early surrender of tenancy agreement

cookie_monster_2

Sorry I have two posts going on at the same time but they're so different, I thought this would make more sense.


Here's the deal:


Partner and I signed a six month tenancy agreement. We informed the LA and LL that we were looking to buy a house but needed a place to stay as my old flat was being sold by the LL.


Well we found a place pretty quickly. We told the LA who told us we would need to pay a fee of £300 to re-advertise this flat and find a new tenant before we could move out.


We have done that and they have found new tenants who appear to want to stay here long term.


We are now hoping to complete end of August when our rent it due. I have asked the LA if I need to hand in notice etc. but have been told I will still be liable for costs till when the new tenants move in BUT THEY WON'T TELL US WHEN THAT IS.


We can't budget ourselves without this. I am so concerned they will take our deposit off us, which is £750 because we asked to leave the contract early.


All of this has been done on the phone or via email.


I'm worried we have got ourselves into a situation we simply cannot handle money wise. Although we're not in loads of debt we have a big big family holiday coming up for my brother's wedding and we have too many balls to juggle at the moment.


I'm after advice from anyone who has a clue what we should do.

pmlindyloo

A couple of questions first please.

Are you in England/Wales or Scotland (may be different rules)
When did you tenancy begin and end?
Did you get the agreed surrender of the property in writing and what date was mentioned as regards the surrender?

Basically if you are ending the fixed term tenancy early then you are liable for the rent until the end of the tenancy unless you have agreed an early surrender and the date of that surrender with the landlord and any fees required for that surrender to take place.

cookie_monster_2

Our tenancy started in April and was supposed to end in October.


We live in England.


There was no letter to agree to an early surrender - it was done via the telephone. We agreed to pay the advertising costs and to pay up until October if nobody was found.

BitterAndTwisted

It's perfectly reasonable for the landlord or their agent to ask you to pay the landlord's costs for advertising/marketing to find a replacement tenant. It is also reasonable to expect you to cover the rent until the new tenant moves in and takes over paying the rent. Perhaps they can't tell you when the new tenancy will start because the new tenant hasn't signed an agreement yet? it sounds like the agent/landlord would be utterly fooish to do so until and unless you have given your own notice. What landlord would want to be committed to supplying a property to a new tenant when they don't know when the current tenant will leave?

cookie_monster_2

So we should submit our notice?


We have an idea of when completion will take place and have friends we can stay with if the dates don't quite add up and we need a place to stay for some time. We know the vendors of the property we are buying will definitely be selling - they are uber uber super keen.


I do keep asking the LA if we should hand in notice but they aren't responsive and just keep reminding me I am liable up until the day the new tenants move in. Therefore if we hand in our notice, can we stay past it if needed if the new tenants don't need to move in?


We know our LL is a pain in the neck as he has said that he would LIKE the property to be vacant for about two weeks so he can carry out some work BUT I don't think we should be paying for him to be carrying out necessary repairs. We should surely be able to say no if we are still paying for it.

BitterAndTwisted

You absolutely need to negotiate a mutual surrender IN WRITING. Because should you give notice and the landlord/agent choose not to find a replacement tenant you will end up being 100% responsible for the whole of the rent until the end of your fixed-term.

You can't just "hand in" your notice and expect the agent or the landlord they represent to behave in the way you expect/hope. They've got you over a barrel until the surrender is signed. Decide on a date that you wish the surrender to be effective from so they can get on with securing a replacement tenant.

cookie_monster_2

They've already found a tenant, well two and the "now let" sign has been put up outside our flat.

pmlindyloo

cookie_monster_2 wrote: »

So we should submit our notice?


We have an idea of when completion will take place and have friends we can stay with if the dates don't quite add up and we need a place to stay for some time. We know the vendors of the property we are buying will definitely be selling - they are uber uber super keen.


I do keep asking the LA if we should hand in notice but they aren't responsive and just keep reminding me I am liable up until the day the new tenants move in. Therefore if we hand in our notice, can we stay past it if needed if the new tenants don't need to move in?


We know our LL is a pain in the neck as he has said that he would LIKE the property to be vacant for about two weeks so he can carry out some work BUT I don't think we should be paying for him to be carrying out necessary repairs. We should surely be able to say no if we are still paying for it.

Because you are in a fixed term then there is no need to give in your notice if you intend to leave at the end of the fixed term (or in your case before the end of the fixed term.

I should get everything in writing.

Write to both the LA and LL saying what has happened.

On (date) you agreed to an early surrender of the tenancy at ***
with agreement to pay **** as a fee for re advertising the property etc. etc.

I agree that they probably do not know the date yet so you will probably just have to wait and keep your fingers crossed that it is soon.

After the date has been agreed then get this in writing again.

They may have found tenants but nothing has been formalised until they have signed a tenancy agreement. Only then will your liability end - the date the new tenants' tenancy agreement begins.

AndyT678

cookie_monster_2 wrote: »

So we should submit our notice?

I wouldn't in your position.

In your other thread you say that you haven't exchanged contracts on the house that you plan to buy and are in fact considering pulling out of the deal.

cookie_monster_2

My partner won't let me not go ahead - I will do it, I'm just a nervous FTB. We have somewhere to stay if absolutely necessary. We just don't want to be liable for paying a mortgage as well as rent.

jjlandlord

You cannot serve "your notice" as your tenancy is a fixed term tenancy.

The only thing you can do is offer to surrender the tenancy and let the landlord accept or not.
It seems you already did that.