Me and my girlfriend are moving out of our home shortly as we have just put an application in for a house near Birkenhead.

And we called into our estate agents today to pay our rent and give them a months notice from today but they have told us we have had to pay January rent which means we have to stay till then. So that means its a month and 3 weeks we have gave them, is this right?

Also our tenancy agreement which we have run out on the 31st July 2009 and we have not signed any others.

Please help if you can.

even though you agreement ran out I am sure you are still protected by it as is the landlord.

the tenancy agreement should also tell you how much notice you have to give, a month or 2 usually

They try this on, citizens advice are usually wizards at sorting them out. Check your tenancy agreement, there is usually the initial tie-in time (eg 6 months) then the ongoing contract which is often biased slightly against the landlord (eg you have to give 1 months notice yet landlord would have to give 2 months).

Out of curiosity could you PM me the estate agents name, unless you want to plaster it on here.

I don't see where you get the 3 weeks from, are you a week behind on the rent? I hope you gave them written notice, if not do it it tomorrow regardless, that will preserve your rights, whatever they may be.

Yeah we paid a week late as it was the only time we could get there today. The estate agents is Bakewell & Horner

Sorry, I think if you are late with notice then they might have got you by the bits there mate. Still be worth a check with Citizens Advice if you can get to them.

Never heard of B&H being underhanded, quite the opposite, but of course the credit crunch puts the pressure on everybody.

We didn't get the keys till the 9th February but they have are tenancy agreement as the 1st February, is this right as this makes things different as we have gave them notice from today which is before the 9th.

Did you sign the agreement on the 1st or does it just state that rent is to be paid on the 1st of the month, if you signed it on the 9th and that is the date next to your sig then you have cracked it, they haven't got a leg to stand on.

If not your easiest option maybe to try and negotiate a later start with your new landlords, especially if you can offer some cash up front to show your sincerity.

I had the opposite to you, just went in to check a couple of details and had the keys thrust into my hands for them to get the date as early as possible, two days ahead of when I planned.

Yeah we signed on the 9th

At one time, most citizens advice places would resolve this in one phone call, I don't know if it is that simple these days.

If you haven't notified B&H in writing, do so, pop it through the door in the middle of the night if you have to, mention tenancy start date as 9th of whatever, date you intend to leave, and the date of the notification, don't bother going to town and defending your opinion.