Notice period

[rachy81]

I currently live in a shared house where the landlord does not live in the property but her brother does and he deals with all the bills etc. I moved in in Dec 2006.

I pay my rent on the 1st of each month and a 1 months deposit was taken. No contract was signed or entered into and there was no verbal agreement of notice periods.

I now wish to move out and would like to do so on 1st June (so I have given 2 weeks notice). In an email from the brother of the landlord, he has stated not to worry about notice periods and 2 weeks notice is fine.

Later in the day when I saw the brother he is saying now that it will be fine to move out on the 1st but if he has not found anyone to rent the room who can move in on the same day then he will charge me until the end of June.

I was just wondering if he can do this or am I able to simply move out on 1st without having to pay any further rent? I am woried that the landlord will not give me my deposit back if I refuse to pay.

Any help would be great.

Thanks

[cillitbanger]

If you are paying your rent monthly then by rights you should give 1 clear months notice, otherwise you will be liable for the full months rent i'm afraid

[PaulF]

Er.......probably not! You will find that as you were not given written terms you cannot be bound by any Notice period. As you are lawfully entitled to stay there six months, then it would be alright to leave at the end of the completion of that period as not tenant is required to serve Notice on a fixed term tenancy (you haven't given the exact move-in day which will determine the beginning of your tenancy). Landlords cannot impose terms on you that you haven't been made aware of, as it would probably be considered unfair. Take it up with the local Trading Standards Office.

[MDM]

I agree that the absence of any written paperwork strengthens the tenant's position - e.g. no inventory implies no possible damage retention from deposit.

However, in the absence of a written agreement I thought the law assumed a notice period equivalent to at least one rental period - ie one week if rent is paid weekly and in this case one month as the rent is paid monthly. I also thought that even unwritten ASTs became periodic rather than expiring at the end of the term.

Then again, the tenant has given two weeks notice already - the most the landlord should charge is the difference between the two weeks he's been given and the month he might feel entitled to - not the 6 weeks he is threatening to claim.

[attilathelandlord]

If the tenant has gone beyond the initial 6 months fixed term then valid notice must be:

1) Written

2) At least 4 weeks duration.

Check Housing Act 1988 notice to be given