re-letting fees

Jen0708

Hi

Hopefully someone can help me out here.

My friend and I have been renting a flat since 28th March 2008. The intitial contract was for 6 months, after this period we asked to renew for another year but were told by the agent that the landlord was unsure what to do with the property so would only commit to 6 months more after which we would go on to a periodic contract. As this doesn't give us much security we have been looking else where. We have found a property that we love and would like to take. However our Shorthold Tenancy Agreement is until the 27th March 2009, as this is 2 months ago we risk losing the new flat.

Our contract says that we can leave early if the landlord gives us written permission. I contacted the agent to ask if this was possible and they said the following:

If you wish to terminate your contract early, subject to the landlord agreeing, you would be liable to Pay for the re-letting fee and be responsible for the rent until a new tenant moves in.

The re let fee is approximately one month’s rent, as it is only a month early that you wish to leave
I’m not sure that it will be worth paying it as we will have no guarantee when a new tenant Is found.

I can't find anything in the contract that we have signed that says we agree to this... do you know if we are legally bound to pay it? Also, should we contact the Landlord directly and ask if we can leave early?

Thanks in advance

Planner

Jen0708 wrote: »

Hi

Hopefully someone can help me out here.

My friend and I have been renting a flat since 28th March 2008. The intitial contract was for 6 months, after this period we asked to renew for another year but were told by the agent that the landlord was unsure what to do with the property so would only commit to 6 months more after which we would go on to a periodic contract. As this doesn't give us much security we have been looking else where. We have found a property that we love and would like to take. However our Shorthold Tenancy Agreement is until the 27th March 2009, as this is 2 months ago we risk losing the new flat.

Our contract says that we can leave early if the landlord gives us written permission. I contacted the agent to ask if this was possible and they said the following:


If you wish to terminate your contract early, subject to the landlord agreeing, you would be liable to Pay for the re-letting fee and be responsible for the rent until a new tenant moves in.

The re let fee is approximately one month’s rent, as it is only a month early that you wish to leave
I’m not sure that it will be worth paying it as we will have no guarantee when a new tenant Is found.

I can't find anything in the contract that we have signed that says we agree to this... do you know if we are legally bound to pay it? Also, should we contact the Landlord directly and ask if we can leave early?

Thanks in advance

You arent legally bound to pay it, its just common (and fair) practice. If you refuse to pay it then the landlord will be unlikley to allow you to leave earlier than the 27th March. As in addition to this reletting fee, you will also have to continue paying rent until they find a new tenant, it could quite possibly end up costing you more.

Jen0708

Planner wrote: »

You arent legally bound to pay it, its just common (and fair) practice. If you refuse to pay it then the landlord will be unlikley to allow you to leave earlier than the 27th March. As in addition to this reletting fee, you will also have to continue paying rent until they find a new tenant, it could quite possibly end up costing you more.

oh ok, I thought the re-letting fee was paid to the agent not the landlord?

Premier_2

You've agreed to a teanacy agreement that ends 27th March 2009 and are therefore bound by it terms.

The LL/LA is offering you a way out of the TA and have told you their terms for doing so. You would not be told these terms in advance as they would have expected most tenants to abide by the terms of the TA they signed up to.

Your choice now is to either abide by the terms of the agreement you signed up to or take the offer the LA/LL has provided to end the agreement early. As the LA suggests, it'll probably be cheaper for you to just abide by the agreement you originally signed, but the offer is there to leave early if you want.

Notlob

Personally, the re-letting fee should be proportioned. As you only have one month left, it would seem fair if you only had to pay 1/6th fee.

Why should the landlord get the benefit of the other 5/6th as the LL would have to pay the full amount if you waited until the end of the current term? And what if the agent didn't find a tenant in time, same applies.

Notlob