When using Rent Now, you use our standard contract, which includes a four-month break clause under which either party can give the requisite notice to end the agreement.
How does it work?
The standard break clause can be activated at the four month point of our AST, by either party giving two months notice.
For example, assuming you are using the standard OpenRent contract that has a fixed term of six months and a break clause at four months, the break clause will work in the following way:
- Tenant or landlord will give notice to the other party on or before the four month point of the fixed term by giving two months notice.
- If either party gives the notice before the four months, it will only come in to effect at the four month point.
- The two months notice will be carried out as the last two months of the fixed term tenancy and the tenants will leave on the last day of the fixed term of six months.
This is also explained in Section 11.5 of our tenancy agreement here.
What does 'expire on the last day of a rental period of the tenancy' mean?
If the break clause is activated after the specified time period, eg at 4 months and 15 days, by either parties giving notice the following will happen:
- The notice will come in to effect at the next 'rental period' i.e the next time the tenant pays rent.
- This effectively means that the tenants will be liable for the rent for the next 2 months and 15 days (the 15 days being the remainder of the current rental period).
Does a tenancy have to include a break clause?
We advise including the break clause because we don't recommend having a fixed term which tenants (for whatever reason) can't get out of, and within which you as the landlord can't evict the tenants.
Although very rare, from our experience this is an extremely undesirable position to be in. In the worst cases, it can result in a substantial loss of time and money, and also increase the potential for damage to your property.
Editing the break clause
Although the break clause is there to protect landlords and tenants alike, we still give landlords the option to remove it. At the contract-signing stage of Rent Now, you will be able to edit the break clause and at what point it can be initiated, or you can remove the break clause altogether.
As always, we try and give you as much flexibility and freedom as possible.