Do tenants have 56 days to vacate property

Hi all,

I have tenants who have been renting from me for 2 years. During that time I have had to constantly chase them for rent due to me.

Anyway their yearly contract has ended and we have mutually agreed not to renew the contract as we both agree we cannot afford this situation to continue.

I am now owed 2 months rent at this stage to which i have been most accommodating about waiting for rent arrears. They receive rent allowance, so would it be a good idea to let the Social Welfare Office know what has been happening with my tenants conduct in this regard?
Extremely pleasantly happy man

I issued the tenants with a end of contract termination letter advising them they have 28 days to vacate my property and pay all arrears. The tenants are now arguing they have 56 days to vacate my proprerty, I have pointed out they have constantly broken the contract conditions due to no payment of rent and they are only entitled to 28 days notice.

Anyway they are still in my property 28 days later with no rent paid and no sign of them moving out. Please can anyone tell me who has the rights in this case as I have come to the conclusion my tenants just don't care.

Anyway all advice will be most appreciated.

Confused myself

chippy said:

I have tenants who have been renting from me for 2 years. During that time I have had to constantly chase them for rent due to me.

Anyway their yearly contract has ended and we have mutually agreed not to renew the contract as we both agree we cannot afford this situation to continue.

Click to expand...

There are two ways to look at this. I tend to side with number one but I'm sure other posters will differ, and I'm aware of the issues with point one (see last line of my post):

ONE: Did you have a Fixed Term Contract with your Tenants? If so, the tenants are required to advise you, in writing, at least one month before the end date of the term of that contract that they wish to remain in the property and avail of a Part 4 tenancy.
If they did not serve you written notice of this intention then they must vacate the property by 23h59 on the end date of the contract. You do not need to serve them notice to quit.

TWO: Regardless of your contract, the tenants have been in residence for more than 6 months which means they can assume the rights relating to a Part 4 tenancy. This means that they are entitled to a written notice period of either:
42 days (if they have been in the property between 1 and 2 years) or
56 days (if they have been in the property between 2 and 3 years).

In the event it is deemed that you have served them notice incorrectly, you will have to do it again, properly, with the date that you do serve it properly being the date at which the new countdown (42 or 56 days) starts.

The issue with point one is that, once a tenancy is in place for more than 6 months (and therefore becomes a Part 4 tenancy) no rental contract can include clauses or stipulations that conflict with the laws as per a Part 4 tenancy, so the notice period as per a Part 4 tenancy will then become enforceable.
The problem becomes that tenants on a Fixed Term Contract AND a Part 4 Tenancy can have conflicting rights and so therefore you should always err on the side of caution and go with the Part 4 Tenancy rules.

Bugger - think I just convinced myself that option two is better than option one. Sorry, chippy, not sure this post was much help at all!

I would certainly be in contact with their SW officer, though, to advise of the rent arrears.