Ending flat rental contract early

Deni

Hi,

I was hoping someone could give me some advice on ending my flat rental contract early.

I am currently 7 months into a 12 month shared contract and my housemate is having severe financial difficulties and is unable to pay the bills. This has left me several hundreds of pounds out of pocket with no sign of getting this back or any real hope that this isn't going to be a regular occurrence.

I spoke to my estate agent about ending my side of the contract and they were very helpful, but now that my housemate has also decided to leave the flat the ea has done a 360 and won't even talk to me about charges etc.

I checked our contract and we can leave if we pay for advertising and a suitable replacement is found but with the ea refusing to talk to me about this I'm not sure how we go about it.

I can't afford to keep paying for everything so wondered if anyone had any advice as to how to go about sorting this out.

Thanks!

gothgirl123

If the Estate Agent won't even talk to you, maybe try contacting ARLA (The Association of Residential Letting Agents)

They say -
What Happens If Either Party (Landlord Or Tenant) Unexpectedly Want To End An Existing Tenancy Early?
There are only limited ways in which this can happen; the landlord cannot make the tenants move out, nor can the tenants lawfully walk away from their obligations to fulfil the contract. Either party might request of the other that a formal “surrender” of the tenancy be allowed. It would then be up to the parties to agree the terms and conditions of such a surrender. This might include some financial compensation for inconvenience or costs incurred.

So basically, you need to speak to your landlord to agree some terms. Like you said in your original post, I think that you can end your contract early but you may have to help them in finding someone to take over or advertise for someone. Also, don't forget, if there are any rent arrears or damage to the property you can lose your deposit

olly300

Read the shelter.org.uk website. And contact an advisor if you don't find the information you want.

However you will probably have find your tenancy agreement means you are all jointly liable for each other bills. So you will have to pay for your housemate until you leave the property, all final bills are paid and it is rented to someone else. Otherwise your own credit record will be affected.

I would advertise the flat on sites like the gumtree to find replacements.

I don't know if you can turn around and take your housemate to the small claims to get the money back afterwards it probably depends if you can prove that you had a separate written or verbal agreement before you moved in about paying bills. Also your flatmate may not give you a forwarding address.

Deni

Thanks, I guess I just have to hope that the EA is reasonable!!