Here is a question to the Blog Clinic from Richard (not his real name) who is a landlord:
Hello, A fixed term AST was signed between myself (as Landlord of an HMO) and a couple (girlfriend/boyfriend). 6 month term. They continued to be tenants after the fixed term which therefore became a Periodic Tenancy.
The girlfriend decided to leave, but the boyfriend stayed. He moved from the double room they were in to a single room. Between us, we signed a new Fixed term AST as he was now in a smaller room and on his own etc.
The date the new fixed term AST was signed was not on the same ‘day’ of the month as the original joint contract. Over six months have passed so I presume his tenancy is now ‘Periodic’. Do you agree with my presumtions, or do you see a problem?
The reason I ask is that I am considering issuing a Section 21 4a Notice to Quit and would like to feel confident that there is unlikely to be a problem if the tenant does not leave at the end of the 2 months notice. Thanks for your help on this.
When your tenant moved to another room this was a complete new tenancy, and not a continuation of the old one, becuase if was a new property. Although it was in the same house, it was a different room.
I can’t see that it makes any difference, so far as the new tenancy is concerned, what date it is signed, and I don’t think there is any obligation to make the two tenancies run on. As I said, the second is a completely new tenancy and unconnected to the first one (other than the fact that the two are for rooms in the same house!).
So if the tenancy started on 4 April and was for six months it will end on 3 October. The fact that the earlier tenancy ran from 15 January will be irrelevant.
The six month rule is that the Judge cannot make a possession order take effect during the first six months (there is nothing to stop you applying for possession during those six months for example). So altough the rule will apply to the second tenancy of the room (as it is a new tenancy) it should be fine for you to serve the section 21 notice now. Almost certainly, if you have to go to court, the six month period will have ended by the time the case comes before the Judge.
By the way – a techical note – a section 21 is not a Notice to Quit. A Notice to Quit is a completely different type of notice which you use for protected and common law tenancies. It is best not to get them muddled up!