Getting notice if we dont renew our lease

[lozzachino]

Hi

 

just after some opinions on here. We have been told by our agent if we dont sign up for another 6 or 12 months in our rental then our landlord will more than likely give us notice.

 

this seems tantamount to blackmail.

 

Can they really do this??

 

i dont really want to move but i dont want to be forced to sign a new lease.

[Guest guest9824]

Hi Lozza, not sure why you wouldn't sign up for a new lease if you don't want to move, perhaps I have misunderstood something in your post, but unless there are clauses that have changed considerably in the new lease, why would you not sign it? Hope things work out.

 

pea

[elfie]

Im not sure the tenancy can roll on like a shorthold tenancy in the UK. I think signing a new lease gives you and the landlord security.

[lozzachino]

From what i understand being on a rolling month to month contract means the landlord has to give us 60 days notice. On a fixed term contract they only have to give us 30 days.

 

i suppose it comes down to the principle really, if i sign another lease, we are tied here until july or january next year. Whereas should we decide to move any any point on a rolling contract we wont have to worry about a break lease situation.

 

we dont hate our house but we dont love it. We took it as we had to rather than we wanted to due to the timing of getting jobs etc.

 

i cant imagine saying this to our tenants in the uk so i guess i am just shocked really that they can do it to us here.

[flatpack]

HI Lozzachino, I'm a Landlord in the UK and I like people to sign a new lease when the old one runs out as it gives us both security. Looking at it independently it seems you want to have your cake and eat it: You don't want to sign a new lease but you want the security of one.

It's possible that the agent is also trying it on, to scare you into signing a further lease!

[portlaunay]

As a landlord, if my tenant wanted to shift to a monthly contract I'd likely want to give them notice too. If I've no plans to sell then what I want is a regular income from a long term tenant. I get what you're saying about the ninety days notice but obviously that doesn't give me the security that six or twelve months does.

Having said that, if you'd been good tenants I might be open to an alternative agreement of 3+ months but I'd be unlikely to offer anything less than this.

 

Have you gone back to the agent with an alternative to the rolling contract? If they won't entertain it and I were in your shoes I might just start looking around for somewhere else.

[ali]

I guess the security of a 6 month lease would mean that there won't be a rent review until the lease is reviewed, on a monthly contract, effectively it is being reviewed every 4 weeks, he might consider increasing the rent each time?

 

I agree that the landlord probably wants the security of a regular income - I would if I owned the house

[lozzachino]

Flat pack, do your tenants agree to sign new leases in the uk then? Our current tenants lease ends in march and we cant afford to have it vacant. I just get the feeling they would tell us to shove it if we asked them to sign a new one, doesnt seem the done thing in the uk.

 

i guess i see the point about it being more secure but just feels like we are being blackmailed into it, ie, sign up or f... Off and we will find someone else who will!

[lozzachino]

And legally is that a reason to give people notice, the fact that they dont sign a new fixed term lease?

 

Or is it not legal but just common practice here?

[flatpack]

I have had tenants refuse and I've also had tenants request another lease. In fact I've recently had one asking for another lease and I've had to play the importance of another lease down as I'm selling up. I wouldn't serve notice but if there is a waiting list (of this I have no idea but I hear it's a renters market in Perth) I can understand the Landlord's stance.

A few years back my sister was renting in Tapping and when the lease ended the tried upping the rent so they moved and the property, which being very nice, stood empty for nearly a year. At that time rentals were at a premium! Again I can see the landlord's point of view but they got that one very wrong!

As for a "reason", you don't need a reason for serving notice on a tenant, it's at your discretion.

As mentioned by someone else, why not ask for a 3 month lease?