Shorthold tenancy agreement

stevie_wonder

Hi,

looking for some advice or opinion on this situation.

We signed a 12 month shorthold tenancy agreement in middle of June this year, with an addendum that if we wanted to give notice we could do it after 6 months and give 1 months notice. We were renting whilst looking for a house having sold the last one. We have bought and moved into a house, and are going to give notice to the letting agent (before mid Nov) but I am concerned that they will want to try and hold us to 6 months + 1 month notice. In which case I have to pay a further 2 X £725 before I can possibly get back my deposit £1025. I was thinking of paying this month, and then cancelling the standing order, then if they did keep the deposit I would only be £300 odd quid down rather than £725 or higher.

Doe you think they will hold us to the 6 + 1. It is vacant now, so they could get another tenant in?
Help Please!

spentmadoe

Would think it best to talk to the agent and explain the situation. They might have other people ready to rent and could come to an agreement on the finances if they let it out quickly.
WH Smiths do packs containing Shorthold Tenancy agreements with information or probably better Citizens Advice Bureau do leaflets on this type of situation or one of their legal experts will be able to advise the contractural standpoint.
Good luck
SMD

hjb123

In reality I think they are well within their rights to stick to the contract and have you pay the 6 months plus 1 which as you say would mean you paying twice again.

Chances are you may have a sympathetic agent/landlord person who will say as its vacant they will give you the money back, or even say that if they are able to get someone in within the time you will still be paying for the property that they will give you some money back pro rata.

Its really a case of asking nicely but I wouldnt cancel the standing order as they may come back and do breach of contract or similar

us,thecat&thedebt

they can hold you to the term..

however if the landlord is willing to sign a mutual release you could end the term earler..

you could ask for a mutual release and pay the rent up to a new tenant is found.. or until your term ends..

the best thing to do is approach the agent/landlord and try to compromise dont withold the rent as this could get u in serious trouble.. and can even lead to a ccj..

a mutual release works both ways one of my landlords(i am a lettings manager) needed to sell his flat due to financial diffuculty and asked the tenant if they would move out a month early she didnt have to but agreed..


HTH

stevie_wonder

I followed the advice given - spoke to the letting agent, explained our situation, formalised the notice with them and then over to them...
They are prepared to re-let the property (under a clause 4 or something), but will charge us £350 for the priviledge (their fees) and of course there is the chance it is not re let in time and we have to pay the remainder of the agreement + £350. I refused to pay it, as the new tenant would need to be in from start of Jan to pay for the cost of the £350 and don't think just now is a great time of year for lettings. We also have a deposit of £1025 with the letting agent, and I asked if they could deduct the last remaining months rent from that, arrange to view the property and checkout of it, then return the remainder to us. Unfortunately they were unwilling to do that either as we are still liable to the end of the agreement (16/1/07). I suggested we give them keys etc back, but to no avail. The thing is the letting agent is quite happy to sit back till next year, take the cash from us, and then charge the landlord fees for re-letting/advertising the property. I have the landlords address - do you think I should get in touch with them directly? Also is there anything else I can do ie find another tenant for the property myself? How could I go about it? Thanks, in advance, very frustrated with the letting agents lack of flexibility...

clutton_2

you have signed a legally binding contract and this is a two way thing - if the landlord was trying to kick you out at this stage, he would be in the wrong. You are trying to renege on your agreement, and there is no reason why a landlord has to allow you to - and in this situation you are in the wrong. A landlord is only allowed to charge you for "void periods" during the remainder of the Agreed Term. i would not allow you to use the deposit either - this is there to compensate a landlord for non-payment of rent and / or damage. He will not know till after you have moved out if there is any damage.

stevie_wonder

yes but I'm suggesting they check it overbefore handing back any deposit, check the place over and then give us back whats owed/left.
I fully understand about legally binding contracts, and I'm not reneging, I've approached the letting agent explained my situation and asked about re-letting, its the fact that they charge £350 to re-let that is grating me. I think they'll sit till the end of our tenancy taking the money (which we owe to be fair), and then will charge the landlord for re-letting in the new year. Is that really a good service they are offering me, or the landlord? I'm going to contact the landlord directly just so they know what kind of service they are getting from their letting agency - I also suspect they haven't been informed of us leaving either.

clutton_2

is there anything in your tenancy agreement about fees for renewing/chaning the tenancy agreement ? contacting the landlord might be a good idea

stevie_wonder

no there's nothing in there that covers fees for re-letting, just the usual we are liable for rent during the tenancy agreement period etc. The £350 is a standard fee to cover their admin costs (I may be wrong but think they'll advertise it on the internet, their site and a few others, plus in their window, but how that equates to £350 I don't know).

I didn't want to pay the £350 on the chance that they "might" be able to re-let it, I could end up a further £350 out of pocket. I couldn't see how hard they would push it when they know its paid up to the end of the agreement, and they could charge the landlord to readvertise at the end of our agreement, basically a win-win for the letting agent, but lose and lose for me and the landlord.

I'm going to forward on some post to the landlord, that I need to do and write a letter explaining the situation and hope to make them aware of potential cost if not re-let. Can't do anymore really...

stevie_wonder

Landlord is a lady doctor so maybe we could get hitched - though my current wife might have something to say about it!

Believe it or not, I am a recruitment agent so know what you mean when you talk about "agents" -I've had two bad experiences with letting agents on the bounce, and I'm glad I've got back on the property ladder and now avoiding paying dead money ie rent and lining the agents pockets!
God I sound bitter when I read this back!

peter999

ts_aly2000 wrote:

Don't dilly dally......
Don't talk wiith the agents, they're all crooks

Wise words.
.