UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hello all,
I am a first time tenant (soon to be second time) with a question. I moved into my flat in february and signed a 2 year contract with a 2 month break clause after a fixed tenancy of 6months. After 2months my landlord informed us via agency that he now wants to sell his flat instead (even though I explicitly looked for something long term and even bought furniture for the flat). After changing his mind again and again (not selling after all/now definitly selling) I have had enough and am thinking about activating the break clause myself. Even though the agency said it MAY be until Feb/March 2016 that I would have to move out. Depending how the sell is going for them.
Now to my question (and concern).
What exactly does a 2 months break clause mean when it is not more specifically stated in the tenancy agreement? Do 2 months equal 8 weeks,30 days or something like give 13th october then move out 13th december? And can a surrender notice be given whenever or only at beginnings of the week or only once a months when the rent is due?

And secondly,I am afraid my landlord could give me a negative reference if I end my tenancy inconveniently for him before the date his sale goes through.

Thank you in advance for any answers. I hope my questions made some sense
Kim

Sorry, you're probably going to need to copy what is stated in the tenancy agreement here to get useful answers...

Sure. But unfortunately I really couldn't find anything useful in my contract. It says
'Either party shall have the right to terminate this Agreement by giving the other party not less than two months' advance written Notice. In the case of the Tenant such Notice will only be effective if sent recorded to ... (address of agency)...This Notice may not expire before the end of the first six months of the Tenancy.'
In the first paragraph under 'Ending this Agreement' it says something about the Housing Act 1988 (Schedule 2) for the landlord and the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 for the tenants' protection. But that as far as I understand it only applies to contract breaches.
There is no other word to further specify the break clause.

I just went back to read the whole thing but there really is no more specification to what '2 months no less' exactly means.
I don't know if this could be a necessary information.
Term: The landlord lets to the Tenant the Property for a period of Two Years from and including 15th February 2015 to and including 14th February 2017.
Type of Tenancy: This Agreement is intended to create an Assured Shorthold Tenancy as defined by section 19A of the Housing Act 1988 (as amended) and will take effect subject to the provisions for the recovery of possession set out in section 21 of that Act.

If anyone has an idea/tip or answer I'd be really thankful. I never expected this to be so complicated and the agency is not much help ssinceit would be inconvenient for them if I moved out before my landlord finally sells.

OK... let's try this.

You have a tenancy with a fixed term of 2 years - from 15 Feb 2015 to 14 Feb 2017.

That's pretty clear. This is not very normal, but it is what you have here.

However, there is something in the tenancy agreement that is defined as a "break clause".

A break clause is sometimes a one-time thing... both parties get a chance, at a specific point in the fixed term, to terminate the tenancy with notice. If that point in time is missed, then it can't be activated... the tenancy then runs on for the remainder of its fixed term.

What you appear to have is a break clause which runs from month 4 right through to month 24. So either party can terminate the tenancy agreement with no less than 2 months notice so that it ends at any point after the first 6 months.

So, really, you've got a 6 month fixed term tenancy... with an elongated notice period than what your statutory entitlement should be in, say, a periodic tenancy, which would be 1 month.

Here "no less than two months" just means that the notice will probably end on a last rent day of a period, so 14 Oct, or 14 Nov or 14 Dec, and the notice given to the other party should be prior to that same date 2 months before for it to be valid.

So, if notice was given by the Landlord for the tenancy to end on 14 Dec the notice should have reached you before 14 Oct... not less than 2 months.

That is my reading of what you have provided. I welcome other comments.

Thank you very much for your quick response.
So as I now understand this this 2months break clause period is also connected to the rent day and cannot just start at any date of the month.(So always only for in my case the 15th of the month for the 14th of the month after next and not,say the 23rd for the 22nd after next).
Thanks again

That would be normal, sensible and expected... but I don't think it's enforced in that text. Ending on a day that isn't the last day of a rental period just causes additional admin. and confusion.

Okay, thanks a lot for clearing up my confusion. It is highly appreciated!
(As my agency is everyone's favourite with the red furry tail I do not expect them to make it too easy for me in case I'd surrender the tenancy)