Early Release fee from my 12-month tenancy agreement

clutton_2

OP - we have this self same question on here probably every couple of weeks - "how can i break my contract at the least possible cost" - thats the question ...... and we tend to answer it in exactly the same way as we have with you..

folks want to break contracts for many reasons, redundancy, relocation, relationship break-down, illness, etc etc

We rarely get involved in the professional details of the OPs circumstances, and indeed, it is not relevant... the question is "how to break the contract at the least cost to the tenant"

Folks' jobs are not relevant to that question - nor should they be.. as an AST contract is signed by two parties who both agree to its contents - otherwise why would they have signed it ? You agreed the terms, you signed, you must abide...

There was nothing stopping you asking your prospective LL for a 6 month agreement in case you got posted....

Some landlords are more accommodating than others, as are some taxi drivers, as are some customer service staff...

Some tenants are more accommodating than others..

I have a lot of respect for the armed forces, i have friends who have sons in the army and RAF, and my father was a soldier - but - i do agree with others that your occupation is not relevant to this particular question...

i can see that you wish it was...

Maybe your anger would more appropriately be aimed at the armed forces who made you move at such terribly short notice....

As a LL, when tenants give me notice i hardly ever make them use the Rental Period Dates.. as folks often have problems moving house on a particular day.. so i am usually flexible there. but i am not flexible in my remarketing costs if tenants want to break a contract.... as an early surrendering tenant may well have cost me income.. why should i have to accept that because they want to change the contract ?

You also dont know if your LL has had poor experiences with the letting agent you suggest...

In any case, what ever the arguements.. he can charge you.. and has chosen to do so

Please dont take it as any kind of insult towards your profession.. i cannot imagine that it is...

bw

Fire_Fox

Heliflyguy wrote: »

I think you are incorrect there, the OP is willing to pay the min £495.00 as per contract the LL seems to expect £820 + vat to pay his choice of agent, I would suspect some backhanders going on between the LL's choice of LA and the LL as the LL would be no worse off if he allowed the OP to use the less expensive choice of LA.

No less than £495 plus VAT being the key phrase: not maximum or exactly. Tenants cannot choose which letting agency is used, there are many reasons why a landlord might wish to (or not wish to) use a particular one. From where I am sitting the landlord simply expects the tenant to adhere to the contract - your allegation of a backhander is based on what?

Heliflyguy

Fire_Fox wrote: »

No less than £495 plus VAT being the key phrase: not maximum or exactly. Tenants cannot choose which letting agency is used, there are many reasons why a landlord might wish to (or not wish to) use a particular one. From where I am sitting the landlord simply expects the tenant to adhere to the contract - your allegation of a backhander is based on what?

Exactly, no less than £495.00 thats what he would be getting.
"I would suspect etc " based on the fact the LL would be no worse off if he took the OP's offer i.e no loss of income, I also base this on a (sorry know I should not) assumption from the OP posts that the LL manages the property so the LA would be used only to find a suitable tenant i.e credit check, references, ability to pay etc, print off and sign agreement.
I do agree that the OP has an agreement in place but I do see that from his point of view the LL could at least give a reason for insisting he pay the higher amount, I dont think the OP is trying to wriggle out of anything, just trying to save some money (MSE).
Let me ask you as an LL would you pay £820.00 + vat for an LA to find you a tenant?

Note_of_Dis-accord

Thank you for the debate so far it is really helpful to me. I do not see any post here as any sort of criticism of my profession. I only mentioned it as it the the single reason for the early move and the circumstances are important - to me they are. Of course LL does not have to be necessarily be concerned. I do not have any wish that my job was considered to be at the root of the issue - but a little bit of compassion regardless of your employment goes a long way. In fact there are other people who have made a bigger thing about my occupation and I have been entertained by the debate.

I am very pleased that someone has recognised the fact that I have no motive to cost my LL anything and I am in fact interpreting the AST clause to help reduce my costs without asking the LL to dip into his own pocket. I would never leave him or any other high and dry, it is not how I do my business.

On the question of the tenant finding fee, which is all it is and includes, inventory, credit and employment ref, handover of property and the collection of first months rent and Deposit and DPS registration - no I would not use an agent that charges this much. One of my properties is in a neighbouring city in which the agent my LL wishes to use has an office. I did try them, they couldn't find me a tenant so I went back to the agent I have used since 2002. They charged me 1/2 months rent + VAT and found me a tenant within a few weeks. The only difference was that I chose to register the deposit myself and do the inventory with the tenants, that would have cost an extra £100 not an extra £410 and really is a simple task.

I did post this thread in an attempt to see if I could save myself some cash; this is the correct site for this I presume?

I do agree that the question to answer is in the interpretation of my break clause not my job. It is not black and white as I have offered alternatives within the minimum. I would never use my job as an 'emotional tool' to seek to gain. I know this has not been suggested, but worth going on the record for.

Heliflyguy

Sorry Note of Dis-accord the question "would you pay £820.00 + vat" was asked of FireFox rather than yourself. I would add that if the LL was not prepared to accept the minimum payment then they should not have worded it that way, good luck with it all.

Note_of_Dis-accord

I thought it worth answering as it adds context to the discussion - thank you for your posts

clutton_2

a couple of weeks ago i had reason to believe that i may be moving from where i live (as a tenant) and i phoned 8 letting agents in the area i planned to move to.. i asked all of them to send me their T&Cs by email..... only 2 did.. Then only one Actually sent me any property details ... and that was the most expensive high-street estate-agent/letting agent, whose fees were far higher than the others..

i guess sometimes its "you get what you pay for"

maybe the LL here is making the most of his opportunity to make a little extra.. none of us know that for sure... all we do know is that he is not deviating from what his AST allows him to do....

OP - maybe when one of your tenants wants an early release, this thread will have provided you with different ways of viewing things...

Note_of_Dis-accord

thanks for sharing that experience, you could very well be right with that - I will bear that in mind should the matter arise.

Zoology_Dragon

Well I can see why the LL wants to use a particular agent. Our rental property is fully managed and we've just switched agent after a terrible experience with the first one. Wild horses couldn't convince me to change agent again having found a good one! All letting agents were not created equally let's just say.

blackshirtuk

Hi
just a quick thought to OP, did you rent the property from the same agents as LL now want to use?

If so then LL is using the agent because they find tenants, you obviously found the place through their advertising, high street presence etc,

If not then you may be entitled to go to the original agent and find how they would charge.

Hope this helps