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They replied
They should have called you. Idiots.
You probably should have mentioned in the previous post that you'd already agreed to leave earlier. Check your tenancy agreement - if it says you can give notice by email, well, you can understand how the LL might have interpreted that as notice, even if the format of the notice was unconventional.
Howard-
You probably should have mentioned in the previous post that you'd already agreed to leave earlier.
Maybe, but that was a plan originally hatched in December. And a lot has passed between now and then including multiple conversations about how a July exit date was obviously impossible (which alone in my mind nullifies any prior agreement), them not knowing what they were doing because they couldn’t sell the Mallorca house, Then suddenly finding a buyer for the Mallorca house, them not wanting to kick us out because they would continue renting the property if the moved to Scotland and only recently firmly committing to the idea of needing the flat back.
I don’t think it unreasonable under those circs to assume that any prior agreement has expired (If I’m wrong please tell me... I don’t want to be the asshole here). And isn’t the point of formal notice periods to mitigate against this kind of uncertainty?
For full disclosure, in the most recent conversations, spanning a couple of weeks or so, they have mentioned an October exit several times. Our response has always been that we are united in our ambition to move out as soon as possible, that we have an aspiration that this will be by October but that we will not be able to confirm the precise date until nearer the time and we know our official completion date.
As for whether my fiancé’s email constitutes formal notice, I don’t know but you now have me worried, I will re-check the contract.
ewanmac
Eugh... so we wrote a polite email to the landlords pointing out the legal status of the notice period and saying that they could officially serve 3/6 months notice if they wanted but that we wouldn’t be serving our 1 month notice until we had confirmed our completion date for the new property. Either way, the date would not be 30th Oct.
They replied copying in an email thread from February(!!!) saying “ you did give us official notice that you would vacate the property on the 31st July 2020 ” followed by some jibber jabber about verbal agreements, them doing us a favour letting us stay longer, saying we could live with my mum and “we trusted you”. In the email thread my fiancé indeed says “we would like to officially state that we can move out on 31st July 2020 at the very latest.” but that was 7months and a world ago.
I’m more than a little irritated and my fiancé is going to be an hour late for work after a fit of anxious apoplexy worrying about baliffs coming round and taking our things.
As the email thread says we DID have a prior agreement to move out in July, but no formal notice was lodged (at least I don’t think it was... we never received anything formal and I don’t think an email counts as formal notice in our part?).
Since then, in case they haven’t noticed, circumstances have changed somewhat. COVID meant our previous house purchase fell through, and also meant that our landlords could not sell their second home in Mallorca. We all agreed to sit tight and see what happens. Since restrictions have been lifting we have managed to secure a house, we have been friendly and open about our progress but have always stressed that we do not yet know the completion date. Also since restrictions lifted the landlords have sold their Mallorca house and flip flopped about whether they were going to move to Scotland (in which case they would continue renting our flat) or whether they want to knock through into our flat to make an extension. It was only a couple of weeks ago that they came back from Scotland having failed to buy a house and firmly deciding they wanted access to our flat.
Throughout this time we’ve been entirely friendly and open about our house buying but have always stressed that we don’t and can’t know the final completion date until the house is built.
And the suggestion we could live with my mum is doubly irritating. Yes we have discussed that as an option but (A) that was pre COVID, my mum is vulnerable and sheltering, and my fiancé is only partially WFH and (B) it’s none of their fucking business.
Twats!
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