Residential Landlord and Tenant Law: terminating joint tenancies

When a Landlord grants a tenancy to more than one individual, the tenants will be joint tenants. In those circumstances, there will only one contract between the Landlord and the collective tenants. But what happens when one (or more) of the tenants want to leave and the others remain?

During the fixed term

A tenancy agreement will usually specify a period of time in which the agreement cannot come to end, i.e. 6 or 12 months. In theory, however, a fixed term can be any set duration of time. During this period, a tenant cannot usually terminate a tenancy agreement. If they leave the property, they would still be liable for rent due. Similarly, during a fixed term, a landlord cannot serve a section 21 notice.

An exception to the above is if the tenancy agreement has a break clause or if the agreement is surrendered. A break clause will set out how the agreement can come to an end. For example, all tenants must give notice in writing by a set date. Alternatively, the landlord and the tenants may agree to terminate the tenancy agreement early. . The landlord might charge a fee for this, depending on what the agreement provides.

A periodic (or ‘rolling’) tenancy

After the fixed term has expired, the tenancy will automatically become a periodic tenancy. In practice, nothing will have changed with how the tenants occupy the property: they do not need to sign another agreement; the rent will be due as it was before; they will still need to keep the property in good repair etc.

However, during a periodic tenancy, one joint tenant is able to serve notice (usually in the form of Notice to Quit), on the landlord. Provided the notice is validly served, gives a ‘reasonable’ notice period (usually 28 days) and is in writing, the effect of this notice will mean that the tenancy agreement has come to an end for all tenants. After the notice period, none of the tenants have a right to remain in the property.

In those circumstances, the landlord would be able to grant a further tenancy to the remaining tenant(s), but would not be obliged to do so. If the landlord does not consent to the remaining tenants occupying the property, they would be trespassing.

Conclusion

It is very easy for landlords and tenants to unknowingly serve and rely on invalid notices. If you would like assistance with serving valid notice or advice regarding a notice you have served or received, please contact our team on enquiries@ashtonslegal.co.uk