How To Move Once You Are Renting Without Cheating The Landloard?

UCDVet

I mean no disrespect by this, but I'm honestly confused...

My wife and I have been renting for the last 1.5 years (1 year lease, neither landlord nor myself has said anything - we just keep paying the rent). We're happy with the landlord and want to be upstanding citizens and all that, but I'm struggling with how we can move without throwing away a lot of money?

From what I understand, I need to give my landlord 6 weeks of notice before we can move out.

From searching online, we've seen a few places pop-up that we'd be interested in - but not frequently. Let's say, once per every three months, we see a property we'd prefer.

Ever place I find online is available immediately or within the week. Everyone I've asked has said that, no, they would not be able to wait for someone's notice period - they want a tenant now.

It seems like a catch-22....

* If I give notice now, odds are I will find nothing in the next six weeks. Then I'll be liable for costs my landlord incurs due to my not leaving (or I'll end up in a hotel or something). And, honestly, I can't imagine my landlord would enjoy the hassle of preparing for me to move out, only to find out that I couldn't find a new place - even if he would be entitled to compensation.

* If I wait until I find a place, then give notice, I'll be paying rent in two places for six weeks - effectively losing six weeks of rent (and I won't have the deposit from my first place until the ~3rd month of rent in the new place)

* If I wait until I find a place, then just move, I'll be cheating my landlord - losing my deposit and risking liability for additional costs my landlord would incur by my leaving. In fairness, the place is in top-notch condition, so I'd imagine the deposit would cover the inconvenience - so, arguably, this is the most efficient choice for me; but it seems morally wrong.

I spoke with many of my co-workers about this (I'm still fairly new to Ireland and wasn't sure how it all worked) and pretty much all of them had their own unique tales of what they had done. It seemed as though *nobody* (granted, I asked just five people) had a story that included them giving six weeks of notice, moving, getting their deposit back without issue, and not paying rent in two places.

So, am I missing something - or does everyone just accept that they'll be paying for two places when moving? Do a lot of people just leave their deposit behind and forget the notice period?

padma

What you could do as an option is to ring your landlord and tell him that your thinking of moving. Explain to him the current situation you are facing with your worries of leaving him in the lurch etc. explain to him that it would be great if things went smoothly time wise but if they don't run smoothly would he be able to accommodate the position you are in.

Try and ring. Chat to him about it who knows he may be happy to see you right in terms of a notice period. Not all landlords are hung up on technical matters and may be easy going about your situation.

awec

Are you sure you need to give 6 weeks notice?

6 weeks may be the legal amount (I'm not sure), but when I moved out of my last place where I had been for 18 months the landlord only wanted a months notice - and I actually moved out about 15 days early because I found a replacement tenant who was able to move in immediately.

Unfortunately, in these cases it's all about lining up dates. Unless you are very lucky with dates (as I was) you will end up paying rent in two places at once. You might not be paying for the full 6 weeks though, if you give notice and only find a place 4 weeks from now then you should only be out 2 weeks extra rent.

You will also be out of pocket as you will have to pay the deposit on your new place before getting your old deposit back most likely.

athtrasna

awec wrote: »

Are you sure you need to give 6 weeks notice?

The OP is correct, as no new fixed term lease has been signed they are in a Part IV Tenancy and the required notice period by the tenant is 42 days (6 weeks)

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/renting_a_home/types_of_tenancy.html

OP the best thing to do is to talk to your landlord and be honest with them. How they react to being told you've found somewhere you prefer depends on your relationship at the moment.

I would suggest that the next 6-8 weeks are not the best time to househunt if you're in a university catchment area

Pawwed Rig

Someone will have to lose out in this situation. I would assume that it is a similar situation in any other country. A landlord should be planning for the cost of an empty period and a tenant should be allowing for the cost of double renting (unless you can line everything up perfectly but this would be extremely difficult)

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

awec

Of course handing in notice is risky.

But if you don't hand in notice until you have all but secured alternative accommodation then you will be paying two rents for sure.

gurramok

UCDVet wrote:

* If I give notice now, odds are I will find nothing in the next six weeks. Then I'll be liable for costs my landlord incurs due to my not leaving (or I'll end up in a hotel or something). And, honestly, I can't imagine my landlord would enjoy the hassle of preparing for me to move out, only to find out that I couldn't find a new place - even if he would be entitled to compensation.

I've done the above before a few times. You've got 6 weeks to find a place, that's plenty of time. If as you say vacant rentals are rare in your area, you have to broaden the search as you are putting yourself in a stressful situation.

You have to set a deadline for yourself or you'll never move.