Tenancy period, please help

lloyd1234

Hi guys

First time poster but a long time follower.

Me and my partner signed up to rent our first flat together. When being shown around we believed we were looking for somewhere for six months. We said we wanted somewhere for six months and then we would be looking to buy a house.

We found somewhere we liked and signed the contract with the estate agents.

The day we moved in which was also the day we signed the contract (27/4) we met the landlord who said its a great first place particularly for a year. We said we signed for six months and the landlord said I advertised for a year with the estate agent.

The landlord said this is fine just give me six weeks notice and I will look for a new tenant and you can just cover the rent for any time it is empty if it is indeed empty at any point.

We then said okay and contacted our estate agent on the Monday 29/4 and said the landlord believes this is for 12 months not six and they simply said you should have read the contract properly and it is for 12 months. They then said sort out leaving early with the landlord and if there's any problem we can take a fee and look for someone when you leave and again you need to cover the rent for any time it is empty.

We then received an email from the Deposit Protection Service (DPS) who said we have your deposit and here is your reference number. The tenancy period on their email said six months. We then contacted the estate agent again and said it states six months on the DPS email and they said thats normal, it always says six months but your contract is for 12.

We are now not sure what is the next thing to do? Do we just wait until we are four and a half months in and give the landlord notice and hope we only have to cover maybe one or two months rent whilst its empty? Or something else?

Thanking you in advance for any help.

mrginge

So what does it say on your contract?

lloyd1234

The contract has been posted to us this morning as the estate agent said it had to be witnessed first and was posted out today, we should receive that tomorrow.

G_M

The lesson is : don't sign legal documents without reading them.

IF the 12 month Term is hidden away in small print on page 23, you may have a case for saying you relied on the agent's assurance it was 6 months, and the Term was unfairly hidden, but in the vast majority of Tenancy Agreements the Term is clearly stated on page one, along with the rent, and names of landlord & Tenant.

Check.

If it is on page one, you really have no excuse.

Option two: is there a 'Break Clause' in the tenancy agreement? Later in the document, some agreements have a clause allowing either side to leave at (usually) the half way point.

Read it and look!

Failing this, you must rely on negotiation with the landlord for an 'Early Surrender' of the tenancy. He will most likely impose conditions eg you pay for his marketing costs &/or rent till new tenant found etc.

The DPS registration does not affect the legal contract between you and the landlord.

mrginge

lloyd1234 wrote: »

The contract has been posted to us this morning as the estate agent said it had to be witnessed first and was posted out today, we should receive that tomorrow.

I guess you didn't read it when you signed it then. Makes me wonder what else you have agreed to that you don't know about.

I also wonder what exactly is being 'witnessed', since that sounds very much like 'we need an excuse as we have f'd up and are photoshopping your signature onto a new version of the contract that says what we want it to say, but since you haven't got a clue what was on the original you aren't really going to argue with us'.

Of course i don't actually believe that something like that would happen.:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

lloyd1234

I will look through the contract tomorrow and see if any of these things are in there. We have already learnt a lesson here and now just want to sort things out so we can look forward.

Thank you for replies so far.

ValHaller

lloyd1234 wrote: »

The contract has been posted to us this morning as the estate agent said it had to be witnessed first and was posted out today, we should receive that tomorrow.

????????? ie your signatures had to be witnessed? Or were they witnessed when you signed? This sounds well dodgy unless they mean signed by the Landlord and witnessed. Documents can only be witnessed when they are actually signed.

lloyd1234

Thank you for replies so far.

Have received the contract today and it states 12 months on it.

Have read through it and it states the landlord shall have a right to claim against the deposit for any additional reasonable charges made by the landlord relating to such matters as early release from tenancy subject to landlords consent (reasonable fees incurred by the landlord).

So I belive we will have to negotiate with the landlord directly. As mentioned in the OP the landlord did say to us give them six Weeks notice and cover any rent payments while empty so should we wait until then, ie four and half months in or mention something earlier?

Thanks again in advance.

RAS

Have you actually started looking for a house?

lloyd1234

Yes, we are moving out of the area and into a property which is owned by my parents which will be vacant in six months time.

hazyjo

If you're looking after six months, it'll probably take 3 months for anything to go through, plus however long to find somewhere, plus getting Christmas out the way (yes, that is only 7 months away again...) when many EAs and solicitors shut down for a couple of weeks...

Maybe it's easier to give in and just accept the year's tenancy. Could always wait 8 months before looking rather than 6.

I know it's bending a bit, and I know you've been deceived, but you might find you're fighting for something that'll end up being irrelevant cos you'll need closer to at least 9 months anyway.

Shouldn't give notice on a tenancy until you exchange, so you are talking probably 9 months away!

Jx