Q. Last year I agreed to rent a friend's property for 6 months. That was over 10 months ago and he now wants to sell the property and has asked me to leave at the end of the week. Can he do this?
A. There is nothing legally wrong in your Landlord asking whether you would be willing to leave at such short notice and, of course, if it suited you to leave then you would be free to do so. However, the point to appreciate is that your Landlord can not compel you to leave. Even though your initial 6 month tenancy has expired, you still have rights to remain at the property under the Housing Act and a Landlord must follow the correct procedure if he wishes to terminate your tenancy.
Q. What is the procedure and how long does it take?
A. This depends upon the nature of your tenancy and the full circumstances of your position. However, in general, where a tenant has not breached the terms of the tenancy (i.e. there are no rent arrears or other breaches of the tenancy) then a Landlord has to give a minimum of 2 months written notice that he intends to terminate the tenancy. The actual length of the notice has to be calculated very carefully and we would need more information from you to be able to give you specific advice as to how much notice you are entitled to.
Q. Whilst I don't want to cause problems for my friend, what would happen if I didn't have anywhere else to go after the 2 months notice period?
A. You would still be entitled to remain there. However, your Landlord could then have to take court proceedings against you. These proceedings usually take many weeks (sometimes months) to be concluded. Legally, therefore, your position is not as vulnerable as you may have initially thought, though clearly you should now start to look for alternative accommodation.
