will get a form from the court saying that your landlord is seeking possession.

With that form will be a defence form that you must return within 14 days. That is when you state to the court that the s21 was invaid because of the lack of break clause.

[Archiebongo]

Thank you very much

[Archiebongo]

Ok

 

Further to my previous posts, Landlord has been managing property however we received a Section 21b from original letting agent giving us two months notice.

We have als0 received a letter from the letting agent stating the following

 

I clarify that the agreement is for 24 months this is not a fixed term agreement as it does state on it Assured Shorthold Agreement and nowhere does it state that this is for a fixed term. This enabeling both yourselves and Landlord to give notice once 12 months has expired.

 

But as you stated how this can be given or by what means, even though the legal requirement is that it is given in writing and must be for a minimum notice period of two full months

 

 

Please can someone explain where we stand now, it states there is a break clause however it does not state how this can be exercised.

 

Landlord has sent a further email regarding rent payments prior to vacating on 20th November

[Snorkerz]

The s21 notice IS NOT a notice to quit. You DO NOT have to leave on the 20th Nov, and you may want to make it perfectly clear to the agent and landlord that you have no intention of doing so.

 

Other than that, my advice remains the same. Wait until the court paperwork arrives, and defend it. Even if your defence fails (and it shouldn't) you will be given at least 2 weeks by the judge and after that it will probably take 6 weeks to organise bailiffs - so you'd probably have a couple of months to organise somewhere else.

 

What did the landlords email say about paying rent?

[Archiebongo]

Hello there

 

Thank you for the advice the Landlord has said that she wants it in writing that we will continue paying the rent until we vacate on the 20th November( this is the date she expects us to move out) however we pay our rent regularly on the 25th of each month as stated on tenancy agreement

[Snorkerz]

I would reply simply stating that you intend to continue to comply with your obligation to pay rent. Don't give any further details.

 

Alternatively, you could not reply at all - after all, what will she do if you don't?

 

Be interesting to see if she accepts full rent on the 25th October - because she seems to think you'll only be paying for 25/10 to 20/11 - that's less than a month.

 

TBH, any such written statement from you would be worthless - it has no more effect than your obligations under the tenancy agreement which would stand up in court.

[Archiebongo]

Many Thanks

 

I have replied saying we will continue to comply with our obligation to pay rent.

We will see what happens next

[Aequitas]

I clarify that the agreement is for 24 months this is not a fixed term agreement as it does state on it Assured Shorthold Agreement and nowhere does it state that this is for a fixed term. This enabeling both yourselves and Landlord to give notice once 12 months has expired.

 

The above is nonsense of the purer kind.

 

In your agreement it says: "Both parties agree that this is a twenty four month contract with a twelve month get out clause". If it has no such clause and says no more about how any right to break is to be exercised then there is no right to break.

 

Write back to the agents saying that there is no right to break and that accordingly you intend to stay for the full term agreed.

[Archiebongo]

Thankyou

I have responded to the agent stating the above, we have now had an email back from the Landlord saying she is currently maintaining property not the agent she says she is in talks with her solicitor, she has not mentioned the fact that we have said we intend to stay.