Tommy1000

Indeed - pretty standard TopTree post.

There's certainly a fair degree of ambiguity here - not the OP's fault but because of the contract's drafting. Based on the info provided though, I'd be inclined to agree with Kid Kruger's advice. And this purely on a practical basis; it would be very surprising indeed if the estate agency pursued you. KK's advice about being as clear as possible (and implicitly documenting it) about your dissatisfaction is also a good one - you would have a paper trail in the very unlikely event that the agents did pursue you. On the legal side of things, contractual interpretation can be a difficult one, especially when it's (based on what you've said) vague in some areas and silent on others(!) On balance though, my view would be that you're entitled to serve three weeks' notice. Silver fox makes some valid points around the possible intention behind the wording, but I wouldn't be sure at all that it can't possibly be taken to mean a 3 week contract. The estate agent that sold my flat 2 months ago took it on on a 3 week contract, without complaint. So it's perfectly plausible that agencies view 3 weeks as a minimum amount of time to make good on their intiial advertising (etc) investment. You're right to flag the curious wording of the notice bit too: if it truly meant that the earliest that the contract could end was after 12 weeks, then why phrase the notice bit the way it's been written. Why wouldn't you say 'contract is for a mimimum of 12 weeks, and at any point after expiry of 9 weeks, 3 weeks' notice to terminate may be given'. I'm not sure how much weight should be put on the word 'minimum'. Think about a residential lease that's phrased as a 12 month contract but with a 1 month break which may be served after 6 months. You can call it a 12 month lease / contract all you like, but it's not really as either party can effecitvely terminate on 7 months. Finally, one of the key things in contractual interpretation is the 'intention of the parties'. What did you think the sole agency period was when you signed up? If, in reality, everyone thought it was 12 weeks and there are e-mails or another form of communication to support this, then you could run into trouble if they did take legal action. If (in the unlikely event that) they did take legal action against you, you'd like to think that anyone looking at the contract wouldn't interpret their poor drafting in their favour.

I would say now is a good time to sell, given what's happened to prices in South East London! Depends also on where you're moving to I guess (if you need to sell to move), as you could sit tight in the hope that property prices continue to rise as fast as they are. This of course won't be such a good idea if you're upsizing in the same area. Some think that we're in the middle of another property bubble that will burst so, if they're correct, now would be a good time to sell! Having bought this year, I hope that;s not the case, but worth considering. In terms of more specifically which month / season etc, I'm not sure it will make much difference - there's still a shortage of property on the market...

unklereemus, I should try and notify the landlord of the problem, if you've exhausted all possible routes with the neighbours themselves. Do you know the landlord's identity, or at least which letting agency was used to let the property? When you refer to the council, are you talking about the Southwark Noise and Nuisance team? I'm not sure that's right that just because it's not music it's not under their remit... Once you've exhausted all the other options you could consider suing them in the magistrates court: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theoneshow/consumer/2009/05/19/how_do_you_deal_with_noisy_nei_1.html