ending rent early, advice please

chrisni1986

me and my partner and sons are currently in a rental property, resigned a 12 month lease on 28/10/12. i recently got a new job which has enabled us to be in a position to buy a house close by,

in my tenancy agreement it says:-

term- for the term of 12 months commencing 28/10/12 and thereafter from month to month unless and determined by not less than one calendar months notice in writting by either party given to the other after the expiry of the said term.

it also has a page legal rights of tennants where it states, 'notice to quit',
"a notice to quit must give at least 4 weeks written notice of the date on which it is to take effect"

i called the landlord circa 17th of jan and explained the situation about being able to buy the house etc and said we would like to move out at end of march and would be willing to cover any fees from getting a new tennant, landlord said they would speak to estate agent ref advertising the house.

it has now emerged that they are only going to advertise the house 28 days before we are due to move into our new house (end of march) i rang as soon as possible so as to give as much notice as i could to find a new tennant

im curious.. can the house be advertised anytime? also where do i stand if theres no tennant found by end of march even though i gave nearly double the notice period?

chrisni1986

just to add i just checked the estate agents website and the house is still on their website from when i got it, just says 'let agreed' so all it would need is for that to be changed to 'to let' and its advertised again!

G_M

chrisni1986 wrote: »

me and my partner and sons are currently in a rental property, resigned a 12 month lease on 28/10/12. i recently got a new job which has enabled us to be in a position to buy a house close by,

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What are the start/end dates of your 12 month tenancy?

chrisni1986

lease start date is 28/10/12 so end date would be 28/10/13

G_M

lease start date is 28/10/12 so end date would be 27/10/13

Then you are comitted by contract to the tenancy till 27/10/13. That's why you signed a 12 month contract. If the landlord suddenly announced halfway through that he wanted you out, you'd be pretty angry and insist (quite rightly) that stay there the full 12 months.

Of course, you and the LL can agree to an early Surrender of the tenancy, on whatever basis you mutually want.

If he has said you can leave early (get that in writing!), that's fine. If it is conditional on you paying something, (eg re-advertising costs ) that too needs agreeing, and confirming in writing.

More details in this post here.

Ending/Renewing an AST (what happens when the Fixed Term ends?)(What is a Periodic Tenancy?)(How can a LL remove a tenant?)(How can a tenant end a tenancy?)

thelem

The landlord probably doesn't want to advertise earlier than 28 days before you want to leave, as that's the sort of time period that many tenants want to move in. If they were to advertise earlier, they would likely just end up with lots of wasted viewings.

Legally, you are obliged to pay seven months more rent than you want to, so my advice is to be as nice as possible to your landlord and help them find new tenants (even if that means you advertising the property yourself, before the landlord is ready to).

chrisni1986

many thanks for reply, im going to get onto estate agent and see if they can advertise house right away to ensure a tennant is found, as mentioned i offered to cover fees for doing so as it is me wishing to end lease early they mentioned re marketing fees of £450+vat tho i thought that seemed a bit expensive?

ive tried to find a tennant myself and also suggested that they put in the ad available mid march to ensure people knew when house would be available, i just think 28days to find a tennant is quite a short period of time given i will have given them around 10 weeks notice,

its been agreed that we are to let people in for viewings whilst we are still in the property which we are find with

tim123456789

chrisni1986 wrote: »

i just think 28days to find a tennant is quite a short period of time given i will have given them around 10 weeks notice,

But you've not given them 10 weeks notice. You given them notice to a date that you think that you might want to move.

What will you want to happen if there is a dealy in the purchase and you can't move out until say, April 15th?

Do you think that a person who has signed up today on the basis of an April 1st move in date will be happy?

IMHO an agent/LL would be a fool to advertise this property much more than two weeks before the date that you finally confirm you will actually move out and should be charging you for any void period, as well as advertising costs.

You are very lucky if you have deal better than this

Werdnal

You are very lucky the landlord has agreed your early surrender, so don't start interfering and telling the landlord/agent how to do their job! Besides, the agent works for the landlord, not you, so ringing up and dictating when you want the place advertised is cheeky beyond belief!

If a tenant is not found by the date you want to leave, tough, you chose to leave early and landlord does not even have to advertise at all, and can charge you the whole 12 month's rent until the end of the contract. Have you got the LL's agreement to this offer in writing, as the way you are going it could very well be rescinded!

Tenants viewing now will want a property within a few weeks, not months, so there is little benefit in advertising it so far in advance.

Are you sure about the date you wish to leave? Many things can delay exchange/completion on a purchased property. Have you somewhere else lined up if the end of your tenancy and your new house do not match? You can hardly push the landlord to find a new tenant, then have a hiccup in your purchase and ask for a few more weeks there until your new place goes through ... unless of course you are willing to pay the new tenant's alternative accommodation and furniture storage costs!

chrisni1986

werdnal get off your high horse!! your saying things i didnt even mention!!

.. i didnt give them a date i think i will be moving out on i can stay else where till house purchase is sorted so thats the date we want to try and move out on.. i wasnt dictating when i wanted it advertised, i mearly asked is there a set period in which it can be advertised.. landlord has agreed to let me end early and im paying the fees for the agents to advertise so why shouldnt i have a say at when its done?

G_M

Pot calling kettle? Werdnall was warning you of potential problems. OK, some may come to pass, some may not. Some may be relevant, some may not. Some you may have mentioned, some maybe you had not.

Posters here nearly always give a brief overview, missing out relevant facts, often because they don't even understand what is relevant, so we often mention things, to be helpful, just in case...

chrisni1986 wrote: »

werdnal get off your high horse!! your saying things i didnt even mention!!

.. i didnt give them a date i think i will be moving out on i can stay else where till house purchase is sorted so thats the date we want to try and move out on..
err - isn't that exactly what Werdnall was saying? Giving notice (in your words 'resigning a lease') is about being definate, not about 'trying'.
i wasnt dictating when i wanted it advertised, i mearly asked is there a set period in which it can be advertised.. landlord has agreed to let me end early and im paying the fees for the agents to advertise so why shouldnt i have a say at when its done?

By all means discuss, negotiate and mutually agree. But do not take things for granted, and, as Werdnall sensibly advised, get any agreement in writing.