1 year fixed term contract no notice period on contract

[boggler]

Hi, I was wondering about the flat we live in at the moment. It is on an AST for 1 year having been renewed already once so we are now in the second year. Our next move will probably be in 2011 when we plan to buy a property. However our current contract is vague on required notice and only states:

Strictly with the Landlord’s or his Agent’s prior consent and subject to certain conditions that may include the Landlord’s reasonable costs associated with the re-letting of the Property, the Tenant may be allowed to surrender or give up this tenancy before it could otherwise lawfully be ended.

There is no mention of any specific notice period. This is very different to other contracts I have signed in the past where a notice period is mentioned. Does this mean that strictly speaking we can only leave the property at the end of the one year agreement in August? If for example we found a property in April, would we have to pay rent until the end of July or can we ask the landlord to accept 1 month’s notice? Or conversely if we found something in October could we not stay on for another 2 months?

[blitz]

You would be liable for the rent up to the end of the renewed term so if you didn't get the landlord to agree to ending the tenancy early you would need to pay up to the end. With regards to staying on further the landlord still MUST provide two months notice for eviction, and as no period has been stated in the contract you would need to provide a full rental months notice for leaving after the agreed term.

 

If you are thinking of staying on after the fixed term I would inform the landlord, but the ideal would be to give the landlord as much notice as possible (at least a month) especially if you try to get out of the contract early.