We’ve got a 6 month tenancy with Your Move (DO NOT rent with these bastards, they are evil itself). They want to charge us £114 to renew, and having given them £350 at the initial sign up we’re loath to pay it.

Having googled the law on the matter, apparently under section 21 of the Housing Act (1988) we can just no pay the renewal fee, not renew and move onto a Statutory Periodic Tenancy without doing anything.

This has the benefit of us not being signed up to a further 6 month contract and not paying further renewal fees.

What I’m asking is- have we understood this right? Even if we do have to pay a fee for a new contract it’ll be an improvement because we can leave whenever we like and let the agents hang instead of staying for a further 6 months.

Thanks in advance.

you’re right. if a fixed term tenancy comes to an end and correct notice has not been served by either side, it runs on to become statutory periodic. you can’t leave literally whenever you want, you’d have to give the correct notice as would the landlord if they wanted you out.

Yes, so we’d have to give a month’s notice. Which would mean we could leave in September, not October.

correct notice has not been served by either side

So, even if they have given us notice, if we don’t give them notice it still automatically goes onto SPT?

no, if they give you the correct notice then the tenancy ends. though that can’t be before the end of the agreed fixed term.

OK, so we have notice from them so the tenancy is ending and to stay we HAVE to sign up to a further 6 months?

this would be worth your while reading:

CAB info for private tenants

when is the end date of the initial tenancy and what notice have you been given and when?

munrobiker – Member
OK, so we have notice from them so the tenancy is ending and to stay we HAVE to sign up to a further 6 months?
POSTED 32 SECONDS AGO # REPORT-POST

“notice” means they have asked you to leave.
Not that they have asked you sign another fixed term contract.

You can stay on without signing another fixed term contract, as said above.

It ends in April and we were given notice by our agent (not the landlord) to renew in January.

Thanks for that link, it’s very helpful- from this-

If you stay in the home after the initial fixed term ends and …your landlord takes no action you will become a statutory periodic assured shorthold tenant

then the landlord would have to take action, and if we pre-arrange with him that this is OK (I suspect he will be) then it’s hunky dory, otherwise, chances are we’ll be kicked out 2 months from the end of the tenancy?

my experience in this situation, you either sign the new contract or walk. The agent will not let you switch to a rolling monthly contract. They will give you two months notice.

I don’t mean to spoil your day but too many agents are scum and out for every penny they can get. 5

you can’t be kicked out two months before the end of the original fixed term. only at any point after that, with two months’ notice.

only if you haven’t had that will it become statutory periodic. it’s not really possible to help you without seeing exactly what you’ve been sent and when. you need to get someone to take a look at your paperwork/

yep, they are all scum. My GF rents her house out (since she moved in with me) and the letting agency keep writing to her advising her to put the rent up every 6 months so they can get a bigger % cut. She flatly refuses, but they still keep pestering. Their attitude is ‘you have a tenant who seems to want to stay, so try and screw them for as much as you can’.

oh my daughter is in the same procedure as you…her tenancy is due up in two weeks time…. wierd cos the agency havent even contacted her yet to see if she is renewing or leaving ???? just two weeks to go…?
she has been looking for somewhere else to live, and we spoke to another agency today and he said if you have been a good tenant for 6 months, then you dont have to have another 6 months tenancy… you can now have a ‘month to month’ roll on agreement….. i hope this is true cos i dont think she wants to stay another 6 months.. we think the owner of the building is also trying to sell the apartments now rather than have tenants in….

elaine anne, it is true. that’s the statutory periodic tenancy being talked about earlier. have a look at the info on the link i posted above ^^^

edit to add, as above you don’t have to do anything for that month-to-month tenancy to be created. it happens automatically.

edit also to add – it only goes month-by-month if the payment intervals as originally arranged are monthly.

Thanks for all your help, I think we’ll have a word with the landlord and agent and seek someone who knows their stuff who can see our correspondence to help.

I’ve never had such an unpleasant an experience with an agent as I have with this lot- they constantly ask for more money when they’re already receiving a cut, and they’re useless (our tenancy is 2 months from ending and the “LET” sign is still outside the house!).