Termination Notice

I have agreed to Voluntary Surrender a Buy-to-let which has tenants in place. It must be surrendered with vacant possession.

Tenants are in place for 22 months with 2 months left on a fixed term lease, i.e. they rented first year on a 12 month lease, then renewed for a further 12 months.

I have been reluctant to issue a Termination Notice in case it might be deemed invalid.

I know one of the reasons for issuing a Termination Notice is if the property is to be sold within the next 3 months. Obviously I am not selling the house as such but I am transferring it to the bank and then the bank will sell it. PRTB have advised that I can use this as a reason as I know that the bank will sell the house.

However, PRTB advised me that I cannot issue a Termination Notice during a fixed term tenancy and that I can only issue a notice to take effect from the day after their lease expires. I had planned to issue a Termination Notice to coincide with the expiry of the lease. Can someone please respond to let me know if this is correct or if I can issue a Termination Notice now prior to the end of the Lease but with a Termination Date which is the same as the lease expiry date or do I have to allow them to remain and issue a Termination Notice for after the expiry?

As the PRTB have told you, you cannot terminate the fixed term lease (unless you have a suitable break clause, which you probably don't). Therefore, you cannot serve a valid Notice of termination which will expire before a fixed term lease expires. IMO, you have misunderstood what the PRTB have stated. You can serve the Notice today as long as it expires, at the earliest, the first day of the next lease period. In this case, the tenancy will be a Part 4 tenancy and under Part 4 rules you may evict a tenant for reason of the sale. However, do pay attention to ALL the requirements of a NoT for the sale of a rented property as a ground for termination of a lease.

Clever bank asking for vacant possession.

What bank is this?

Bronte said:

Clever bank asking for vacant possession.

What bank is this?

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Also, Did you get a fair/manageable deal from Mr Bank for going voluntary route?

Gerry Canning said:

Also, Did you get a fair/manageable deal from Mr Bank for going voluntary route?

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And was it agreed that one's auctioneer and solicitors fees could be deducted from sale price !