Shorthold Tenancy - Any advice would be great!

Stu_Nic

Hi all,

I'm a newbie to posting on this board, but have looked in in the past and read through various topics. I'll try to keep this brief.

Basically, we signed a 12 month assured shorthold tenancy agreement on the basis that around 6 months or so into it we would start having a look at houses to buy - as that is what we want to do. We had been keeping an eye on houses, and found one a lot earlier than expected which is a great price, and just what we are looking for - the sellers want a relatively quick sale so we put an offer in and got a good deal with it.

At this point, there are just over 6 months through the tenancy - and I made sure when we made the offer that I told the estate agents our exact position.

At this moment in time, we have applied for a mortgage which we find out about at the beginning of the week. BUT, when we saw the house I left a message with our landlord explaining the situation and I asked if there was any possibility of negotiating a notice period if we found somewhere. He got back to me today, and told me there was no way he would end it early, he wasn't a charity, it was about hard cash for him, etc.

I had hoped we could come to an agreement - where we would end early but on his terms but he is not interested at all. I can see his point, but I had just hoped there would be some good will as we have been good tenants. The outer back door of the property and the conservatory have also became structuraly damaged through weather damage 3 months into the tenancy and have been ever since with no updates from him - but I was prepared to wait on that as I always think these agreements are give and take.

So, that is the state of play - naively we did not add a Break clause to the agreement at the time of signing, and there is a no assign, sublet, or part clause in the agreement. We really don't want to lose the house we are looking to buy, but i don't think we could afford to pay the rent and mortgage.

My questions are:

- Is there any way to end the agreement?
- How long in your experience would it take for a house sale to go through (there is no real upward chain so we would be holding things up as it stands) where the mortgage is currently awaiting approval and solcitors are not in yet?
- Finally - his wife is the named landlord on the agreement, and she died a couple of months ago. Is the agreement still valid, or should a new one have to be created?

Sorry to have gone on, but I'm pretty upset with the call i got from him today - i wouldn't have minded so much if he hadn't shouted down the phone at me and made me feel like i was trying to rob him :-(

Thanks for reading this,

Stuart

Stu_Nic

Sorry for replying to this :-) but i forgot to mention that it says in the contract that 'the landlord may bring the tenancy to an end at any time before the expiry of the term by giving to the tenant not less than 2 months written notice'

Doesn't seem fair that he can and we cant!

Gorgeous_George

I'm a litttle surprised at his attitude but having lost his wife so recently, it's difficult to say just leave .

The contract you signed was for a year. the house sale may reasonably be expected to take two months. How much deposit did you pay?

IF you dcide to break your side of the contract, he would be unlikely to chase you for payment through the courts. I'd write to him offering that you will give him a month's notice as soon as you exchange contracts and will leav ethe house in such a condition that another tenant could move in fairly quickly. You could also offer to show prospective tenants around the property for him.

If he doesn't accept this offer you may choose to pay the mortgage and the rent. Personally, I would pay the mortgage and forget to pay the rent from the date you move out as I think the offer was reasonable. However, you would be breaking the contract.

I'm a LL and I wouldn't dream of being so inflexible.

Best wishes and good luck.

GG

thelawnet

You tell him you are leaving in one month. This is breach of contract, so he is entitled to charge you for his losses, but he has to try to let the property. So if he leaves it vacant for six months, and doesn't try to let it the court won't let him charge you. But you could be made to pay a few weeks rent, the costs of him not finding a new tenant.

Stu_Nic

Thanks for the reply - I can understand that its a difficult time for him. But then when something like that has happened to me, I tend to be nicer to people not the other way round!

We paid £575 deposit, and the monthly rent is £530 (which is by standing order so always paid). There are currently around 6 months left to run.

His attitude was that if we told the letting agents, then they could try to find a suitable new tenant but it would be on a higher rent than we pay as otherwise there is no advantage to him??? It really stunk to me, and I'm normally pretty fair - but his attitude (rightly or wrongly) is that he has a contract and he is getting that money or more.

I on;y asked him hoping that he would think well they're a young couple trying to get their first house, and we could negotiate something. I'm not wanting to sound like i'm being hard done to - just trying to see if i have any comeback.

