How to approach letting agency to end contract early?

gRoberts

Hi all,

Just a quick post to ask for some advice.

I am currently at month 6 of a 12 month fixed term tenancy and I am looking at trying to approach the letting agency to end the contract early.

From the moment we signed the contracts, we have been experiencing problems with the letting agents, land lord and more importantly the property.

1. Letting agency never returns any of our calls, or claims that the person who deals with our property is on holiday or sick.
2. We did not receive a certificate proving our deposit was protected until we asked for it 5 months after we should have received it.
3. Distinct lack of understanding the "peaceful enjoyment" rules. We are never given 24 hours notice before they the landlord turns up, for any reason.

Now you'd think those are completely petty, but those are just minor in comparison to the state of the property and the risks the landlord is taking when "attempting" to repair the problems.

About 4 months ago, we noticed the sound of water running/dripping coming from the vacant property below. The property has been left vacant for over 20 years and the owners, due to a marriage breakdown have never sold it and it's generally been left to go into a state of disrepair.

After calling the letting agents, environmental agency and anyone else we could, we finally managed to get the problem fixed, but the state of our property afterwards is not to a standard I'm comfortable with.

A floor board by the front door has no support beneath it, so anyone heavier than say 12 stone is likely to go through it if they are not pre-warned that it's an issue.

Now we are facing major damp and mould issues and whilst I can handle cleaning it up, making sure the property is well heated/ventilated, both my daughter and I suffer from Asthma and both damp and mould are a trigger for our condition.

Not only that, but my partner is 6 months pregnant and I really do not want to subject my family and my unborn child to any more health issues than I already am and I am wanting to find another property pronto.

Does anyone think I have the grounds to request an early termination of my tenancy contract with a full refund of my deposit based on this? Many people have commented that we should be entitled to rent back as the property is not fit for purpose either, although I'd be happy with just our deposit and a new place...

Your thoughts would really be useful.

cheers

Gavin

Yorkie1

Is there a break clause in your tenancy allowing you / LL to give notice at an interim point (often 6 months)?

The short answer is that I don't think that any of the things you have listed are grounds for you to force the LL to agree to your surrender of the tenancy.

MoneyMagic01273

Firstly based on your post you have no immediate rights to terminate your tenancy early and this would entirely be down to your LL to accept. And they do not need to. So, firstly I would write to your LL and LA to explain these issues you have to ask that these be addressed.

A floor board by the front door has no support beneath it, so anyone heavier than say 12 stone is likely to go through it if they are not pre-warned that it's an issue. Ask for this to be corrected asap. You are within your rights to request this be fixed.

Now we are facing major damp and mould issues and whilst I can handle cleaning it up, making sure the property is well heated/ventilated, both my daughter and I suffer from Asthma and both damp and mould are a trigger for our condition. Highlight this to your LL as an issue. If this is as a result of the issues with the property below your LL should fix this (through their insurance if neccessary). Mention your health problems. It may be surprisingly easy to fix with a de-humidifier.


Letting agency never returns any of our calls, or claims that the person who deals with our property is on holiday or sick. This is a service issue. Many lettings agents can be like this - highlight it to your LL.

We did not receive a certificate proving our deposit was protected until we asked for it 5 months after we should have received it. OK, well whats done is done. I think this is clutching at straws a little. Yes, they do have to protect your deposit and yes they do need to immediately provide your with your deposit protection scheme cert. But you requested it when it wasn't provided and I pressume you now have this. End of.

Distinct lack of understanding the "peaceful enjoyment" rules. We are never given 24 hours notice before they the landlord turns up, for any reason. Again I realise you are looking for a get out clause here but again I think you just need to highlight this to them and advise you are not prepared to grant access to your home without 24 hours notice. Simple. If you ask for that, you are within your legal rights to refuse access to the property if they show up without giving that.

As I said, the above issues would not appear to give you any rights to terminate your agreement. Regarding the floor board and damp - you are within your rights to request these issues be addressed as these are health and safety issues. If your landlord refuses, then gather evidence of the issues (photographs etc) and write again to advise the issues must be addressed within a reasonable timeframe or you will arrange for them to be addressed yourself with a deduction from your rent to cover the costs and copy in Environmental Health.

In your letter, advise you would be prepared to mutually agree with the landlord to terminate the tenancy early. Who knows, your LL might let you go just for a quiet life!

anselld

Ask for an inspection by the environmental health officer at the local council.
They can at least they can get things fixed if they are genuinely unsafe.
And as a side effect you might make the agents life difficult enough to consider a negotiated early termination.

G_M

gRoberts wrote: »

Hi all,


From the moment we signed the contracts, we have been experiencing problems with the letting agents, land lord and more importantly the property.

1. Letting agency never returns any of our calls, or claims that the person who deals with our property is on holiday or sick. Stop calling and write. Use the address 'for the Serving of Notices on the landlord' which should be on your tenancy agreement.
2. We did not receive a certificate proving our deposit was protected until we asked for it 5 months after we should have received it. past history now
3. Distinct lack of understanding the "peaceful enjoyment" rules. We are never given 24 hours notice before they the landlord turns up, for any reason. a) change the lock and b) write (as above) requesting 24 hours notice and also requiring they agree a date /time with you before coming

....

