UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi, I had some conflicts with my tenants. Below is the situation :

- My tenants have been renting my place for more than a year now.
- Every end of 6 months tenancy, new agreements are put in place, normally via email.
- My tenants gave me a notice to move sometime in July, only to inform me later (also in July) on that their new landlord is not able to let them move into the place they are interested in yet.
- I provided them with a few options to assist their situation, and 2 of them were to move out in 31st October, or renew the tenancy agreement to 6 more months, starting from 1st October.
- They chose the 6 months renewal of the tenancy agreement, only to provide me with a Notice to End Tenancy a week or 2 after October. I was informed that they are not aware that they have to comply to the 6 months, and at the same time, the flat that they were interested in in July has become available (if I am not mistaken).

- There were some conflicts with the situation and I then come to a point where I just want to move on.
- My tenants' preferred option is for them to stop paying rent for November and part of December (they are moving out first week December), and I can claim the deposit they have paid in full (2 months rent). I agreed to this as I just wanted to move on.
- All communications are confirmed via email.

- Please could you advice :
a) What should I do from now onwards ?
b) Is it ok to just rely on the emails communications we have between us as conformation of work ?
c) If I need to send them a formal letter on the regards, what type of letter should I use ?
d) When can I start using the deposit they have paid ?
e) The deposit is registered, how do I go about ending this and claiming the deposit as we have agreed ?

Looking forward to kind advices. I am a new landlord and am not sure what to do now .. I do wish I do not have to contact the tenants again as I felt hurt in the process of the communications (I know I shouldn't put feelings into this, but things just happen ..), but I would like to do the right thing so that all will go smoothly

Thank you in advance for all the advices on the above regards.

a) From now onwards... give a 6 month fixed term to new Tenants and then let the tenancies go periodic (month-by-month).
b) Email communication is fine between Landlord and Tenant, this is the 21st century... not sure what "conformation of work" is?
c) I don't understand the question?
d) Strictly speaking, after the tenancy has ended and you have formal confirmation that the Tenant does not want to claim any of it.
e) It depends on which Deposit Protection scheme it is with - they all have their own procedures - I use the DPS and it is very simple.

Being a Landlord is not the business to feel hurt in. Either try to toughen-up or decide to do something else. Doing the right thing is admirable, but there'll always be that Tenant waiting to screw you over.

Also, if a Tenant serves you valid notice and you accept it, and then they do not actually move out - they are considered to be "holding over" and you can charge them double rent.

However, that does not seem to be the case here... as I believe you gave a new fixed term tenancy. Worth remembering, though, as it could frighten some people, who may think their notice is entirely at their discretion, to play by the rules.