Here is a blog clinic question from Giampiero who is a tenant from Italy:
Hello Tessa,
I’m an italian guy that 2 years moved to London to start a new job experience.
Last year me and my partner decided to rent a flat in Wandsworth Town. As we contacted an agency we had to leave a 6 weeks + 1 month in advance to start our tenancy. In this year we’ve been always punctual and available with our landlord and agency.
Our one-year tenancy agreement ended on the 21.06.2012.
After a couple of weeks I asked the agency for a renewal to sign another one-year contract and they said that are still waiting for a landlord’s response on what to do.
After one month I didnt get any answer from them and after many calls they told me that we are on a “periodic tenancy” and that they’re still waiting from a reply to a landlord (maybe he wants to sell our flat).
Until now I still didnt get any answer from them and I’m still paying my rent as usual.
On my contract it doesnt say anything about this periodic contract and it wasnt mentioned before anyway.
Now I’m looking for a new flat, but the agency said that we must give a 2 months notice first (so I have to pay 2 more months).
Also the tenancy deposit scheme ended (as written on the contract) on the 21.06.2012. Andit is worth of £1,440. Can we claim them back?
What should I do? Can I not pay them for the following month(s)? Is it an automatic thing to start a periodic tenancy? Why they didnt tell us before?
As I’m not from England i dont know how things works in these terms but I’ll be more than happy if you can help us.
You don’t need to worry too much about the >> periodic tenancy issue – you are quite right, it is an automatic thing. Under the law your tenancy will run on, on a month by month basis (assuming you paid rent monthly) on the same terms as before. So even though the fixed term of your original tenancy ended, if you stay on you still have a proper tenancy.
If your original tenancy ended on 21 June, then your periodic tenancy will run from the 22nd day in the month to the 21st. If you want to end this periodic tenancy, you need to give a minimum of one months notiuce, ending on the next 21st day of the month.
So the agents are wrong if they say you need to give two months.
So far as the deposit is concerned, yes you can claim this back, but not until you have moved out and the landlord / agents have had an opporunity to inspect the flat (ideally with you present). This is so that if there is any damage, they can make a deduction for this before returning the money to you.
If they make a deduction which you do not agree with , you can ask for this to be adjudicated by the tenancy deposit scheme used to protect the deposit.