Renting-& I need advice!

Salander

Hello,
my family and I have been renting the same house for 6 years & all has been ok.
We have had ASTs of 12 and 24 months, with break clauses 1/2 way through.
in Jan 2014 we were sent a letter by the agents saying that the Landlord had agreed with our proposal of a 24 month ast WITH IMMEDIATE BREAK CLAUSE and could we sign & return the ast.
We signed & returned it.
We are contemplating buying a house (hence wanting the break clauses), jn preparation I checked tge AST. In it the break clause is at 12 months!

I have asked the agent to correct this, they said it was up to the landlord..I have not heard anything since.

I asked a law graduate I know- he said that it is an obvious mistake and that it is unlikely anyone would want to take us to court as they may well lose. His view is dont worry about it, judt give 1 month when we are ready.

I'd really welcome some views on this!

da_rule

Did you keep the letter? If so then this would be helpful. Write a letter to the landlord (assuming you have his address) or the agent asking the AST to be amended to reflect what it was you were offered. Say the offer of an immediate break clause induced you into signing the agreement. Do as much as you can by letter. It is helpful to have an audit trail. Whilst he may not take you to court there may be implications relating to your deposit etc.

Salander

Hi da rule,
yes, I have the letter. Good thinking about the inducement letter

any other opinions.

pcgtron

If there was an immediate break clause then what was the point of a 24 month ast. It's just a rolling ast with a meaningless date on the end with that break clause

Salander

It set the rent, but that isn't the point. What I need advice on is our legal situation.

wannabe_credit_free

I am a landlord in Scotland. When the initial 6 mth contract is up, I put my tenants on a rolling month to month contract. That means they only need to give me 1 months notice at any time and I need to give them 2 mths notice.

However Scottish and English law differ. I would suggest you seek advice from either Shelter, who specialise in this sort of thing, or Cab. Good luck, hope you get it sorted in your favour.

da_rule

The cold hard fact is that you signed a contract which expressly said there was a 12 month break clause. It's black and white and there for the landlord to rely upon.

Now, if you have a good relationship with him and it is obviously a mistake then he may change it. If he refuses to then you run the risk of him relying on that clause in court (if it's actually worth him going to court). You would then have to try and argue inducement and that you have highlighted the error to him. At the very least you could end up losing your deposit. You really need to push the landlord and the agent to get this clause changed to the one you thought it would be.

The lesson is even if someone has promised you something you should still read the contract to check that it is what you expected.