Renting - Landlord won't release me

franklee

Generali wrote: »

The agency is acting as the agent of the LL. IMO telling the agent something is exactly the same as saying it to the LL. If the agent hasn't passed on the message then the fault lies with them not the LL.

I agree, if the agent is managing the property, informing the agent is the same as informing the landlord. Although important things should be in writing (typically to the agent if their address is the one for service of notices) as agents can be "forgetful".

Not that it helps the OP much. On the information given so far as there's no obligation for the agent/landlord to give permission for the tenancy to end early.

Calluna13 Have you double checked to make sure there is no break clause in the tenancy agreement. Normally you could find a replacement tenant but given the landlord wants to sell in June that wouldn't be attractive. Can you delay your purchase? I would not hand back the keys unless you can agree a surrender as that way the landlord can have both the property and your rent. Can you keep both properties on and get a lodger to share the costs of keeping the rental during the overlap? If you did this you would need to keep a bedroom at the rental and stay over sometimes so you still live there.

annie123

Your post implies you found somewhere within the last 4 weeks, which means you are not ready to exchange contracts yet, which means you don't know when completion is.

If your purchase goes smoothly, allowing 3 months for it which is an average for a house, then that would make you ready to exchange end of March and complete end of April so you'd have 1 month extra, if there are no problems with the chain.
If you're ready sooner ask for 6-8 weeks between exchange and completion. I've sold loads with tenants in your position and can often arrange longer if needed.

What you don't want to do, is go kicking and screaming that you have rights etc only to find the sale or chain collapses, or it takes much longer for all sorts of reasons, then you'll have to go cap in hand to see if you can stay where you are for longer or you'll need to rent somewhere short term which will be expensive.