Landlord dates

Landlording is a for the most part a fairly free wheeling business. This suits me fine. I’m not the best at remembering dates.

I’m now entering the final leg of my South East Asian odyssey. Having survived a brush with the ultimate humiliation in the Shwedogan Temple ( one of the Buddhists holiest sites ) by a nanno second. Note to self – avoid eating a bowl of Thom Kha noodle soup unless you intend to be within spitting distance of a toilet.

This incidence just highlights the importance that timing plays in all our lives. Get it even slightly wrong and it could really put you in the sh…, literally!

I have a recent enquiry from a landlord who was initially confused about granting a 6 month tenancy. Their interpretation was that a 6 month tenancy should start and end on the same date. I think I eventually persuaded them that if a tenancy commenced on the 14th February for instance, it will actually end on the 13th August.

Section 21 notice

The most confused aspect of landlording involving dates relates to a section 21 notice. Getting the dates right with this will depend on the type of tenancy. If you have a fixed term of 6 month tenancy or over to run, with more than 2 months left then it is pretty straight forward. The landlord just needs to give 2 month notice and the possession date needs to be after the tenancy period has ended.

Where it gets complicated is where the tenancy has become a statutory periodic tenancy because the fixed term has expired. In this case the date on the section 21 notice the date needs to be the last date of the rental period and at least 2 months after the date of service.

For more details have a look at our guide the section 21 notice.

Final rental payment

Another date issue that frequently causes confusion is the final rental payment. This is largely down to the calendar system left to us by the Romans where months are of different lengths. This means that even where the last rental period end at the end of the month a slightly different rent may be due. For more details have a look at this article on final rental payment.

Luckily for me there are not a huge number of dates that a landlord needs to get right, the ones above are the most critical.

I will be returning shortly from my travels and hope that at the very least I get the dates of my flight home right. This will be the seventh flight in 3 weeks and no hiccups so far!

All it remains for me to say is good luck with your landlording dates, romantic or otherwise.