Is oral termination valid?

Questioner

In 2012 our stable was empty, so we thought we could not rent out the stable, we heard through the grapevine that Mr. --- living in Bodegraven was looking for a stable and we got in touch with him, he was allowed to use the stable from us for half a year in 2012, this was without a contract and he paid cash, the last few years he has paid by bank. Every year we decided whether we would continue for another year. In the years that followed, he was allowed to use the stable all year round, paying per six months without a contract and paying in cash. Around 2018, when we stopped keeping sheep ourselves, he was also allowed to use another barn and the land, he paid cash and without a contract. Over the last two years we have received many complaints from neighbours that there were dead animals in the field, and he works very messily, broken fences, damaged drinking troughs and grids in the stable, rubbish everywhere in the yard and in the barns, in May of this year there were even negative reports in the press about a conflict he had with an animal ambulance about the care of animals in Kockengen. At the end of 2021 we decided that we wanted to stop working with the gentleman as of July 1, 2022 and that we wanted to use the sheds and the land ourselves again. Furthermore, my mother is turning 80 and the nuisance and hustle and bustle is becoming too much for her. My mother verbally informed the gentleman of this at the beginning of this year and repeated this to him several times in the months that followed. But after July 1, 2022, the gentleman refuses to remove his sheep and belongings (fences, wool, manure, etc.) from our property, he claims that he has rental protection, he has deposited the paid amount into our account again on July 4, 2022 against our will, we have immediately refunded it. Is an oral notice legally valid, or does it also have to be in writing? I read elsewhere that there is a one-month notice period for a stable or pasture, is that correct? What is the notice period for a stable for animals and a pasture if there is no contract/nothing on paper? He refuses to leave the property, may we remove his sheep and belongings from the property at his expense?

Lawyer

An oral notice period is legally valid, but evidentiary problems could arise. For example, if the tenant were to deny that notice was (ever) given. Are there any witnesses to the (oral) notice? Since the lease concerns a pasture with a stable, there is no question of rental protection that a tenant of residential space enjoys, for example. A notice period has been observed, so that is good in itself. There is no statutory notice period for the lease of pasture. A notice period may have been contractually agreed; but I assume that is not the case here. The notice period used does not seem unreasonably short to me either. If the gentleman refuses to leave, you would be forced to initiate proceedings in court to demand that he leave (with all that he and his family own).