Notice Period

cson

Hey folks, looking to see if someone could shed some light on this for me; been served notice recently and its 43 days. Facts first;

- Myself and one other tenant have been in situ since Q4 2011 (3.5ish years)
- Our mate moved out in Q4 2014 and we got a new tenant in
- Been signing fixed term leases for 1 year duration since we first moved in (i.e. when the original expired, we signed a new 1 year agreement and so on so forth)

Basically what I'm wondering is if the lease we signed in Q4 2014 is considered a new lease (with the new tenant) in which case the landlord is within the notice period required ( < 6 months; 28 days) or the other case (which I'd believe to be correct) that it should be 84 days for myself and the tenant who've been there since 2011.

We've a decent relationship with him but that's a very tight notice period given the rental market so I'd like to have the insurance of the longer period as I think it'll likely take that long to find somewhere suitable.

Cheers for an insight in advance.

unklerosco

Might be an idea to contact these guys.. http://www.threshold.ie/advice/

dori_dormer

If you signed a fixed term 1 year lease he can't ask you to leave Unless you broke some terms in it.

You shouldn't have needed to keep signing leases, you could have just stayed on after the first one on part 4 rights.

The 84 days would imply you are in a part 4 situation. Which you are not if you signed a lease

Edited to add: what does the lease say?

cson

dori_dormer wrote: »

If you signed a fixed term 1 year lease he can't ask you to leave Unless you broke some terms in it.

You shouldn't have needed to keep signing leases, you could have just stayed on after the first one on part 4 rights.

The 84 days would imply you are in a part 4 situation. Which you are not if you signed a lease

Edited to add: what does the lease say?

Fixed Lease of 1 year from 1/11/2014; no break clause specified.

Got in touch with Threshold and they said we should be within our rights to stay.

The only real doubt I had was the new tenant for this lease, but 2 of us are there for 3.5yrs so I don't think that should come into it?

cson

Hey folks - Landlord seems to be pretty adamant about moving back in; what's the next step in terms of preventing this? Threshold and a mate of ours who works in a law firm have advised the Fixed Term Lease Agreement is good. Time to involve the PRTB & some type of staying order?

Michael D Not Higgins

Open a dispute with the PRTB. The landlord cannot evict you with a pending case.

MarkAnthony

While my assessment FWIW is also that you're within your rights to stay I would also suggest engaging with the LL in relation to moving now and being compensated for doing so. You may simply find it's less hassle all round but it's your decisions, of course.

zl1whqvjs75cdy

If the landlord gets blotchy you may need to fight for your deposit too. O Irish rental market is great.

cson

Thanks for all the advice folks.

Our lease agreement was downloaded from here -> http://www.topfloor.ie/freebies/lease

Which clearly states you can't break a fixed term lease, so I think he was chancing his arm. Law appears very much on our side for this one I think.

I'm open to working with him on it but given the state of the rental market and the fact we'd have to sign up to a new 12 month-er I'd probably be looking for him to make up the difference between what the new rent would be and what we're currently paying if we found a suitable place - I'd think that's fair enough? There'd have to be some sort of incentive for us to move.

The_Conductor

Sorry- you're asking him to pay the difference between what it might cost you to rent somewhere else- and what you're currently paying him as his tenant? That could be a massive amount of money (depending on how long you expect him to subsidise your accommodation for).

You're really playing mindgames with a suggestion like that.

There seems to be a confusing mishmash of a fixed term tenancy, Part IV rights- and a new flatmate who is there less than 6 months.........

A Fixed Term lease- is a legally binding agreement.
A landlord can offer to buy you out of our lease for a small amount of compensation. It is not a piggy bank- or a carte blanche to demand unreasonable sums of money from your landlord.

If your landlord has not reviewed your rent- new lease notwithstanding- and you come up with a demand that he pay you the difference between what it'll cost you to rent elsewhere- and what you are currently paying- you are enumerating the current market rent for him- and he is within his rights to charge you the higher amount for the remainder of the lease- and to advise you that he is seeking vacant possession for the purpose of living there himself at the end of the lease.

If you try to pull a fast one- you are risking simply telling the landlord what the current market rent is- and if he has not done a rent review- he is entitled to do one- and you have no mechanism for refuting it- as you've determined for him, what the increase is.

If you come up with a token gesture- 84 days notice, last month rent free, and you move out on an agreed date- it might work for everyone.

Be fair and reasonable. You have a good card to play (the fixed term lease)- however, if there was not a formal rent review- you risk him turning round and thanking you for reviewing it- and setting the rent at the level you have determined for the remainder of the lease- after which you'll have to vacate the premises anyway.........

Best case scenario you get to stay a bit longer- and possibly get your last month's rent free. Worst case- you overplay your hand- and he doesn't bite.

cson

Nope not trying to play mind games at all; rent went up at the start of this term (second consecutive increase), probably still a little under market rates however. It's finding a suitable place that's the kicker; don't want to move into a hole and we're all about 20-30min walk from work so don't want to give that up.

I'm trying to gauge what's fair here; in my mind we've an agreement for the next 6 months and there would want to be an incentive for us to up sticks with all the hassle that entails - we've UPC contracts etc and all mail comes to the apartment.

We've essentially done nothing wrong and to mutually agree to terminate would be doing him a favour and causing us no end of hassle. I have sympathy of course, its his gaff at the end of the day but you have to know what you're getting yourself into being a landlord in this country - the law appears to be heavily sided towards tenants.

Michael D Not Higgins

cson wrote: »

Nope not trying to play mind games at all; rent went up at the start of this term (second consecutive increase), probably still a little under market rates however. It's finding a suitable place that's the kicker; don't want to move into a hole and we're all about 20-30min walk from work so don't want to give that up.

I'm trying to gauge what's fair here; in my mind we've an agreement for the next 6 months and there would want to be an incentive for us to up sticks with all the hassle that entails - we've UPC contracts etc and all mail comes to the apartment.

We've essentially done nothing wrong and to mutually agree to terminate would be doing him a favour and causing us no end of hassle. I have sympathy of course, its his gaff at the end of the day but you have to know what you're getting yourself into being a landlord in this country - the law appears to be heavily sided towards tenants.

UPC et al will transfer over accounts easily enough, An Post do a redirection service for 3 months for €65 (plenty of time to change addresses on your various accounts at your leisure). Honestly, these are hassles you would have at the end of the lease anyway so you can't really pull them into any discussions.