If you have been asked to leave in writing or even just verbally, check your rights and options with us before you leave home. How and when a landlord can tell a tenant to leave is determined by housing law and depends on the details of your situation.
Is your Notice valid?
If you are a tenant paying rent, then normally a landlord is required to provide at least two month’s notice in a prescribed form. Always keep a copy of any correspondence you receive from a landlord or letting agent. A Housing Options officer can let you know if a notice you have received is valid.
You can find more information about notices Shelter's website
You can find more information about your rights when renting privately at www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/Privaterenting/index.htm
When do you have to leave?
It is important to realise that you do not have to leave your tenancy when your notice comes to an end. Your rights to occupy do not cease until a landlord obtains and executes a bailiff’s warrant. If you need more time to find somewhere else to live then you are not breaking the law if you stay in your home beyond the notice expiry date. However, you will remain liable for any rent which is due.
Tied housing
If your accommodation is provided as part of your work, then your rights to housing may also be affected by employment law. Bring a copy of your employment contract to any appointment you have with a Housing Options advisor or if you are seeing a Citizen’s Advice Bureau advisor.
Lodgings
If you live in the same house as your landlord then you have less rights and your landlord is allowed to give you only ‘reasonable notice’, which can be quite short. Ask us for advice.
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