Giving notice to quit
Your tenancy agreement is a contract between you and Ealing Council. As it is a legal document it is important that if you want to end your tenancy you follow the right steps, or you may end up paying rent after you have left the property. Your tenancy agreement requires you to give four weeks notice in writing to Ealing Council stating that you will be leaving your home. This process is called giving notice to quit.
How do I give notice to quit?
What happens next?
You will be required to pay rent up to the date the notice period expires. As your tenancy is a weekly tenancy, the notice period will be up to the last Sunday of the four-week period.
If you hand in your keys:
- during the notice period all rent charges will cease at the end of the notice period
- after the notice period has ended you will be charged rent up to the end of the week that the keys were received, or until Ealing Council has changed the locks, regardless of the notice period
Keys have to be returned before the end of the rent week (Monday to Sunday) for the charges to cease, but you can still hand in your keys before midday on a Monday to prevent that rent week's charge being added.
If you are in receipt of housing benefit, it is your responsibility to contact the housing benefit team to ensure you are entitled to benefit for the notice period.
What happens with my rent account?
If you owe the council any money for rent that has accrued during the tenancy, you should clear the balance or, if this is not possible, make an arrangement to clear the balance with your rent officer.
If the account is in credit, the council will make enquiries with the housing benefit office to check if there are any outstanding overpayments of housing benefit. Once this has been confirmed, the tenancy has terminated, and it is known there is no further rent to be paid, a refund will be issued.
What happens when a tenant of a property has died?
As soon as it is known that a tenant has died, the next of kin or representative of that tenant must notify Ealing Council.