Thanks again GG!

thelawnet

Stu_Nic wrote:

Thanks for the reply - I can understand that its a difficult time for him. But then when something like that has happened to me, I tend to be nicer to people not the other way round!

We paid £575 deposit, and the monthly rent is £530 (which is by standing order so always paid). There are currently around 6 months left to run.

His attitude was that if we told the letting agents, then they could try to find a suitable new tenant but it would be on a higher rent than we pay as otherwise there is no advantage to him??? It really stunk to me, and I'm normally pretty fair - but his attitude (rightly or wrongly) is that he has a contract and he is getting that money or more.

I on;y asked him hoping that he would think well they're a young couple trying to get their first house, and we could negotiate something. I'm not wanting to sound like i'm being hard done to - just trying to see if i have any comeback.

Thanks again GG!

I would send him a letter, telling him you are moving out in 2 months, or whenever you are moving. He is legally obliged to minimise his losses, so he would have to instruct the letting agent before you move out. Realistically you will lose your £575 deposit, but no more. Is £575 too much? I would have thought it's a reasonable price to pay if you have found the house you want.

Stu_Nic

I could handle losing the deposit if need be - the house we are looking to buy is at a good price so technically that money would be more than made almost straight away. My only concern is that if doing something like this could jepordise the mortgage we are going for? Would we need to get a landlords reference or anything like that for a mortgage? Would it be a black mark against me?

Sorry if these are silly questions, but I'm a first time buyer so feel a little bit blind to it all.

Thanks!!!

clutton_2

there are 2 sides to this tenancy situation - a tenancy agreement is a legally binding document - for the entire length of the term mentioned in the agreement - in this case 12 months, and each party has signed to say they agree to abide by its terms for the full 12 months.

This is meant to protect both of you - if the landlord had come to you after a few months and said "out you go" - how would you have felt ?" ~In effect, you are doing this to him.

As earlier posters have pointed out, a landlord can insist on your paying for any untenanted months during the whole of the rest of the agreed period - provided he has made efforts to find new tenants. if he finds tenants only for the last month of the agreed period for example, then you are legally resonsible for paying for the rest, whether you are still living there or not.

Clearly a man who has just lost his wife, is not in a stable frame of mind. Please be a little patient with him.

Why not write him a letter, this will give him time, in his own space, to consider the situation. IF you could find someone else to take over the lease, then at least he will not have to be troubled with all that, and his income will not be significantly reduced. Try to solve his problem of no tenants, and he may well cooperate with you. Tell him you will pay for the advertising, or letting agents fees, to help him.

But, bottom line, is, he is perfectly legally entitled to take you to court for the non-payment of rent, and if he does this, and wins, and you get a County Court Judgment against you (a CCJ) Lenders will avoid you like the plague, and those few that will look at you, will charge you HUGE mortgage interest rates.

Dont rush this, it may have a significant effect on your life for many years.

Stu_Nic

"This is meant to protect both of you - if the landlord had come to you after a few months and said "out you go" - how would you have felt ?" ~In effect, you are doing this to him. "

The landlord can do this though - all they have to do is give 2 months notice as i mentioned before!!! So why shouldn't we? It should be give and take, and not totally biased to one side.

noyk

If you have a fixed term AST it is highly unlikely that the 2 month statement is valid/enforceable - I think it would be classed as an unfair term and thus be voided. As you say it's totally one sided. Maybe someone with some legal training could answer this in more detail.
However, when you write your letter you may be able to use that to your advantage. You could say the 2 month notice being applicable only to the tenant is an unfair term and thus invalidates the whole agreement.

dougk_2

As with all contracts the only real time to negotiate is when you sign them. You probably would have been able to get a 2 month notice period clause added in originally if the LL wanted someone fast. Same principle applys with new jobs etc , if you want more money you negotiate before signing the contract of employment.

That said TBH by the time you go through the house buying process you will probably only have a couple of months left on your Tenancy agreement anyway - in practice even a "quick sale" usually takes 8-12 weeks through the house buying process before you actually move in!