Should I get my security deposit back?

mrpockets09

I have to give a months notice if I'm moving out, the tenancy agreement was until May but in the contract it states to give a months notice if moving out. Should I still get my security deposit back?

djimi

How long are you in the property? If it is written into the original lease that you can vacate with a months notice then it shouldnt be an issue as the terms of the original lease will still be in effect even if you have moved onto a part 4 tenancy, but if you are unsure about the landlord then perhaps give the fully required notice (42 days if you are there between 1 and 2 years) just to be on the safe side.

Of course, there may be other reasons for the landlord to retain part of the security deposit.

the world wonders

mrpockets09 wrote: »

the tenancy agreement was until May but in the contract it states to give a months notice if moving out.

It depends on exactly what your contract says but one reasonable intepretation of the above two points is that

1. the fixed term runs until next May
2. if you want to move out after next May then you need to give a month's notice

If this is the case then you will need to either find a new tenant to assign your lease to, or lose your deposit.

odds_on

the world wonders wrote: »

It depends on exactly what your contract says but one reasonable intepretation of the above two points is that

1. the fixed term runs until next May
2. if you want to move out after next May then you need to give a month's notice

If this is the case then you will need to either find a new tenant to assign your lease to, or lose your deposit.

That would be an illegal clause in a lease agreement. It is laid down in the RTA 2004 that a notice period may not be shorter than that set out in section 66-69, in particular, the table in section 66. Once a tenant has been in a property for 6 months to one year, the minimum notice period is 35 days; for between 1 year and 2 years, the notice period is 42 days.

However, tenant and landlord may, by mutual agreement at the time of the NoT or afterwards, agree to a shorter notice period.

djimi

Ill answer your PM on thread rather than in PM.

You say that you are three months into a 7 month fixed term lease, that has a clause allowing for either party to terminate the lease with one months notice (this only applies to you btw; the landlord cannot terminate your lease using this clause, regardless of what the lease says).

As Odds_on has stated, technically you cannot agree a shorter notice period in advance (currently it is 28 days, going up to 35 after 6 months), however as the landlord has written it into the lease one would imagine that they would honor it and not dispute it. For the sake of covering all of your bases however, I would give 28 days notice as per the RTA. The lease has a break clause, therefore I dont see why there should be an issue with the deposit based on it.

As for the condition of the property; its impossible to say whether there will be deductions without seeing the place. The landlord will inspect when you move out and deduct where necessary for repairs. You are entitled to a breakdown of all repairs and a receipt/invoice to account for any money deducted. A landlord cannot deduct where they cannot produce a receipt/invoice, nor can they deduct for their own time. If you wish to dispute any deductions then you will need to do so through the PRTB.