Please Help. Can my Landlord do this?

JooJar

Hi guys, this is my first post (waves to you all),

So basically I moved into a 1 bedroom flat with my girlfriend, and I paid a whole year up front.

My girlfriend has a child, but he was with her parents because of our jobs it wasn't practical. We was working to save for a mortgage and be closer to her family so we have someone to look after him whilst we work.

Anyway, to cut a long story short. Her parents split up and we had to have her son come and live with us. This meant getting a bigger flat.

I explained this to the landlord that I was looking to move out because we had to look after my girfriends son. He left it a month before getting back to me.

When he got back to me he said "It's not my problem". I met up with him yesterday and he basically said that I have to pay rent, council tax etc etc until he can find someone else to rent the property.

He took the keys off me and said he needs them to show people around the house.

So ... now I am paying for a house I don't even have the keys for. And if he wanted to he could sit back for 6 months and not even look for a tenant leaving me at a £4500 loss.

I paid up front out of good nature to save everyone the hassle of it going through banks and stuff. I wasn't expecting to have my girlfriends son live with us, but this stuff happens.

Can the landlord do this?

It's not like I chose to move, I had to because the 3 year old needed his own room. The landlord would not have allowed us all to live in a 1 bedroom place. So it's a catch 22 sort of thing. The way he see's it is I lose either way.

I'm upset, depressed and angry at this. My head is telling me this cannot be right.

Look forward to your advice.

BitterAndTwisted

Your landlord most certainly can charge you the full rent until he has found new tenants to take over the property. BUT as long as you have paid the rent they are not entitled to relieve you of the keys so you don't have access to the property. Your change of circumstances are not the landlord's problem. However, judging them from how you describe their behaviour I'd hazard a guess that you'll have a fight on your hands to get any rent refunded from them.

Start putting everything IN WRITING to confirm your understanding of what has taken place to date, so should you need to take them to court to retrieve your monies you will have a paper-trail

Jowo_2

If you signed a contract to rent the property for a year and it did not have any notice period or break-clause in it to end it, then your contract is fixed, rent is payable to the end and your personal circumstances and occupancy are irrelevant.

Generally, a landlord does not have to accept any early request to surrender the tenancy during the fixed term and if they do, it is relatively usual for this to be on condition that the original tenant pays the rent until a new tenant is found, plus any expenses associated with reletting it early, such as advertising costs.

F_T_Buyer

Hold on, where are you living now if he has the keys?

JooJar

I have a new property, I needed a bigger place to house the 3 year old. I'm actually living in the complex next door, lol. It's a 2 bedroom.

G_M

Assuming you signed a 12 month contract (I assume, since you paid 12 months in advance) then
a) you are bound by the contract for 12 months
b) you have the right to live there (so he cannot deny you access by taking the keys)
c) you & the LL can mutually agree an early termination and it is common for LLs to agree this if the tenant pays marketing costs and rent till new tenant moves in.

JooJar

G_M wrote: »

Assuming you signed a 12 month contract (I assume, since you paid 12 months in advance) then
a) you are bound by the contract for 12 months
b) you have the right to live there (so he cannot deny you access by taking the keys)
c) you & the LL can mutually agree an early termination and it is common for LLs to agree this if the tenant pays marketing costs and rent till new tenant moves in.

I'm an internet marketer. I'll find tenants for the property and act as the agent. It seems like the only thing to do to get a tenant quicker. I'll just forward them to the landlord.

kazwookie

If the landlord has the keys how did you get your stuff out?

Why did you pay 1 year in advance, a month in advance is usual.

JooJar

kazwookie wrote: »

If the landlord has the keys how did you get your stuff out?

Why did you pay 1 year in advance, a month in advance is usual.

Because I have a number of debts paying up front would have got me out of needing a credit check. I paid nearly £12,000 including the deposit and admin fees.

I moved out before the landlord got back to me. I had no choice.

F_T_Buyer

Ah, I see. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do until a new tenant is found. But you should have some keys.

JooJar

F_T_Buyer wrote: »

Ah, I see. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do until a new tenant is found. But you should have some keys.

What if I was to leave him with the keys, then hit him for that money back at a later date saying he demanded the keys since I no longer live there. "Should I be paying for a property I have no access to".

Granted it's a little wrong, but it's wrong for him to take the keys from me.

Would it hold up if I was to take it to a court?