Moving out of rented flat early......risky or smart??

LaLa_22

Hey everyone,

Just wanted your thoughts on my situation if you would be so kind

The flat I am currently renting is 700pcm which is expensive compared to other properties in the area.

The contract is due to end in mid January...however the landlord has said that if we give him a date in a few months time to move out by, we can get out earlier.

Inititally I wanted to do this as I could get a bigger place for £100 cheaper.

However, when I spoke to the landlord he mentioned the problem of getting other tenants in. If he finds people in time then it would all be okay. But if the tenants do not want to move in for another 6 weeks after the date we move out.....we would have to carry on paying the rent.


My landlord says the market is good at the moment and he thinks that he will be able to get people in quickly. However is the risk of him not finding anyone too high? I dont want to pay out rent on two properties!


Nicola xx

BitterAndTwisted

Your landlord could give every appearance of trying to find suitable alternative tenants, and just not do anything. Meanwhile you will be fully responsible for all of the rent until January.

LaLa_22

Hiya

Yeah I see what youre saying but I dont think he would do that...hes been really reasonable and nice throughout our stay here

tbs624

Nicola - none of us can answer the question you are asking really as we have no knowledge of your LL, the local property rental market. Ending up paying two lots of rent is always a possibility if you try to renege on a Fixed Term tenancy agreement, however approachable/helpful your current LL may seem to be.

You have said the property is expensive compared to other similar properties in the area so in your situation my concern would be that other potential Ts may also be put off by the higher rent. Unless the property has something marvellous that other lower priced ones don't have why would other potential Ts want to apparently pay over the odds, any more than you want to continue to do?

BitterAndTwisted

Considering the risks of having to pay two lots of rent until January for the sake of a hypothetical £100 a month I'd be thinking very hard about staying put until the end of the AST.


Have you had a close read of your tenancy agreement to see whether there's a break-clause in there at the half-way mark if you signed a 12 month AST?

g0recki

You could advertise for replacement tenants yourself using gumtree, spareroom and any local listings. The landlord is under no obligation to accept them but if you've found them and they reference OK it might work.