Renting property

kem123

Hi

Me and my boyfriend moved into our house in january on a 6 month lease.

When signing everything we were told there had been problems with damp but this was all sorted now.

Shortly after moving in we spotted numerous problems which we reported and they were fixed.

We have since reported other problems including a leaking window, a leaking boiler and more damp. These problems were reported via email and on a visit to the house in early february.

Nothing has been done about these problems.

My boyfriend made a call to the agent end of march enquiring if there were any other properties available which there wasn't. He asked about getting the problems fixed and the agent replied if we weren't happy to serve our notice and move out.

We have therefore looked for somewhere else and paid a deposit. The current agent is refusing to provide us with a reference and says he wants a months rent plus a fee for terminating the contract early.

Does anyone know where we stand with this as we were told to do this by the agent?

Thanks in advance everyone

[Deleted User]

You cannot serve valid notice during a fixed term tenancy unless your contract explicitly allows it (through a break clause for example). The agent that you spoke to may have assumed that you understood this, you cannot use that as an excuse to absolve yourself of responsibility for this. Problems with the property (damp, leaks) do not give you permission to terminate the tenancy without valid notice, there are proper legal procedures for forcing repairs if the landlord refuses.

As you are in a fixed term tenancy you are liable for rent up until the end of the tenancy, a landlord can allow you to terminate the tenancy early but you have no legal right to early termination which means they can pretty much set whatever terms they like. If your tenancy started in January you are liable for rent up until July unless you're given permission to leave early, totally legal and totally normal for a fee to be required because the landlord will incur costs for re-marketing and a potential void period.

This is an unfortunate situation but you should have researched your situation prior to committing yourself to a new property. You'll have to let the new agents know that you can't proceed, which will result in the loss of the holding deposit you've paid... unless you can find the money to pay the current agency to end your tenancy early.