Landlord wants to go private - advice

Twiggy_34

That sounds fair. I'd be the same as you and wouldn't want to be put in that awkward position & trust that your LL will appreciate that, while you'd love to help, it makes you uncomfortable. I'm sure that they'll be prepared to wait if you've proven yourself to be a good tenant to date. I know that I got lucky without our present (and first/only) ever tenant as they're proving themselves to be very good and I want to do anything reasonable to ensure they want to stay at the house for as long as possible. This is not because I think we'd have difficulty letting, but because a) it's less hassle and b) there are no guarantee's the next tenants will be as good. I'm sure this is something your LL will take into serious consideration and doubt they've even considered terminating your tenancy unless there are other things at play that we're all unaware of!

dancingfairy

He needs to dig out the contract he signed with the letting agent and read that. It should state plainly how much notice he has to give them.
He cannot just break the contract, but obviously if both parties wanted to break the contract then you could by mutual agreement.
You also do not need to sign a new tenancy agreement every time as you will automatically go on to a rolling contract.
I suggest you suggest to him that he goes to CAB/a lawyer if he needs help extricating himself from the managing contract with the letting agents (which as has been said is completely seperate to your contract with him).
df

ConfusedofYorkshire

i wouldnt' want to lie for him either. So hopefully he can just sort this out for himself by checking his contract.

A landlord once tried to get us to change all of our bills to his name. he told us it was to make our lives easier but it was obvious he was going to try to make out that he had moved back in to avoid tax if he sold it.

We just moved in the end because he made it really awkward. but i dont think that would be necessary in this case.

cheekychappy

We dropped our letting agent as they were an answerphone service in effect and passed on messages if they felt like it or answered them on our behalf without our knowledge.
We advised the tenants of our intentions, paid the letting agency there "tenant find fee" to terminate the contract and we lowered the rent for the tenants as a gesture of goodwill in that they keep the property immaculate and if anything needs attention, we get it done on the double. We both gained, but we're not mercenary landlords. Not all landlords are the same!

UnsureTenant

So after I explained to the landlord that I was uncomfortable lying to the agent and telling them I was moving out, he told me that he would instead instruct them to ask me to leave, in order to achieve the same thing. He was still planning on letting me stay but he needed the agency to think I was leaving.

The agency informed him that due to the break clause not yet being active in the tenancy agreement, he cannot ask me to leave for several months. Now he has come back to me and is asking that I tell the agency I want to leave (as before) and that we have mutually agreed to end the tenancy agreement.

I feel like I'm back at square one with this deceitful practice and not sure what to do. If I don't do what he's asking, then I'm fine for a few months but when the break clause is active, I'll be back in a difficult situation. Maybe I should just go along with what he's asking me to do. I honestly thought when I signed a tenancy agreement and paid the agency fees etc. I would be able to avoid situations like this.

[Deleted User]

UnsureTenant wrote: »

If I don't do what he's asking, then I'm fine for a few months but when the break clause is active, I'll be back in a difficult situation. Maybe I should just go along with what he's asking me to do. I honestly thought when I signed a tenancy agreement and paid the agency fees etc. I would be able to avoid situations like this.

This is a question of picking your battles. Do you believe that your landlord is likely to evict you if you refuse? I find it very unlikely that he would because it would be likely to cause a void period which is going to cost him far more than the agents cut however it's very possible he might if he feels like he can find a new tenant fast enough. If he does evict you what sort of impact would it have on you, would it be a huge inconvenience or are you happy to move?

My one concern with accepting the break clause idea is that in theory the landlord could be pulling a fast one and trying to evict you on the down low -- seems very unlikely, but plausible -- and by getting you to agree to void the tenancy you would be, in theory, vulnerable to a swift removal from the property.

Ultimately it comes down to your priorities, nobody else can answer that question. Personally I'd refuse to go through with the plan and prepare to move out -- simply because I would not be happy with a landlord that operated in that manner, if he doesn't respect his agreement the agency why would he respect any agreement with you?

Campervanman

We rented a flat between property sale/purchase. The landlord asked us to do exactly the same as you are being asked. It was very stressful. Firstly the agents asked for a forwarding address which we didnt have as we were staying in the flat. Then they arranged for the inventory expecting the flat to be empty. Then I gave the wrong date for something and they began to smell a rat and started getting aggressive with us. Then the landlord got stick from the rental agents and blamed us for 'not being convincing'. It all worked out fine in the end and the landlord was flexible when we moved out as we had 'done her a favour' but really there was a lot of grief for us and no advantages.