Landlord says I'm liable for extra fees as I'm leaving a month early

rpc

Has anything you have sent the agent or LL referred to the current fixed term that you may or may not be in?

If not, just play it as though you are on a stat periodic tenancy and free to leave with one month's notice. Any time they mention the fixed term

It is still a little ambiguous what you agreed to. If you agreed to an extension and paid for it then you are bound by it. If you agreed for them to prepare a new contract then you are not bound if you didn't sign. If you agreed to pay them just because letting agents like to charge fees, then also not bound by it.

The less correspondance that there is mentioning the new fixed term the better. Lack of a signed contract may help your case, the cheque stub and any letters may help theirs. If you have emailed them to say something like "my contract runs out in Jan, I want to leave in Dec" then you may well have closed off the argument that you are on a statutory periodic tenancy.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to who can prove their side best. What evidence can you lay out that you are not in a fixed term (no contract) against what evidence can they lay out.

G_M

1) if you signed a new (12 month?) fixed term contract then
a) you were probobly charged for this and b) you must pay rent till it ends UNLESS you negotiate an Early Surrender, for which the LL can charge whatever you agree to . if you don't like his proposed charges, then you'll have to continue to the end of the Fixed \term

2) If you continue the tenancy to the end of the fixed term, then
a) you must pay rent b) the LL cannot re-let the property c) the LL cannot charge an admin fee d) you do not have to live there - though check if there is a clause limiting how long you can leave the property empty (eg 30 days) as this will reflect the landlord's insurance requirements

3) if your fixed term ended and your tenancy became SPT (monthly) then you must give the proper notice (a month or more - SEE HERE). Again a) you can agree an early surrender and pay whatever fees are agreed or b) pay rent to the end of your notice and NOT pay fees

For the avoidance of doubt (and to correct some of the posts above) if you are in an SPT ('rolling' or monthly) the notice you have to give is NOT a month. It is a full Tenancy Period which is different. See my link above.

[Deleted User]

For arguments sake...say I did sign a new agreement last Jan...1: will I then be responsible for paying rent up to the end of the tenancy AND pay the fees requested ?
2: will I be asked to pay rent and fees if a new tenant is found in Dec ?

dimbo61

Are you sure you will be moving into your new property on the date you hope too?
If you are being charged rent until the end of janurary then keep your keys to your property and just pop back every couple of days and check on the place ( turn off the water in case of leaks )
Make sure you leave the central heating on low so the pipes dont freeze.
Read the meters when you leave and contact the gas/electric/water/council tax people.
Redirect mail for at least a year and tell everyone that you have moved so no mail goes to your old address.
You dont have to show any New tenants around if you dont want too and can change the locks so no one else can walk into the property ( just keep the barrel to replace when you leave )
Clean the place from top to bottom and take good quality photos

Fire_Fox

Deleted_User wrote: »

For arguments sake...say I did sign a new agreement last Jan...1: will I then be responsible for paying rent up to the end of the tenancy AND pay the fees requested ?
2: will I be asked to pay rent and fees if a new tenant is found in Dec ?

As stated in post 12
"IF you are still in the fixed term you cannot inform the landlord you are terminating your tenancy early, you must ask and they can refuse. They cannot charge you AND a new tenant rent at the same time, but they can charge you either the rent to the end of the fixed term OR reasonable costs in finding a new tenant."

G_M

Deleted_User wrote: »

For arguments sake...say I did sign a new agreement last Jan...1: will I then be responsible for paying rent up to the end of the tenancy AND pay the fees requested ?
2: will I be asked to pay rent and fees if a new tenant is found in Dec ?

Either you see out the tenancy till the end of the fixed term, in which case you pay rent but cannot be charged fees (fees for what....?)

Or you and the LL agree to end it early in which case rent is NOT payable, but fees can be demanded/negotiated/agreed.

If a new tenant moves in, then clearly the tenancy has ended, so rent cannot be demanded from you 9but fees could be. See above)

julieb1987

We wanted to leave our tenancy early as we are buying somewhere. On speaking to the LA they said our LL was happy to do this, however we had to pay the re-letting fee (1 months rent + VAT = £714). If they couldn't find a new tenant and we wanted to leave, we would be responsible for paying the rent and council tax up until the end of our term, whether we were there or not! We decided to leave it and we will overlap a month or so which will be nice to get some painting done in the house before we move. We have budgeted for it luckily.

[Deleted User]

I requested a copy of the extension that I 'could' have signed back in January.As yet...four days on I have yet to receive one.IMO if I don't get one I'm on a 'rolling' contract so am free to leave in December.Is it ok for me then to stop that months rent going out of my account via direct debit? I'm thinking yes.
I've just had news also that I can move into my new flat on nov 5th.So in the weeks to come I'll slowly take my gear away from here and into the new place.I'll then take video of the cleaned flat so as not to get stung for anything.
Thanks to all who have given me advice in this thread.