How to define the Term.

[Hooper]

Is anyone aware of any issue with defining the term simply as "beginning on ... and ending on ..." without stating a period of days/weeks/months?

The purpose of this would be to bring the end date of my fixed term in line with rent payment periods which is 1st of month across all my properties.

[JK0]

Don't do it. Your periodic tenancy will then start on a date that is not a payment day. That will mess up notices & s21's

[jpkeates]

Defining the term without using months or weeks isn't an issue, as long as it's clear what the rental period is (i.e. that the rent figure is a month's rent).

Having the rental period and payment dates out of synch can cause confusion (as it isn't standard) and having a fixed term that isn't an exact multiple of the rent period would be "interesting".

[mariner]

Many LLs can wrongly calculate the expiry date meaning the fixed term is legally more or less. This can confuse subs Notices

Just use 'T commencement date for a period of x cal months.

A lot of Judges rejected the 'old' s21 for inaccurate expiry date.

[Hooper]

jpkeates,

That would be horribly confusing! The payment dates and period are in sync. The first payment is expressly altered if it is an incomplete month. What is not accounted for was the end of term being out of sync. Hence wanting to specify an end date rather than a period of months.

mariner,

Surely that results in the problem highlighted by JKO.

How can L miscalculate the expiry date of the term is described as From... To...?

JK0,

I don't understand. That's precisely the scenario which I am doing this to avoid!

[jpkeates]

How do you document the initial incomplete month if it's not part of the fixed term?
It sounds like a bad idea to me - like creating a weird little tenancy before the fixed term.

[Hooper]

??
It *is* part of the fixed term.

Currently, whatever date it starts on, it is described as x months commencing on... But because I require all tent to be paid on 1st, this means that unless the term begins on first of the month, the end of the term is not in sync with payment dates.

Hence using "begins on... And ends on..." which means that the last day of the term can sync with the end of a payment period (last day of the month).

The rent is set out as £X PCM and payment is described as a first payment of £Y for period up to (end of first or second calendar month, depending) then from (date) £X on 1st of every month.

[mariner]

Try a Frank Sinatra and 'Do it your way'.
Why do you want all rents paid on the 1st?

[jpkeates]

The problem you have is that you've decoupled the rent being paid and the period for which it is being paid.
So when rent is paid on the first of the month, it needs to be clear what time period being paid for.
So you need additional wording to clarify that, which is normally not needed.

The payment date and the rental period are not actually connected, so that be valid.
Any subsequent periodic tenancy would begin on 1st of the month.
The periods of the periodic tenancy that arises after the fixed term is controlled by the last payment frequency so that's alright as well.

But it seems complicated to achieve very little - I manage a number of properties with varying payment dates and it's not a problem.

[Hooper]

It's not really complicated though, is it. You get the wording right once and every time you enter into a new contract it is the same. I find that having all tenancies operating to the same dates makes them much more simple to manage, particularly when I'm away - horses for courses, no?!

Why in your opinion aren't the payment date and rental period are connected? The contract expressly states that the first payment (payable before taking possession) is for the period ending on [last day of the first or second calendar month] and that subsequent monthly payments of£X are due on the first of each month.