Ending a tenancy

LOLAF

Hi there,
We are tenants under an assured short hold tenancy agreement. We have a minimum tenancy period of 6 months.

For personal reasons we may need to terminate the lease earlier.

- Can the landlord unreasonably withhold its consent?
- Can the landlord sue us for rent until the end of the minimum period? If so - does it need to show that it makes an effort to re-let the property?
- If we find good replacement tenants can the landlord still refuse and demand the rent for the remaining period from us?

Thanks

Kynthia

LOLAF wrote: »

Hi there,
We are tenants under an assured short hold tenancy agreement. We have a minimum tenancy period of 6 months.

For personal reasons we may need to terminate the lease earlier.

- Can the landlord unreasonably withhold its consent? Yes, it's not unreasonable to hold you to the legal contact YOU signed.
- Can the landlord sue us for rent until the end of the minimum period? Yes, you're contracted to pay rent for at least this period of time.
If so - does it need to show that it makes an effort to re-let the property? No, a landlord has no legal obligation to mitigate loss in a tenancy although many will.
- If we find good replacement tenants can the landlord still refuse and demand the rent for the remaining period from us? Yes, as stated above you have signed a legally binding contract to pay rent for the fixed term. Landlord does not have to accept replacement tenants and does not have to agree with you as to what a 'good' tenant is.

Thanks

You signed a contract which gave you security from eviction for six months but means you have to pay rent for this period of time.

lighting_up_the_chalice

LOLAF wrote: »

Hi there,
We are tenants under an assured short hold tenancy agreement. We have a minimum tenancy period of 6 months.

For personal reasons we may need to terminate the lease earlier.

- Can the landlord unreasonably withhold its consent?
- Can the landlord sue us for rent until the end of the minimum period? If so - does it need to show that it makes an effort to re-let the property?
- If we find good replacement tenants can the landlord still refuse and demand the rent for the remaining period from us?

Thanks

Yes, yes and yes. Look at it the other way.... If you wanted to stay but the LL wanted to end the tenancy earlier than the agreed contractual period, how agreeable would YOU be?

Yorkie1

LOLAF wrote: »

Hi there,
We are tenants under an assured short hold tenancy agreement. We have a minimum tenancy period of 6 months.

For personal reasons we may need to terminate the lease earlier.

- Can the landlord unreasonably withhold its consent?

You have committed to pay rent for the duration of the tenancy. The LL can withhold its consent to early termination of the tenancy, and would not be unreasonable in so doing.

- Can the landlord sue us for rent until the end of the minimum period? If so - does it need to show that it makes an effort to re-let the property?

Yes, the LL can sue you for rent until the end of the period. It does not have to take any steps to mitigate its losses; I believe I read on here recently that there was a court case confirming this.

- If we find good replacement tenants can the landlord still refuse and demand the rent for the remaining period from us?

Yes, the LL is not bound to agree to replacement tenants at all, or the ones you find.


Thanks

See above for the answers to the questions you've asked. The LL is not obliged to agree to anything in this situation. However, there is absolutely no harm in trying to negotiate with the LL; this is the only way you will succeed in getting out early.

When does your fixed term expire?

Johnny_Locus

I have a similar question, only my situation is slightly different because our estate agent have never bothered to send us a new tenancy agreement, despite us paying the admin fee when we renewed for 6 months in February and chasing up the contracts several times.
We're in the process of buying a house and will need to end the tenancy 2 months early. If there is no tenancy agreement to breach, can we get away with just giving a month's notice (no break clause in old agreement)?

lighting_up_the_chalice

Johnny_Locus wrote: »

I have a similar question, only my situation is slightly different because our estate agent have never bothered to send us a new tenancy agreement, despite us paying the admin fee when we renewed for 6 months in February and chasing up the contracts several times.
We're in the process of buying a house and will need to end the tenancy 2 months early. If there is no tenancy agreement to breach, can we get away with just giving a month's notice (no break clause in old agreement)?

You may be on a sticky wicket with that one. Were they to try an evict you before the 6 months, I'm sure you would use the agreement and fee paid as evidence of a renewal. They may do the same.

BitterAndTwisted

If you haven't signed the contract or even been sent one, then you cannot be held to it. I'd be docking off that renewal fee from your last month's rent as well.

Pay particular attention to the specific dates on the original agreement and ensure you give at least one rental-period's notice IN WRITING

G_M

This post explains how a tenancy can be ended:

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?)

Fire_Fox

Johnny_Locus wrote: »

I have a similar question, only my situation is slightly different because our estate agent have never bothered to send us a new tenancy agreement, despite us paying the admin fee when we renewed for 6 months in February and chasing up the contracts several times.
We're in the process of buying a house and will need to end the tenancy 2 months early. If there is no tenancy agreement to breach, can we get away with just giving a month's notice (no break clause in old agreement)?

You do have a tenancy you have a periodic one, you are not in a fixed term. So one month notice coinciding with a rental period.
http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/notice_to_quit.htm

lighting_up_the_chalice

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

If you haven't signed the contract or even been sent one, then you cannot be held to it. I'd be docking off that renewal fee from your last month's rent as well.

Pay particular attention to the specific dates on the original agreement and ensure you give at least one rental-period's notice IN WRITING

But by agreeing to the extension and paying the requisite fee, there is an implied contract despite the lack of paperwork.

Fire_Fox

lighting_up_the_chalice wrote: »

But by agreeing to the extension and paying the requisite fee, there is an implied contract despite the lack of paperwork.

The original AST which has now rolled onto a periodic tenancy stands. They paid for a service that was never received/ not within a reasonable timeframe. They did not pay a fee for a verbal contract nor does a verbal one trump a written one, that would be utter madness.