Hassiotis v Jiang

The case of Hassiotis v Jiang involved a dispute between a landlord and tenant in the context of residential tenancies. The tenant, Mr Hassiotis, applied for a declaration that a termination notice issued by his landlord, Ms Jiang, was not issued in accordance with the relevant legislation. The tenancy in question was a fixed term agreement of 12 months, with an option for the tenant to renew the agreement for another 12 months. Mr Hassiotis exercised this option, but Ms Jiang nonetheless issued a termination notice at the end of the initial fixed term, seeking to terminate the tenancy and recover possession of the property.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the termination notice issued by Ms Jiang was validly given under the Residential Tenancies Act 2010. Specifically, the court needed to determine if the notice was in accordance with Part 5 of the Act, which deals with termination of residential tenancies. Given that the tenant had exercised the option to renew the agreement, the central question was whether the landlord could still issue a termination notice at the end of the initial fixed term, despite the tenant’s valid exercise of the renewal option.

In resolving the dispute, the court found that the termination notice was not issued in accordance with Part 5 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2010. The court held that since Mr Hassiotis had validly exercised the option to renew the tenancy agreement, the landlord was precluded from issuing a termination notice at the end of the initial fixed term. Consequently, the court declared the termination notice dated 31 May 2017 to be of no effect. The court extended the time for the tenant to make an application to the Civil and Administrative Tribunal, in line with the statutory provisions.

The final orders of the court were to extend the period within which the application to the Tribunal could be made, and to declare the termination notice issued by Ms Jiang to be invalid and of no effect. These orders ensured that the tenant could seek further relief in the Tribunal, if necessary, while also protecting the tenant’s rights under the renewed tenancy agreement.