Landlord breaking fixed term lease

Hi all. I currently have tenants who are 8 months into a 12 month fixed term lease.

I now intend selling the property and following advice from various agencies understand I must give 42 days notice (in proper format etc). The lease expires at the end of October and so I was going to give them their notice in early September so that the 42 days notice conincides with the end of the fixed term tenancy.

However I would prefer if they moved out earlier to enable me to sell and have discovered the following clause in my lease which they signed.

"One months notice must be given by both parties to terminate the lease. If the tenant terminates this lease before the expiry date, he or she will automatically forfeit their deposit"

Does the above mean I can in fact give them one months notice per the lease but actually give them 35 days to comply with the act and not have to wait for them to leave until the end of the 12 months?

I would appreciate your input here. Please note I understand how hard it is for tenants to find homes to live in at the moment and so intend to work something out with them but just want to know if legally I am able to use the clause in my lease to give them 35 days notice now and not have to wait until September and give 42 days for them to leave at the end of October.

Why dont you try a softer approach and sit down with them and have a chat - tell them you intend to sell in the Autumn when the lease expires and you will give them the official notice in September, but you wanted to let them know now so they could start looking and find the right place. Maybe casually drop in that if they find somewhere sooner and want to come back to you that you are open to that, tell them they wont forfeit their deposit if they decide to break the fixed term lease, that you are happy to come to some sort of arrangement, decide before you speak to them what you want, you cant come back and claim foul if they leave within 2 weeks and want their deposit if you didnt discuss that with them, be clear about your expectations. Ultimately though they dont have to leave until the lease is up (and the required, properly serviced notice, notice period)

There is no rule that you cant give them more than the minimum notice set out in the act.

Without knowing the full lease and the full clause I can only speak in general terms, you cant break a fixed term lease, even if you wish to sell, the clause you mention could be referring to the renewal of the fixed term - ie to give 1 months notice of their intentions, or could refer to notice periods expected after the fixed term while in a Part 4 Tenancy, the link below will give you more info.

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G7979 thanks for your quick reply and you advise is well received. I also believe it is the best approach.

They are really nice people and to be honest I have a sense of guilt about the whole thing. If I didnt have to sell to buy the new family home I wouldn't but I am where I am.

I am reading so much about how difficult it is for tenants out there at the moment.

Thanks again.

I lived in a house a few years ago and the landlady was away so her brother was acting on her behalf. The landlady wanted to give us minimum notice but her brother put his foot down and said that he would give us 3 months so that we could find somewhere suitable. We appreciated being told. It didn't make us run out and take the first place we saw but it did put it into our heads that we should start clearing out things we really didn't need and we were more ready for the move when it came. We were also good tenants and the brother didn't want to just turf us out at the last minute.

Learner2015 said:

Hi all. I currently have tenants who are 8 months into a 12 month fixed term lease.

I now intend selling the property and following advice from various agencies understand I must give 42 days notice (in proper format etc). The lease expires at the end of October and so I was going to give them their notice in early September so that the 42 days notice conincides with the end of the fixed term tenancy.

However I would prefer if they moved out earlier to enable me to sell and have discovered the following clause in my lease which they signed.

"One months notice must be given by both parties to terminate the lease. If the tenant terminates this lease before the expiry date, he or she will automatically forfeit their deposit"

Does the above mean I can in fact give them one months notice per the lease but actually give them 35 days to comply with the act and not have to wait for them to leave until the end of the 12 months?

I would appreciate your input here. Please note I understand how hard it is for tenants to find homes to live in at the moment and so intend to work something out with them but just want to know if legally I am able to use the clause in my lease to give them 35 days notice now and not have to wait until September and give 42 days for them to leave at the end of October.

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This clause in the lease is null and void. Any notice period must comply with the 2004 Act as regards Notice Periods. No lease can take that right away from a tenant (or landlord). However, a landlord and tenant can mutually agree a shorter or (longer) Notice period at the time of the Notice or thereafter. No such agreement can be agreed prior to a Notice of termination.

Negotiation is always best. You could always offer an incentive to vacate earlier but don't push it or it may be considered as harassment.

Thanks all. I'll be talking with them in the next few weeks so hopefully we can come to an agreement that suits everyone.