Question:
I have a tenant in my property 8 months, they have failed to pay their last months rent, I have tried to contact them, they are not answering my calls. How do I get my rent – can I terminate the agreement?
Response:
It is important that you know that rent must be paid to a Landlord at all times. In the first instance, we would suggest Landlords carefully monitor their incoming rent and immediately action if the rent is not paid.
A tenant is obliged to pay their rent in full and on time until the tenancy ends. This is the case even when a dispute has arisen between the Landlord and Tenant.
If the rent is not paid it is a breach of the tenancy agreement.
If rent is not paid in the first 6 months of a periodic tenancy or a fixed term tenancy with a break clause, you can serve a 28 day Notice of Termination without giving any reason.
In your case you will not be able to do this as your tenant is with you 8 months, if you want to end the tenancy because of rent arrears then a two-step procedure must be followed:
Firstly you serve a 28 Day Warning Notice in writing for failure to pay rent. The law requires that a tenant is given a reasonable time to remedy a breach. This can be different from case to case but should be at least of a minimum 28 days. If there is a build-up of rent arrears it may not be reasonable to expect a tenant to pay it within 28 days.
Secondly you Serve a 28-day Notice of Termination of the tenancy in writing.
If the tenant fails to pay the rent due in the time period given in the warning notice, you can terminate the tenancy by serving a 28 day notice of termination.
We suggest that you issue that above notices by express post for record of delivery.