A tenant in a rented property is not required to give the notice to bring the tenancy to an end at the end of a fixed-term tenancy.
This is because a fixed term agreement comes to an end at the end of the fixed term, and no periodic tenancy will arise if the tenant then leaves the property. Whilst landlords will want to ensure that their properties are not left empty between tenancies, nevertheless, terms that impose a contractual obligation on a tenant to give notice in order for the tenancy to be terminated at the end of the fixed term will not be enforceable.
Such a circumstance could allow the landlord to impose a substantial financial penalty on tenants who do not realise that notice is not required, by requiring them to pay rent for a period after the end of the fixed term.
Terms such as this, further to Office of Fair Trading guidelines, are not considered necessary to protect landlords from the possibility that their property will be left empty, as the law allows landlords to recover possession at the end of the fixed term by serving at least two months’ notice and they could do so where their current tenant fails to indicate when asked whether they intend to stay on.
The landlord and tenant could of course still agree to a renewal of the tenancy even after such notice was served. If a tenant wishes to end a periodic or “rolling” tenancy that renews every month, then, usually, at least one months’ notice must be given (and the notice must expire at the end of a rental period).
Conversely, if landlords or letting agents wish to end a periodic rolling tenancy (using a s.21), then at least two months’ notice must be provided (and the notice does not have to expire at the end of a rental period but will instead expire at the date detailed in the s.21).
At this stage the landlord or the letting agent will organise the check-out inventory to be scheduled, this can be done online on the Trust Inventory website, the speed of their inventory service ensures the downtime between tenancies is reduced to a minimum.
Rent arrears at end of a tenancy or during the rental period.
The rules are different if a landlord wishes to end a tenancy for a serious breach of a tenancy agreement (for example, persistent failure to pay rent) and a different type of notice may be required (a s.8). In order to ensure that a landlord is keeping to their statutory obligations, however, a landlord or letting agent is encouraged to take legal advice before service of a s.8.
Many claims at adjudication will involve an element of rent arrear, for example, where the tenant has failed to pay the last month’s rent. In order for an adjudicator to be satisfied that a landlord or their agent is entitled to claim for rent arrears, an adjudicator will commonly look for evidence of a tenancy agreement and evidence that rent due has not been paid (for example, a rent account statement).
A landlord and agent should take note that the burden of proof is on the claimant to prove, on balance, that they are entitled to claim for rent arrears – and as such, if no rent statement (or no tenancy agreement) is provided, a claim for rent arrears will, usually, fail.
John Bolton, Adjudicator
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