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Breaking Tenancy Early

blueeyedprincess
Posts: 2 Newbie
Hi
Myself and my partner have been renting via a private landlord for around 9 months, It started off as a 6 month shorthold tenancy and after the term was up we signed for a further 12 months. My partner has now been offered another job away and we are now wondering where we stand with breaking the tenancy agreement. The tenancy itself is hand written and about 3 pages long and when renewed for the 12 months the landlord added a onto the back page " should the landlord require the property back he will give the tenant one months notice " (however it does not state if this means at any point or at the end of the fixed term, which is something thats always concerned us) does this also apply to us giving notice? We have tried to contact him via phone to no avail and we have no address for him to write to. We also have no inventory on the house and our deposit has not been protected by the TDS.Any advice is appreciated ! Thanks
Myself and my partner have been renting via a private landlord for around 9 months, It started off as a 6 month shorthold tenancy and after the term was up we signed for a further 12 months. My partner has now been offered another job away and we are now wondering where we stand with breaking the tenancy agreement. The tenancy itself is hand written and about 3 pages long and when renewed for the 12 months the landlord added a onto the back page " should the landlord require the property back he will give the tenant one months notice " (however it does not state if this means at any point or at the end of the fixed term, which is something thats always concerned us) does this also apply to us giving notice? We have tried to contact him via phone to no avail and we have no address for him to write to. We also have no inventory on the house and our deposit has not been protected by the TDS.Any advice is appreciated ! Thanks
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Comments
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If there is no address in the tenancy agreement ( or given elsewhere) as which Notices relating to the tenancy may be served then your LL may not lawfully demand any rent until such an address is given. (see LL&T Act 1987, ss47/48)
You could however try checking at the land registry whether there is a separate address listed for the LL/owner of the rental property (will cost you a fee of 4 quid)
If you signed up for a further Fixed Term then the LL can't just vary it by adding unilaterally beneficial notes to the back of the agreement. If there is no clear mutual break clause, the LL may agree to you surrendering the tenancy early if you pay his reasonable costs for finding a new replacement T.
Once you have an address for the LL you need to write formally requesting that he scheme register the deposit pronto and give you the scheme's "prescribed information", as required by law. Registration can be done online in just a few mins of the LLs time.
If there was no inventory then the LL will struggle to be able to adequately demonstrate the starting condition of the property. If he proposes deductions with which you do not agree you can challenge them via the small claims court or the scheme, if he gets the deposit registered.0 -
Are you paying rent by direct debit? I would be tempted to write to landlord and give one months notice, as there is nothing stated in the contract as to how much notice you should give.
Then cancel your DD. If you don't want to give a forwarding address for your deposit to be returned then you could give 1 months notice and immediately cancel your DD so you don't pay your last month's rent (ie in place of the deposit you are unlikely to get back). That's a bit risky and depends on if you think LL will try to find you to claim any rent "rightfully owned", but a lot of private LL's do not like too much intrusion into their own finances, so you will probably be ok.
I left a contract early and didn't get my deposit back as a result (it was protected by the scheme, but i was the one breaking the contract by leaving early). According to my contract, i could have been forced to pay the rent until another tenant was found, but the LL did not pursue this.0 -
Are you paying rent by direct debit? I would be tempted to write to landlord and give one months notice, as there is nothing stated in the contract as to how much notice you should give.
Then cancel your DD. If you don't want to give a forwarding address for your deposit to be returned then you could give 1 months notice and immediately cancel your DD so you don't pay your last month's rent (ie in place of the deposit you are unlikely to get back). That's a bit risky and depends on if you think LL will try to find you to claim any rent "rightfully owned", but a lot of private LL's do not like too much intrusion into their own finances, so you will probably be ok.
I left a contract early and didn't get my deposit back as a result (it was protected by the scheme, but i was the one breaking the contract by leaving early). According to my contract, i could have been forced to pay the rent until another tenant was found, but the LL did not pursue this.
I know you mean well but this advice is completely wrong and could lead to problems for the OP, just because you 'got away with it' it does not follow that other people would.
OP Are you sure you have signed for another fixed term? The addition you mention written on the back of the form cannot be enforced. It's probably best to speak to your landlord and arrange a mutual surrender of the remainder of the tenancy.0 -
I know you mean well but this advice is completely wrong and could lead to problems for the OP, just because you 'got away with it' it does not follow that other people would.
OP Are you sure you have signed for another fixed term? The addition you mention written on the back of the form cannot be enforced. It's probably best to speak to your landlord and arrange a mutual surrender of the remainder of the tenancy.
Fair point, i did state that it was a risky move, but as OP's contract does not specify a notice period, i thought it could be an option if LL does not respond to OP's attempts at contact. I'm not suggesting OP "does a runner" as such - put everything in writing, give notice and cancel DD - but only if LL does not respond to OP's contact.0 -
Fair point, i did state that it was a risky move, but as OP's contract does not specify a notice period, i thought it could be an option if LL does not respond to OP's attempts at contact. I'm not suggesting OP "does a runner" as such - put everything in writing, give notice and cancel DD - but only if LL does not respond to OP's contact.
There's no mention of a notice period because it's a fixed term tenancy: Tenant cannot unilaterally give notice.
Your suggestion is wrong, and OP canceling DD and vacating would be "doing a runner".0 -
Thanks for the replies ,
No there is not a dd set up we pay by bank transfer every month , it was definitely a fixed term 12 month agreement but then scribbled on the back page is that "landlord can give a months notice if he required property back " and when the agreement was being signed he said that it was to "cover his back should he split up with his partner which isn't likely" which i feel is unfair especially if i can't give notice myself0 -
Could you make an appointment with CAB and take with you all the paperwork you have!
The Landlord should have protected your deposit BY LAW and has failed to do so.
The tenancy agreement might not be worth the paper its written on !0 -
Even if the tenancy agreement wasn't worth the paper it was written on, there would still be an agreement in place. T pays rent and lives in property. LL receives rent and provides property. Even with no paper at all, that looks very much like a tenancy agreement.
I think (but I'm neither a lawyer nor an expert) that if the OP signed for a 12 month fixed term, then the OP is liable to pay rent for 12 months - regardless of anything the LL might have scribbled on the back of the contract.
Normally I'd say T should negotiate with the LL - but if you don't have an address for him and he doesn't answer his phone, you're a bit stuffed on that point.
Does the tenancy agreement not have the LL's address on it? (Mine always do - but then my LL's have never tried to add random stuff to my contracts...)0 -
blueeyedprincess wrote: »...it was definitely a fixed term 12 month agreement but then scribbled on the back page is that "landlord can give a months notice if he required property back " and when the agreement was being signed he said that it was to "cover his back should he split up with his partner which isn't likely" which i feel is unfair especially if i can't give notice myself0
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Normally I'd say T should negotiate with the LL - but if you don't have an address for him and he doesn't answer his phone, you're a bit stuffed on that point.
Does the tenancy agreement not have the LL's address on it? (Mine always do - but then my LL's have never tried to add random stuff to my contracts...)
T can of course try the Land Registry too.0
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