After calling the letting agents, environmental agency and anyone else we could, we finally managed to get the problem fixed, but the state of our property afterwards is not to a standard I'm comfortable with. good

A floor board by the front door has no support beneath it, so anyone heavier than say 12 stone is likely to go through it if they are not pre-warned that it's an issue. a) get Env Health back - this is a H&S risk and b) write to the LL as above

Now we are facing major damp and mould issues and whilst I can handle cleaning it up, making sure the property is well heated/ventilated, both my daughter and I suffer from Asthma and both damp and mould are a trigger for our condition. your condition is not the LL's fault. Is the cause of damp structural, or lifestyle? More here.

...
Does anyone think I have the grounds to request an early termination of my tenancy contract with a full refund of my deposit based on this? Many people have commented that we should be entitled to rent back as the property is not fit for purpose either, although I'd be happy with just our deposit and a new place...


Gavin

You are not entitled to rent back. But you can enforce repairs. Stop calling and WRITE.

You can always request an early surrender - however it is up to the LL whether to agree or not, and on what terms (eg asking you to pay for the unexpected cost of finding a new tenant). Talk to the LL if possible, not the agent.

If you have a 12 month contract you hav no right to early surrender unless there is a 'break clause' in the contract. Is there? Read it! Often a 12 month contract has a 6 monyh break clause.

tbs624

MoneyMagic01273 wrote: »

..... again I think you just need to highlight this to them and advise you are not prepared to grant access to your home without 24 hours notice. Simple. If you ask for that, you are within your legal rights to refuse access to the property if they show up without giving that.

My highlighting in red. LL is obliged *under statute* to give a minimum of 24 hours written notice, except in a genuine ( & usually pretty rare) emergency).

T does *not* have to ask in order to be within their legal rights to refuse access.

The T advising the LA/LL , in wiriting, that they wish all visits to be at a mutually convenient time with the T present ( agreed in wiriting in advance) can however be useful

tbs624

If there is no break clause and the LL will not agree to an early surrender then you may want to get on touch with the local Council. they will have a tenancy relations officer who deals with private sector rentals . they and the EHO can arrange for the property to be assessed under what is called HHSRS ( Housing Health and Safety Rating System) If there is the work that the LL should be carrying out but is not doing then they can serve a repairs notice on the LL.

As G_M has said, use good old snail mail for these sorts of issues, and retain copies for your own records. If you initially deal with something in person/by phone then write a follow up letter confirming your understanding of what has been discussed and what action, if any, has been agreed.

jjlandlord

tbs624 wrote: »

My highlighting in red. LL is obliged *under statute* to give a minimum of 24 hours written notice, except in a genuine ( & usually pretty rare) emergency).

T does *not* have to ask in order to be within their legal rights to refuse access.

This comes up regularly.
IMHO, this is reading the statute in reverse. s.11 of LTA1985 says that LL or anyone authorised by him has the right to enter the premises if he gives 24 hour notice.
This is stipulated as an implied clause in the tenancy, and it is quite possible that the tenancy may contain other clauses giving the LL right of access.

tbs624

jjlandlord wrote: »

This comes up regularly.
IMHO, this is reading the statute in reverse. s.11 of LTA1985 says that LL or anyone authorised by him has the right to enter the premises if he gives 24 hour notice.
This is stipulated as an implied clause in the tenancy, and it is quite possible that the tenancy may contain other clauses giving the LL right of access.

Thanks for your response jjlandlord.

However, you seem to have misunderstood what I was trying to say.

In this instance the OP indicates that the LL has, on more than once occasion, turned up at the property without having given *any* prior notice to the Ts.

Another poster then replied saying that the OP/T should specifically ask for a minimum of 24 hours written notice and if that was not given then the T could refuse access.

My point was that the minimum written notice requirement is in place already, courtesy of the LL&TA 1985, and therefore the T was already at liberty to refuse access if the LL had failed to give proper notice ( ie, the T did not need to do anything for that requirement to come into force)

I've previously posted on how there needs to be a balance and that of course there is the implied covenant ( aligned with s11 repairing obligations) ...but...separate to my original point, even when/if the LL does give notice that he wishes to inspect the property, if the T still refuses access then the LL would need to obtain a court order to be able to enforce ( as we both know) unless the LL wanted to run the risk of being on the receiving end of a criminal charge.

jjlandlord

Good points, tbs.

I'm unsure whether LL is obliged to give 24 hour notice in all (non-emergency) cases, as the tenancy agreement might contain other arrangements.

Yorkie1

jjlandlord wrote: »

Good points, tbs.

I'm unsure whether LL is obliged to give 24 hour notice in all (non-emergency) cases, as the tenancy agreement might contain other arrangements.

On here, the advice is always that statute over-rides contract. Why should it be any different in the specific circumstances envisaged here?