Ending Assured Shorthold Tenancy Early

lukealexander030

Right as in the title I just want peoples opinions:

I am currently in an Assured Shorthold Tenancy till August 2013 with 3 others. I have found them to be unbearable to live with and want to get out of this tenancy (they are incredibly messy and the house reeks, as I'm studying for finals this is NOT ideal and is really stressing me out). Basically I am aware as it is a fixed term I have no immediate right to leave and need to negotiate with the landlady however I do have a few questions.

Firstly do I have to find a replacement for myself as we are renting the property as a house and not as individual rooms? Also what do I actually have to inform my housemates? (I have warned them I will move out if they don't improve and their response essentially was 'so what?' so I am under the impression that they aren't going to change and don't care too much.)
Secondly how should I go about approaching this with my landlady? I mean I don't want to be a douche and get them kicked out, but I am also renting my house out as I'm working away from home and if I found the tenants have my house in this state I would hand them their notice. Am I right to care at all what happens to them? I basically have no idea what the avenues this could go down and would really like some advice.

Thank you for any help you can give me. (I also apologise if this isn't the right forums for this type of discussion as I am aware of the site name is to do with money saving, but it was the first thing on google so I just assumed it's appropriate!!)

Fire_Fox

Welcome! This has come up many times it is worth running an advanced search.

If you are in a joint tenancy you would have to get the consent of all your housemates and the landlady to be taken off the tenancy and someone else added. This would usually entail a new AST being drawn up and signed and (if you are in England/ Wales) the deposit would need to be refunded and a new one lodged. If there are any cost implications to this you would need to pay. You can offer to find a replacement tenant, but there is no guarantee any of them will accept and no way to force them to do so. Without a new tenant your housemates would have to agree to pay your rent between them which seems unlikely.

A landlord cannot serve the tenants with notice to quit within the fixed term unless there is a significant breach of the AST. You might ask her to do an inspection tho. Given you are both a landlord and a tenant if would make sense for you to spend some time researching the legislation surrounding both roles. It worries me that you don't seem to understand the implications of what you have signed with either your landlady or your tenants. Consider joining a landlord's association and getting up to speed with all the legislation.

lukealexander030

Ah thank you, and sorry for bringing this up again then!

So to clarify then, I do need my housemates agreement to leave as well as the landladies? I merely assumed as I am not the lead tenant, and literally just put my name and signature on a box that I'd be able to negotiate my leaving with the landlady and then they would have to make up my rent between them. Considering the importance of this issue, that makes more sense to me but I suppose it also depends on her reasonableness (she has always seemed very understanding and pleasant). They probably won't be reasonable but if it does come to that I suppose I will request she does monthly inspections of the house.

With my tenants, I have put break-out clauses in the tenancy, I have also interviewed my tenants, and have a very good assessment of them, so there won't be any issue, it was just an example of how bad the house I am currently living in is!!!

terryw

Joint and several liability applies here.

Fire_Fox

lukealexander030 wrote: »

Ah thank you, and sorry for bringing this up again then!

So to clarify then, I do need my housemates agreement to leave as well as the landladies? I merely assumed as I am not the lead tenant, and literally just put my name and signature on a box that I'd be able to negotiate my leaving with the landlady and then they would have to make up my rent between them. Considering the importance of this issue, that makes more sense to me but I suppose it also depends on her reasonableness (she has always seemed very understanding and pleasant). They probably won't be reasonable but if it does come to that I suppose I will request she does monthly inspections of the house.

With my tenants, I have put break-out clauses in the tenancy, I have also interviewed my tenants, and have a very good assessment of them, so there won't be any issue, it was just an example of how bad the house I am currently living in is!!!

The questions you are asking suggest you don't understand the basics of what an AST/ joint tenancy is and what it means legally, this is very worrying for a landlord. You can put any clauses you like in an AST it doesn't mean that it will be deemed fair or enforceable if challenged. Please, join a landlord's association.

You are contractually obligated to your landlady and to the other tenants - as Terryw says you are jointly and severally liable. The tenants are one entity as far as a joint contract is concerned, for you to leave would mean the whole tenancy would have to be terminated and a new one set up including any incoming tenant or with just the other three. That means everyone signing a new contract, the deposits all being refunded and repaid. Someone has to cover your rent and your deposit: you need the agreement of all parties.