Ending a tenancy early..estate agent? advice please

moomoo_2

hi..iam in a private rented house through an estate agent..i paid £595 deposit, and £495 first mths rent in advance when i moved in on may 11th,
i have been on the council waitting list for awhile now, and 3 mths into my tenancy a house becomes avalible and iam told i have to sign for it or go back down to the bottom of the waitting list.
I understand i have signed for 6 mths and iam responsible for paying the remaining rent if i moved ( tenancy ends 10th nov)

I called my estate agent and explained the situation, he said the only way the landlord would let me out of the agreement was if i paid the remaining 3 months upfront when i moved and £295 + vat re- marketing fees...

i said i would pay the remaining rent (which when 11th august rent
gets taken from my bank i will only owe 2 mths rent) intill they found someone else to move in,but couldnt afford it all in one lump, but hes still saying this is the only way, i dont think he has even asked the landlord,

is this law i would have to pay it all together? and the remarketing money..seems abit steep has its only being brought forward and would have to of been paid when i moved out in november anyway?..i understand out of pocket fees etc, but just to put the same photos etc in there window and on the internet??

I asked for the landlords details so i could contact them myself and explain the situation.. he refused, saying he couldnt do this because he was acting on behalf of them. Isnt it law i should be given their details if i ask?

im thinking if i moved out on the 18th september which is about 6 weeks away, and about 7 weeks before my tenancy ends, i could of paid all 6 mths rent that i would owe before i even moved out... could he say anything about that? and still ask for re marketing fees??..

I had to have a gaurantor (sorry wrong spelling) whan i moved in who is my aunty and would hate anything to fall back on her.

any advise would be great, thankyou x

moomoo_2

sorry moved in on the 11th may...

sequence

Why would you pay re marketing fees if you are paying rent for the full term, if you're paying rent till the end of the contract then you needn't pay re marketing fees.

BitterAndTwisted

It sounds to me like the agent is making things up as they go along. There's no reason to pay the balance of the rent to the end of the tenancy agreement in one lump sum, in fact once you've done that there will be no compelling reason for the LL or the agent to remarket the property will there? The fact that you have a guarantor suggests very strongly that they won't attempt to find a replacement tenant until your tenancy agreement ends.

Give them notice in writing that you wish to vacate at the end of the agreement and continue to pay the rent monthly as you do now.

tbs624

moomoo wrote: »

hi..iam in a private rented house through an estate agent..i paid £595 deposit, and £495 first mths rent in advance when i moved in on may 11th,
i have been on the council waitting list for awhile now, and 3 mths into my tenancy a house becomes avalible and iam told i have to sign for it or go back down to the bottom of the waitting list.
I understand i have signed for 6 mths and iam responsible for paying the remaining rent if i moved ( tenancy ends 10th nov)

I called my estate agent and explained the situation, he said the only way the landlord would let me out of the agreement was if i paid the remaining 3 months upfront when i moved and £295 + vat re- marketing fees...

You wouldn't need to pay remarketing fees if you were simply going at the end of the Fixed Term, so why should you have to if you are paying the full remaining rent? The usual way it works is that if the LL agrees to the T going early then the T pays the re-marketing fees and remains liable for the rent only until a new suitable T can be found. The LL does not have to agree, but many will.

No training, no expertise, no qualifications required to set yourself up as an LA so it's not surprising that rubbish gets spouted by them.

moomoo wrote: »

I asked for the landlords details so i could contact them myself and explain the situation.. he refused, saying he couldnt do this because he was acting on behalf of them. Isnt it law i should be given their details if i ask?

You have to make that request* in writing* and the LL is then required (under the LL & T Act 1985, s1) to provide you with the info within 21 days of receiving your request. If he fails to do so, report him to the Private Sector Rentals Officer at your local Council.

It would be quicker though for you to pay £4 to the Land Registry and get the LL's name and address that way.

moomoo_2

He said i would have to pay the remarking fee because even though i have offered to pay the remaining 3 mths rent (2 on the 11th aug) he would still have to advertise to get another tenant in has i would be moving out early..say if they got someone else in a mths time, i would get the remaining money back, but i just cant afford to give it him all in one lump!! i was going to tell him just to keep my deposit, but knowing him he would find things wrong with the house and id still end up owing more!!!

HE DOES SEEM TO MAKE THINGS UP HAS HE GOES ALONG..THIS IS THE 2ND HOUSE i have rented off them...and had loads of problems, the first house mouldy windows, back door sweld and i couldnt open it, gas leak, and he did little to help..
when i first moved in there was areally old table in the kitchen but i had my own so he told me to put it in the garage and someone would collect it...i never used the garage so didnt know if it was still there or not...intill i moved out and he said the table was all scratched AND WROTE ON ( he did send me a photo..found out my sons friend had done it) and needed to be restored...it must of been woth £20 at the most, and he charged me £150!!!
i had to nag and nag for the receipt which was full of spelling mistakes...so ive asked to see a photo now..as i dont beleive the money was used for this....that was about 2 mths ago and still nothing....
tried to charge me for removing the curtain rail he said i could put up..filling two holes and re painting the whole wall!!! and a key safety box i knew nothing about...and wasnt even on the inventory!! Also are you meant to keep the inventory for afew days to check things..because on both houses hes followed my around with it and rushed me along.

sorry for going on about different things....

so i do not have to give him the remaining 3 mths in advance say i moved next week? as long as i pay intill he finds someone else?

thx again :-) x

One month after moving here, the toilet wouldnt flush and seemed bloked and the drain outside was running all down the garden... (later found out this was poo!!!!!)............he said the drains were my responsibility and if he sent someone out i would be charged.....had to call enviromental health who after afew phone calls found out because the house was pre 1930s it was upto servern trent...a very nice man came out and cleaned it all in 10 minutes...why couldnt he of sorted that?/..

