6 month break clause

SManc

Hi

Im confused about my current lease as I am looking to move out and not sure if I am able to break it. I have a 12 month lease with the following 6 month break clause:

Tenant Break clause:

"The tenant shall have the right to terminate the tenancy at the end of the first six month period by giving to the Landlord not less than 21 clear days notice in writing to that effect and upon the expiration of such notice this agreement and everything herein contained shall cease and be void subject nevertheless to the right of the parties in respect of any antecedent breach of any covenants herein contained. The period of 21 days notice must expire at the end of a period of the tenancy being the 21st".

I have lived in my flat for 8 months, therefore the 6 month period has now passed and am worried that the above means that I should of given notice at exactly the 6 month date and if I didnt, I have to now wait till the 12 month end date.

If anyone can translate the above and provide some help, I would be grateful.

Thanks

Debt_Free_Chick

I interpret it as ....

You cannot give notice before 6 months has ended.

After 6 months, you must give 21 days notice, to expire on the 21st of any month.

So you would give notice on 1st December to leave on 21st December.

I would be inclined to bring the notice forwards 2 or 3 days, so give notice on 28 Nov to leave on 21 Dec

HTH

Gorgeous_George

Give notice now and leave on 21 Dec. The more notice the better as this gives the LL more time to find a new tenant.

GG

prudryden

A 6 month break clause means that you can leave anytime after 6 months with the proper (as per your agreement) notice.

jamesd

Not possible to translate with certainty because there are terms that are mutually contradictory, specifically:

"The tenant shall have the right to terminate the tenancy at the end of the first six month period"

Note "at the end of", a time that happens only once, on the exact day that the six months ends.

"The period of 21 days notice must expire at the end of a period of the tenancy being the 21st".

Note "a period" which implies that there can be more than one, while "the period ending at six months" is what it would properly be in the case of a single opportunity after six months (the period being monthly)

Tell your landlord that you're planning to leave but aren't sure yet and that you'll give formal notice as soon as you can, at least 21 days. Then the landlord will have a chance to object if they are going to, while you still have time to adjust your plans.

My guess is that this agreement is a botched attempt to create two consecutive six month tenancies without paying some third party fees for tenancy renewal.

SManc

The estate agent has said we have no choice but to stay in the flat until the 12 month period is up. They interpret it as saying we had the option to break at the end of 6 months and because we didnt we have to stay. They have contacted the landlord on our behalf and he is not willing to negotiate and believes we have to see out the 12 months.

The fact is, when we took the flat on, the original contract said 12 months and we made them change it to say 6 months as we never had any intention of seeing out a 12 month contract. We assumed it would be a rolling contract after 6 months but they have not worded the amended contract that way.

Is there any opportunity to take it further, seek legal advice? What would my chances be?

Thank you for your replies.

jamesd

Sounds as though you didn't read what you got and verify that it was what you asked for.

That wouldn't be uncommon; apparently I was the first tenant at the agency I used some years back who had ever read their contract before signing it. There were enough silly mistakes in it that I believed them.

You're not going to get anywhere here except with the consent of the landlord. The wording is sufficiently clear on the key point that the lack of clarity in "a period" isn't going to be sufficient to contest it successfully.

You could try offering money to see whether that interests the landlord.