Giving Notice When Moving

We've been living in our flat for over a year with no contract while the landlord has tried to decide whether or not he wants to get a new estate agent.     In the meantime, the rent payment still goes to the estate agent, but like I said, there's no contract.  DH last signed one over 2 years ago, shortly before I arrived.

Well, we're planning to move soon, we hope.  So, what kind of notice should we plan to give?  And who do we give it to?  We assume we should let the landlord know, not the estate agency - he's the one we've been talking to the last few months about repairs needed around here, like the new roof, etc., but how much notice?  A month?  Or should DH dig out his last contract and see what it says in there?

I tried to google to find out what the legal minimum might be, but came up with nothing...

If you are in England or Wales, you have what is known as a statutory periodic tenancy. Details of the required notice periods are here:

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/notice_to_quit.htm

Or if you are in Scotland, the original agreement is automatically renewed whether anything is signed or not, in which case you need to dig out your old contract and see what it says about notice periods.

If you're in N. Ireland, it may be different again.

Thank you Britwife, that is extremely helpful!  Especially the part about giving notice in writing...

Julie,

I think technically since you have not signed a new lease all you have to give is one month notice.  Hope this helps. 

Yep, that's what I think, too, from reading the link that Britwife gave and since we are in England.

Our landlord is a fairly easy guy to work with, and knows that we plan to move 'soon', meaning within the next year, which is part of the reason why he hasn't been in a hurry to have us sign a new contract.  When I wanted something to show accommodation for my visa (even though I wasn't asked for it), he was more than happy to sign a letter for me.  So, even though I was fairly certain he'd be happy with a months' notice, I wanted to make sure we had some legal backing on that!

Now we can just continue searching for a different (bigger) place to live.