Now the tv ariel hasnt been working for 8 days now...told him...and nothing!!...keeps saying he will get onto it.

moomoo_2

sorry repeated myself abit there..not sure what happened!!lol

N79

I don't have anything to add to TDS. Your liability is either re letting costs plus rent until the new T takes up residence or it is the entire rent to the end of the fixed period (which you can continue to pay monthly as it becomes due)

I suppose this is only a half hearted defence on these points but:

moomoo wrote: »

One month after moving here, the toilet wouldnt flush and seemed bloked and the drain outside was running all down the garden... (later found out this was poo!!!!!)............he said the drains were my responsibility and if he sent someone out i would be charged.....had to call enviromental health who after afew phone calls found out because the house was pre 1930s it was upto servern trent...a very nice man came out and cleaned it all in 10 minutes...why couldnt he of sorted that?/..

Maybe because you, as the occupier, have the water and sewerage contract with Severn Trent and not the LL?

Now the tv ariel hasnt been working for 8 days now...told him...and nothing!!...keeps saying he will get onto it.

TV aerials are not part of the LL's repairing obligations. You as a T are responsible to fix (or do without) unless your contract specifically states that the LL is responsible for the provision of an aerial so if the LL does fix then he is doing you a favour.

tbs624

moomoo wrote: »

tne month after moving here, the toilet wouldnt flush and seemed bloked and the drain outside was running all down the garden... (later found out this was poo!!!!!)............he said the drains were my responsibility and if he sent someone out i would be charged.....had to call enviromental health who after afew phone calls found out because the house was pre 1930s it was upto servern trent...a very nice man came out and cleaned it all in 10 minutes...why couldnt he of sorted that?/..

The LL is responsible for drains problems unless you, as the T, have done something specific to cause a blockage. See LL & T Act 1985, s11:

(1)In a lease to which this section applies (as to which, see sections 13 and 14) there is implied a covenant by the lessor—


(a)to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling-house (including drains, gutters and external pipes),


(b)to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for the supply of water, gas and electricity and for sanitation (including basins, sinks, baths and sanitary conveniences, but not other fixtures, fittings and appliances for making use of the supply of water, gas or electricity), and


(c)to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for space heating and heating water................................


(2)The covenant implied by subsection (1) (“the lessor’s repairing covenant”) shall not be construed as requiring the lessor—
(a)to carry out works or repairs for which the lessee is liable by virtue of his duty to use the premises in a tenant-like manner, or would be so liable but for an express covenant on his part ,

Using the property in a tenant like manner essentially means taking standard care, so if you threw things like nappies down the lav, or regularly poured cooking fat down the kitchen sink, and a blockage resulted the LL could look to you for payment of his plumber's bill.

N79 wrote:

Maybe because you, as the occupier, have the water and sewerage contract with Severn Trent and not the LL?

For drains from properties built pre- mid 1930s the "Water Board " has responsibility, but the LL should (a) know that , as it's his property and (b) have sorted the issue out rather than banging it down to the T. The OP doesn't say whether he came to inspect before telling her that she had to sort it out.

moomoo wrote: »

Now the tv ariel hasnt been working for 8 days now...told him...and nothing!!...keeps saying he will get onto it.

Sorry, I agree with N79 on that one

moomoo_2

even thought it is their tv ariel and was up when i moved in????
no he never came to inspect the drain...just said because i was using it ,it was my responsiblity..when the water board came out..it was blocked under the man whole thing under the ground...it was full with poo and he said no water had been running through there in awhile!!
the agent never even asked if i had it sorted!
thankyou for all your help x

kirstyjessen

I have had this before and I have been in the same situation of you. Have you still got your rental contract? It should say on their about cancellation fee if you haven't request a copy from letting agent and they have to provide this by law. When I left my last property 2 months before my tenancy I had to pay 2 months rent lose my deposit and also pay remarketing fee's as it was in my tenancy contract. You need to see your contract to know what to do. The other thing is that if you haven't got your tenancy agreement and you feel what they are saying is wrong you will need your tenancy as proof you have a legal right in probperty. Teh tenancy aggreement will also state who is reponsible for drains, repairs etc also. Let me know because I've been in this situation and could help you and i've ended a contract before tenancy ending 3 different times one having to just pay rent up front for 2 months one with losing deposit paying rent and fees and one where had to pay remaining rent and thats all. will help all i can