Tenant gave notice then changed his mind?

A notice to quit by one tenant of a joint tenancy applies to all tenants, so does the payment of rent (mesne profits)

Firstly, give him notice of the rent going up by as much as you deem necessary to encourage him, unless you’ve done that in the last 12 months.

He’s probably looked around and seen that rents are so much more than he’s been currently paying and hence needs to stay. Also there is a massive shortage of good properties . You can understand if you really need to get a place and you’re struggling to find one. However, there is no Confirmation that he will even move out in five months. You can serve a section 21 in reality. The courts will still give him between six and two weeks to vacate and you have your wait until the court date. So start planning accordingly. If you find he doesn’t pay the rent for two consecutive months, you can deliver in a section 8. On grounds of no rent. The courts will only give you the property and the cost of the court which is about £380. You will then have to pursue him in the courts again for a CCJ award. Of course he could be hoping that you’re going to give him some money to leave. Bearing in mind the current market I wouldn’t hang about because by the time you’ve done all that hopefully prices would’ve gone up according to the forecast.

If the tenant has been a good tenant, the properties in good order, and he’s been paying regularly on time, plus you’re in no need to actually sell the property then why not just give him an extra few months. Conversely, if none of this applies, get your legal actions in place.

Here the tenancy ends on the agreed date. You should then issue possession proceedings as soon as the date for the tenant to leave has passed. The claim should make it clear that the tenancy has ended.

A possession order should be made as long as there is evidence that a notice was given.

Thank you for all your help. I increased the rent within the last year so can't do so for a while. He needs a bigger place - the current one is one bedroom - as he has acquired an 'internet bride' who has a child so he needs a two bed place. She has her visa but the child's one is taking longer, hence his wanting to delay paying for a larger place.
He has been a good tenant though always managed to knock me down when I increased the rent. He won't move further out of London as it will impact his job. I was going to issue the S21 as I need to sell, as I said. His change of mind has already wasted time as I would have issued it in early January. I was going to do it in December but wanted to 'be kind' and not do it before Xmas. As somebody said I don't want to make our relationship more difficult by issuing it now. I may as well wait for 3 weeks and do it if he doesn't move out when he first said he would. It is such a painful process to get my properties empty for selling. And this is before the S21 is banned. I am very happy to be getting out of this business.

Look up “Mesne Profits”, which is what I think Robert Mellors may also have referred to. I found the link below on the Shelter website.

https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/costs_of_renting/rents_and_rent_increases/payments_after_tenancy_ends#:~:text=ends.%5B3%5D-,Mesne%20profits,the%20former%20tenant%20was%20paying.

Without being a solicitor. If he refuses to move out on the date he said, don't issue a S21. You need to go straight to the courts at that point.

If you issue a S21, one of two things will happen I guess (and it is a guess).
1 The court will reject it because there is no tenancy in place - it already ended. You will have wasted a chunk of time.
2 The court will decide you have entered into a new tenancy, which must be a minimum of 6 months so they they will still reject your S21 and he will be entitled to stay for 6 months.

If you don't understand what people are saying above about the tenancy ending if he gave valid notice, then you probably need some professional legal advice.

I also suspect he can't just satay on for a couple more months. The tenancy will end whether you like it or not I think. Your only option may be a new tenancy of minimum 6 months.

If you put the rent up you are in danger of implying a new tenancy.as you will have to send him an S13 rent increase notification.

Look up Doctrine of Estoppel. If you have acted on the Tenant's notice and incurred costs, making arrangements etc, he should not be able to simply renege on that agreement and mess you about.

In your shoes I would find a housing solicitor and get a good letter written to the tenant asap to spell things out to him, and the consequences for him of not moving out, whether that's mesne profits, court costs etc. A solicitor's letter can be very effective to make a miscreant take notice.

The cost of obtaining that legal advice may pale into insignificance to give you peace of mind for potentially weeks more of anxiety and possible cost.

Let him know the double rent clause - it should be enough for him to decide to go but.... if he does no then you are looking at months to go through the court. My last one took 18 months by the time the bailiffs and police evicted him and cost me £25 grand.
Don't complicate it by saying you have another tenant say that you are going to sell it. If this is the reason the judge has no discretion they have to grant your re-possession. Poor you what a hassle

Reply to the comment left by Alison Walker at 25/01/2024 - 17:39
yes, providing it was a joint tenancy. if they are named on the same tenancy agreement then it is joint and several, If one tenant serves notice to vacate it would apply to the other tenant/s as well