UK Landlord Forum / Life

Our tenants were given two months notice to leave and we're due to vacate the house on August 1st. However they refused to leave until 29th August because they were buying a house. We were moving back from Spain and so this was inconvenient and costly. The tenants refused to pay any of our costs. Can anyone advise us on how to get back out costs please? Is it worth taking them to court?

Your notice doesn't end the tenancy and the tenants are perfectly entitled to stay after your notice expires. If they'd given notice themselves, the situation would be different.

Based on what you've posted, you can't recover your costs from the tenant and, therefore, it isn't worth taking them to court.

Thanks. Can you explain though why me giving them notice doesn't end the tenancy? I thought that if you give them the required period of notice, two months, then that will end the tenancy?

Quote from: JW0902 on September 20, 2025, 05:06:05 PMCan you explain though why me giving them notice doesn't end the tenancy?

Because that is what the law says.

The Housing Act 1988 requires that landlords follow proper legal procedures rather than simply giving notice and expecting tenants to leave.

You need to:
- Give notice (Section 21 or Section 8 )
- Allow the notice period to expire
- If the tenant doesn't leave voluntarily, apply to the courts for a possession order
- Then, if possession is granted and if necessary, seek bailiff enforcement

Thanks. I'll remember that in future.

Also given that the tenants left on 29th August but paid for the month, do we need to return the two days rent?

Quote from: JW0902 on September 21, 2025, 09:12:54 AMAlso given that the tenants left on 29th August but paid for the month, do we need to return the two days rent?

Did they give you notice of their intention to leave of the 29th?
Did you accept their notice?

Have they asked for a return of 2 days rent?

Have you returned their deposit?



Aside:
I think you have got off very lightly with your tenants voluntarily leaving just 29 days after you wanted them to.

You were unaware of the law; you just made an assumption about notice and possession without checking how it actually works.

Yes, it cost you some money and some inconvenience - but think of it from the tenant's side. You asked them to leave their home (for that is legally what it was while they were renting it) on a date that you specified, but which was not convenient for them.

Had they not been buying a house, then they were within their rights to have stayed in the property until you had served a Section 21 and then gone to court to get a possession order, then obtain a bailiff eviction. This would have taken many months and have been very expensive.


 

Quote from: JW0902 on September 21, 2025, 09:12:54 AMAlso given that the tenants left on 29th August but paid for the month, do we need to return the two days rent?

If you recovered possession on the 29th, yes. If they left but you weren't able to retake control, possibly not.

On the other hand, the rules shouldn't matter. The answer is, obviously, yes. You've had an unbelievably lucky outcome.

Thanks for that. So thinking to the future when we want to move into another house we currently rent out, we need to think well ahead?

Yes, I wouldn't make any plans that rely on your tenants being out by a given date. Unless they're very compliant or they happen to be leaving anyway, it's naive to assume that they'll rush to do you any favours.

In terms of thinking ahead, you should also make sure you're meeting all the requirements to enable you to serve a valid Section 21. (It's possible you could go down the Section 8 route if you lived in the property previously, but it's less straightforward). Of course, once the renters reforms come in, it'll all be different anyway.

Thank you Simon.