Deed of Surrender – Landlord and Tenant Q&A

If you disregard the Deed of Surrender, then in effect you are accepting that the AST continues.
As such the notice must be a s.21 notice giving the usual 2+ months notice before starting court proceedings.

But could a really tricky tenant then produce the Deed of Surrender as proof that the tenancy was ended and replaced by a new one? Tenancy periods would likely be on different dates so that could be used to claim s.21 is invalid, and there would be the issue of deposit protection.

Reply to the comment left by “Romain ” at “20/02/2014 – 17:38“:

oooo, very good point.

Better to go straight for a possession order on the grounds of a former tenant trespassing despite having signed a Deed of Surrender on that basis I think.

By issuing a section 21 the judge might decide the tenancy ended and the new basis of tenancy is not a renewal at all, therefore extending the period in which possession could be sort to 6 months!

It would be very interested to hear whether there has been any case law on this point. From what I can tell, all we have so far are lots of logical, well educated opinions. It is the opinion of a Court of Appeal Judge which really counts as that’s what sets the legal precedent going forwards.
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After 20+ years may I ask please what are a Surrender Form and a Deed of Surrender?

The simple ansers are NO, YES and NO and Romain is correct in all he has said to date on this.

The double rent issue I assume someone else has commented on, this Statute from the Middle Ages that allowws double rent to be charged when the tenant does not vacate after surrender is deemed to have occurred. Course getting the money out of them is a different matter

@Freda

I was going to mention estoppel, a shield for the Landlord to defend himself rather than a sword to attack with. This is where the double rent comes in alongside it, the Landlord being entitled by estoppel to minimise his potential loss.

Reply to the comment left by “Industry Observer ” at “21/02/2014 – 09:49“:

A Deed of Surrender is an agreement (executed by way of Deed) between landlord and tenant to draw a line under their contractual and legal relationships at a given date and in full and final settlement of any claims against each other.

The above are my own words, not a legal definition.

For further information please search Google.
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By offering them incentive for all & sundry. A precedence will get set and we should not encourage this.

incentives were used under the old rent act and we all know where that ended up i.e. no private landlords and no Council building programmes and lack of mobility for jobs, family breakdown etc .

Reply to the comment left by “Mark Alexander” at “20/02/2014 – 13:48“:

I believe if you go back to the question posed, it mentions the tenant “changing his mind” – in those circumstances, I believe it is then up to the landlord to start possession proceedings.
Steve’s comment also assists – he will get someone to sign a relinquishment/ termination of tenancy as they are leaving – these are probably the only circumstances where it is worth doing this, as at that stage, there should be no question – he is going!

Reply to the comment left by “Sharon Betton” at “21/02/2014 – 13:06“:

Hi Sharon

Where I’ve seen a Deed of Surrender used is when a tenant requests to break a contract early. Landlord agrees subject to being able to re-let the property. Once a new tenant is found there is a negotiation about move in/out date. The landlord and outgoing tenant then sign the Deed of Surrender. I haven’t actually used this process personally but I understand that is relatively common.
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Section 18, Distress for Rent Act 1737 (depending on circumstances)