Leaving tenancy contract early

yatinsardana

nidO wrote: »

You're in a minority then, it's fairly common if a landlord has to ask a tenant to leave prior to the end of their contact for various reasons that a negotiated agreement will end up involving the landlord having to pay new letting agents and referencing fees, moving costs, etc.



He's not doing "whatever he wants to", his options are either to hold you to the agreement you signed, or have some form of incentive to let you break the agreement.

It's unfortunate for you that you have a landlord who isn't particularly interested in helping you out, but sadly that's just life, and he's under no obligation to.



I'm not sure why you think you're entitled to do this. The deposit is there as a deposit for repairs etc not for you to unilaterally decide to be used in lieu of rent.

If a tenant of mine unilaterally told me they cba paying me the rent they owe at the end of a tenancy and to "just take it off the deposit" (which creates a lot of hassle for the landlord, as the deposit is protected he can't just unilaterally keep it for this) my response would be the deposit being returned in full to the tenant barring any damage deductions etc followed swiftly by a small claims court summons for the unpaid rent, as the landlord has absolutely no guarantee that you won't just turn round and dispute the reduction to cover rent with the protection scheme, and then not pay for any actual damages.

I take your point on board and you're right in that maybe I'm being unreasonable.

I'm not making a decision just yet about what to do with rent as I think it'll be an irrational decision. The only thing I will say to one of your comments is that if you as a landlord will return the deposit to the tenant and then file a complaint for him not paying the rent then you're quite literally doing what I'm offering to do.

Because when you return me the deposit barring any damages, I'll be returning that deposit back to you in the form of rent.

One of the posts above mentioned that the landlord is meant to have informed me of the deposit scheme that my deposit was put in and also how I can access it within 30 days. He didn't do that.

00ec25

yatinsardana wrote: »

I take your point on board and you're right in that maybe I'm being unreasonable.

I'm not making a decision just yet about what to do with rent as I think it'll be an irrational decision. The only thing I will say to one of your comments is that if you as a landlord will return the deposit to the tenant and then file a complaint for him not paying the rent then you're quite literally doing what I'm offering to do.

Because when you return me the deposit barring any damages, I'll be returning that deposit back to you in the form of rent.

One of the posts above mentioned that the landlord is meant to have informed me of the deposit scheme that my deposit was put in and also how I can access it within 30 days. He didn't do that.

you need to get a few things straight

the deposit is held by the scheme precisely to stop the LL doing whatever he wants with it and similarly to stop you from disappearing without losing money. The scheme will only release the money to you (or the LL) when both sides agree on a list of accepted deductions from it. If there is no agreement then the scheme will adjudicate based on the evidence presented by both parties in response to their questions and their decision is final

if one of you decides not to respond to questions the scheme will eventually release the deposit to the other person in full

the evidence comprises the written inventory showing that there has been damage to items listed therein. The inventory therefore must list everything and state its condition at start and end and the proof is the statement showing condition at the end .

Wear and tear is not damage and no deduction can be made for it

deductions are compensation to the LL for damage to his property. Damage can be physical (requiring repair) or not returning the item ion the condition you received it - the latter is typically where failure to clean is treated as damage. There is no requirement at all that the LL must spend this compensation on repairs to the items but any claim for specific costs (typically cleaning) should be supported by receipts

many tenancy agreements will not allow unpaid rent to be deducted from the deposit for exactly the reason you want to do so - not paying the final rent means there is no money left to cover damage. If you do fail to pay rent the LL therefore can sue you for rent arrears (and his legal costs) which is a lot easier to prove in court than a claim for damage to inventory items

you claim the LL did not give you the prescribed info within 30 days - that gives you grounds to sue the LL for failure to meet his legal obligations. It is down to the LL to prove he issued it, it is not down to him to prove you received it - take care!

dimbo61

How GOOD was the Inventory done?
A list of items or very accurate account of everything in the property ?
You have lived in the property for nearly 3 years so Fair Wear and Tear!
Take lots of photos and read the meters ( take photos dated) Redirect post for 12 months.
Me I would stay until end of tenancy and not allow any viewings
Claim the deposit back the day you leave!