Was in my last place for two years until the landlord sold it, which I wasn’t expecting, however I moved into a much better place 7 months ago.
Just want to know how long into the tenancy do they offer a renewal ? And if they were to sell it, how long in advance would they tell me ?
I’m looking after the place, and it’s much tidier and cleaner than the last tenants so I’m hoping they do renew it.
Surely that info would be within your tenancy agreement? The renewal would be based on what you agreed to? 3 months, 6 months, 12 months etc
12 months yes. I dont have a copy of it, however my care company do i think
There’s always some variability in what landlords and agents will or won’t do because there’s always some possibility of unknown factors, that said:
The dream of a landlord is tenancy without voids and the best way to ensure that is to have one tenant for as long as possible. That means, usually, a landlord will allow a tenancy to continue indefinitely because any void (period where the property is untenanted) costs the landlord money and ultimately landlords are running a business so voids = bad.
You do not have to renew a tenancy on a fixed term: at the end of a fixed term the tenancy automatically reverts to a rolling tenancy (month to month). A landlord can offer to renew to create a new fixed term but you don’t have an obligation to agree to a fixed term, it’s open to negotiation: sometimes a landlord may only be willing to have tenants in fixed terms but it’s very uncommon for a landlord to seek reposession if a tenant decides they’d rather be on a rolling tenancy at the end of a fixed term. Historically agents had misaligned incentives when it comes to fixed term vs. rolling because they could charge fees to renew but given those fees are now illegal they’re much less likely to try and push for fixed term.
Some tenants like to be in a fixed term because of the security (you would know for certain that you can’t be served notice until the end of the fixed term) and others prefer month to month because of the flexibility: you can move out at any time (as long as you provide one month (period) notice).
So in summary: the power is mostly in your hands. If you want to renew then you will almost certainly have the option, you can contact the agency to confirm that you’d like to renew if you’re happy there or you can just wait and see what happens. The landlord will almost certainly be very happy for you to renew. That said, at the end of a fixed term you do not have to move out, the landlord still has to serve notice, so if on the 12 month anniversary[1] of your tenancy you haven’t heard anything then that means you’re now in a rolling tenancy and your landlord is now required to give at least 2 months notice to end the tenancy.
[1] Technically, at the 10 month anniversary because in a fixed term they must still give 2 months notice, so if they served notice during your 11th month then you’d have to leave at the end of your 13th month. Notice served during 1st… 8th, 9th, 10th month: leave at end of 12th month. Noticed served during 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th… 99th: leave at end of (month + 2), e.g: 11th = 13th, 12th = 14th, 13th = 15th… 99th = 101st.
The letting agent would have advised you on what they will do at the end of the term, some will renew the fixed term, some will let it move into a rolling tenancy. You can also likely ask for another fixed term or longer one if you wish.
It looks like @42644 covered most of it.
If they sold the house i believe they have to sell the house advertising that there is a tenant. They don’t necessarily have to kick you out to put the place up for sale.
Thanks guys, that explains it all nicely.
I like the idea of a " fixed term contract " it makes me feel more secure.
My only concern is if they want to sell the place like last time
You can definitely be proactive then, reach out (probably around your 9th or 10th month) and explain that you’d like to renew. Depending on your local rental market (and your personal circumstance, you mention care so I’m not sure if your rent is paid by housing benefit) you could even try to negotiate a discount if that’s important to you, because for a landlord it can be appealing to guarantee another 12 months of rent for a 5% monthly reduction – but if you’re in an area with high demand for property (e.g: a city in the south) then it’s much less likely to work than if you’re somewhere that landlords have a very real prospect of voids (e.g: a small town in the north).
A landlord selling a property will usually end any active tenancy before selling the property because with an active tenancy the property wouldn’t be mortgageable by people looking to buy a property to occupy: it would only be purchasable by another landlord which is a much smaller market. If you want to minimise the chances of your landlord selling the property to occupying buyers then a fixed term is the best way to do that, because if they do sell the property while you live there it’ll almost always be to another landlord who will want to keep your tenancy.
Whatever the tenancy agreement says. Usually it is one months notice