Leaving Rented Property early

lewis-brooks

Hello,

I am looking to leave my rental agreement early and willing to pay for the rest of the rent. But the letting agency is stating that I cannot leave the property unless the landlord is happy, is this technically correct even if I am buying out the contract essentially?

pmlindyloo

How early are we talking about?

Are you in England/Wales or Scotland?(may be different 'rules')

Was this a fixed term? How long? or a periodic tenancy?

I can see why the EA is concerned because if you leave early and agree to pay the rent to the end of the tenancy then you are, in fact, responsible for the accommodation until the end of the tenancy. This may then be a problem regarding utilities/insurance etc.

Your LL will not be able to rent it out because you are still the tenant!

If you hand in the keys and the LL accepts, then this may be open to the interpretation that the LL has accepted the surrender of the tenancy in which case you would not be responsible for any more rent.

Generally (until you answer the questions please) you should be negotiating with the LL as to the best way forward.

Options are:

1. LL accepts a surrender but you pay 'compensation' for his inconvenience of finding a new tenant (advertising, credit checks etc) Make sure you get any agreement in writing.
2. You continue the tenancy but don't live there (see problems above)
3. You stay there until the end of the tenancy.

Hopefully, someone else will be along to 'correct' me if I'm wrong/give further information.

penguingirl

Does your lease say anything about having to stay in the property? For example in our owned house we can't leave it for more than 28 days for insurance reasons. Also I've been in rented properties where there were conditions about switching the water off at the mains if away for 48 hours.

If there isn't a clause in your contract, surely the LA/LL can't insist that you live there if you are still paying the rent? I would imagine you do have some sort of obligation to regularly check the property as if any problems did occur you should report it promptly to minimise damage.

Why do you want to leave early?

HappyMJ

penguingirl wrote: »

Does your lease say anything about having to stay in the property? For example in our owned house we can't leave it for more than 28 days for insurance reasons. Also I've been in rented properties where there were conditions about switching the water off at the mains if away for 48 hours.

If there isn't a clause in your contract, surely the LA/LL can't insist that you live there if you are still paying the rent? I would imagine you do have some sort of obligation to regularly check the property as if any problems did occur you should report it promptly to minimise damage.

Why do you want to leave early?

What would happen if you did leave it for 28 days for reasons beyond your control such as hospitalization?

What would happen and how would the landlord know you didn't turn the water off every time you went away for the weekend?

penguingirl

HappyMJ wrote: »

What would happen if you did leave it for 28 days for reasons beyond your control such as hospitalization?

What would happen and how would the landlord know you didn't turn the water off every time you went away for the weekend?

I have no idea what would happen- but it would be highly unlikely that OH and I would both not be there. I guess if anything happened to the property our insurance wouldn't cover it (I think that is a fairly standard requirement of home insurance)

I'm not renting now- but of course the LL wouldn't know, but he'd have been pretty unimpressed if we'd had a burst pipe when away and didn't report it for a week. Tbh it makes complete sense to do it in cold weather (particularly in my rented student flats in Scotland that were left empty over Christmas) so we never questionned it.

G_M

If you are paying rent till the end of the Fixed Term, then the tenancy continues. LL/agent has nothing to complain about. However you will continue to be bound by the terms of the tenance, and the utility/council tax bills etc.

But the LL/agent obviously cannot re-let or enter the property as it is still yours.

If you hand back the keys (get a receipt!) and the LL acepts them, then this could constitute an 'Early Surrender' and the tenancy ends. The LL/agent can ask for compensation (any amount they like providing you agree) in return for agreeing. Again - get everything in writing.

More here.

BitterAndTwisted

What I would do in the first instance is not to offer to pay all of the rent until the end of the fixed-term. Any sensible landlord would accept that offer straight away and think no more about it. The risks of leaving the property empty would be all yours.

How about sounding them out about the prospect of an early surrender and offering to compensate the landlord for all of his out-of-pocket expenses in finding a replacement tenant?