Renting and not happy

irishjohn

Hi Emma
No contract is "unbreakable" but as it is a contract, breaking it needs to be negotiated so that it has as little impact as possible on either party, you and LL.

I am glad to hear you do not want to see your children unhappy, but you must ask the question - will they find friends or be any happier when you relocate ay your company's request? Will relocating mean you can move back closer to the friends and family you mention in the original post?

Reduced travel to work and more money makes you the winner in the long term. If the children are happier you become the winner twice over. However, the Landlord signed a deal with you to put a roof over your head in good faith and you must consider him as well. Your home is part of his business which he uses to provide income and ensure he can live. Now he may have loads of houses but imagine if he has this sort of problem with a lot of them. One problem tenant may make just a little difference but lots could become quite a headache.

I am not a landlord, but I would like to think yours would prefer to negotiate with you rather than just be presented with a fait accompli when you return the keys and tell him you are off! Anyone doing the latter would really get me determined to chase them for justice, while someone willing to try and negotiate is likely to get a more positive response. If however negotiation fails, it will be up to you to weigh up and decide what to do for your best interests but to also be fully aware that there will be consequences. One certainty - it is unlikely you will walk away with no additional cost to you - so do whatever you have to to minimise that cost and enable you to move on without wondering if you will be chased for your liabilities under your contract.

MissMoneypenny

clutton wrote: »

if a LL suddenly told you to leave half way through the tenancy and you were "settled" - how would you feel ??

It happens all the time. People rent their house out but don't tell the tenant they are selling their house and still want to conduct potential buyers viewings. You refer to tenants who won't allow these viewings as "scroat tenants".

Unfortunately, until we drag our renting laws up to the level of our Eurpoean cousins, situations like this will keep arising. In some of the advanced European counties, a 3 year contract is given, but the tenant can break this (without penality) if they have a genuine reason, such as relocation of a job. Rents are also reduced if the tenants quality of life drops from things like slow or poor repairs, or road maintenance noise.

Checking for a break cause in your contract would be your best hope starey-eyed.

franklee

I'd like to say to the OP ignore the hysteria.

Do as Jowo and MissMoneypenny advise and check the tenancy agreement for a break clause which allows you to give notice to break the fixed term without penalty. These are quite common with one year tenancies, but obviously you may not have one. Worth looking for one for both the landlord and tenant as both should have similar rights to break.

Other than that it's a case of asking the landlord if there is any way he'll let you go early, he may agree if a replacement tenant is found.

Otherwise by the time you've arranged to move etc. there won't be much of the last six months left so hopefully you won't be paying too much of an overlap.

Fire_Fox

Starry-eyed wrote: »

Ok here goes. I have signed a 12 month rental agreement. I moved into the house with my two children (3 & 5), and the house is a distance away from my work, friends and family.

Now six months later, I just cannot settle. My kids have no friends, the travelling to work is getting me down, and to top it off, my work have asked me to relocate to another area. The money is better and I'd be a fool not to take the job.

However, my landlord is insisting on the 12 month saying that it will cost him money to find someone else and he has paid a fee to his mortgage company.

I just don't know what I can do. What are my options?

Thanks

Emma

If there is no break clause write to the landlord (recorded delivery) and state that you need to surrender the tenancy early. You will have to pay all his out of pocket expenses, plus rent until he finds a new tenant - by the sound of it this could be quite expensive unfortunately.

clutton_2

Miss Moneypenny how you so enjoy twisting my words

""You refer to tenants who won't allow these viewings as "scroat tenants"."

the only tenants i have ever referrred to as "scroats" are those who deliberately dont pay their rent - and then abscond.. i.e. those who steal public funds (LHA) and then dont use it to pay for their housing

you, and everyone else, should be calling such people scroats - they are stealing our taxes...

azkaban420

Starry-eyed as has been mentioned before, if your workplace are asking you to re-locate, they should have some provision in there for moving/re-locating expenses. Have you spoken to them about your rental situation? You might be able to find some happy medium where your employer will be willing to cover some/all of your moving costs including rental payments for breaking the contract with your LL early.

Failing that I would also speak to the LL and see if you can both come to some suitable arrangement for leaving early. It is obvious that you're not happy where you are, and at the end of the day if re-locating/new job/house/place means a happier family, then it might well be worth taking the loss in remaining rental payments on the chin and moving on if you can somehow afford to?

Good luck.

Az