Stuck in a fixed term rental contract

G_M

rlg6767 wrote: »

Thanks to the poster who sent the link to the housing act. I've just found out the managing agents may have broken the law by refusing to allow me to move to a statutory periodic tenancy which would mean I wouldn't be in this position! Going to see them tomorrow with my proof! I have all the email trails still so hopefully they will play ball.

They have broken no law.

They offered you a new contract and indicated this was what their client, the landed, wanted. You were free to agree or not. Had you declined, a SPT would have arisen, but there is no obligation on the LL or agent to educate you as to this.

tbs624

OP = see the HA1988 s5(4)

(4)The periodic tenancy referred to in subsection (2) above shall not arise if, on the coming to an end of the fixed term tenancy, the tenant is entitled, by virtue of the grant of another tenancy, to possession of the same or substantially the same dwelling-house as was let to him under the fixed term tenancy.

Talk direct to the LL rather than the LA. Offer to be really helpful with viewings etc.Ask* in writing* for a copy of that tenancy agreement btw, just in case there is a break clause which you had not initially noticed when re-signing.You are legally entitled to know/have details on the basics of your tenancy terms

ruggedtoast

When we bought a place we had two months overlap where we were paying rent and a mortgage. The landlady was happy to advertise it early but sadly the first person who wanted it didnt want to move in for two months.

We factored it into our moving costs. Its only two months.

rlg6767

I misinterpreted the housing act! It would have been nice to have been offered this as an option but like so many have pointed out, the landlord is not obliged to offer me this option.

THanks for everyones advice. Hopefully they will find a tenant but I doubt it given the asking price. It won't break the bank but it will certainly leave it in the red if no tenants are found.

Thanks for all the posts.

DizzyDasher

One possibility is to see if you can agree to share the risk.
When we moved out of our last rental we ideally wanted to move out one month before the end of the term, while our landlady obviously wanted to minimise her void, so the most important thing to her was being able to offer the next tenant flexibility on move in date.

We agreed with her to move out 1 month before the end of the term, and to pay a further 2 weeks rent in addition to that. In the end she got some more tenants to move in about 10 days after we moved out, so it worked well for her - but it also worked well for us because legally we would have had to pay the full additional month's rent otherwise. I suspect to make this all properly "legal" we would have to call it a fee and not rent (I don't think she could claim rent from two people at the same time), but in the real world it is often possible to agree something that works for all sides if everybody is sensible.

One thing in your favour is that if they think the rent they can achieve is really higher than you are paying then it should be better for them if you move out ASAP so they can relet at the higher rent. It really feels there should be some room for negotiation here, particularly if you can talk directly to the LL rather than only the agent (who in my experience tend to always be as difficult as possible, while LLs tend to be happy to look for a reasonable solution that makes everybody better off).

Good luck!

DD

rentergirl

ognum wrote: »

I guess my question to you is how would you feel if the landlord suddenly decided you had to leave rather than honour your contracted term?

Just because it is now not convenient for you to remain in the contract you agreed does not make it right for you to do as you please.

I agree the rental agency may be being difficult with you but try some kind of conversation or negotiation.

Your landlord is running a buisness, it costs them each time they need to secure new tenants and do inventory, clean etc so it is not surprising there is a cost to you to break a contract.

if you simply walk off then the landlord probably will take you to the small claims court and will win because it is you who has broken the contract and you will then have costs etc as well.

PLease try communications first, it usually works.

Totally agree: there are some bare legal facts, but offering to organise ads for the owner (usually free ie on try Gumtree) so they don't have hassle and a void and hopefully you can both be reasonable.