We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING: Hello Forumites! In order to help keep the Forum a useful, safe and friendly place for our users, discussions around non-MoneySaving matters are not permitted per the Forum rules. While we understand that mentioning house prices may sometimes be relevant to a user's specific MoneySaving situation, we ask that you please avoid veering into broad, general debates about the market, the economy and politics, as these can unfortunately lead to abusive or hateful behaviour. Threads that are found to have derailed into wider discussions may be removed. Users who repeatedly disregard this may have their Forum account banned. Please also avoid posting personally identifiable information, including links to your own online property listing which may reveal your address. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide
End fixed term tenancy early - Landlord being unreasonable?
300game
Posts: 16 Forumite
Hi, new to this forum, hope you can help us out.
We have lived in the property for nearly 2 years, currently 5.5 months into a 12 month Fixed term tenancy agreement and are looking to get out early as we have now bought a property.
Backstory:
Month (-)1: We made an enquiry with the LA at the commencement of our 12 month renewal about purchasing the property from the landlord, the landlord had a valuation and gave us a price to purchase, we advised we would be looking at other properties and would get back to them.
Month 3: Having found a more suitable property to purchase we were advised by our LA that we didn't have a 'break clause' in our tenancy and our landlord wouldn't release us early.
Month 4: After having decided we couldn't miss out on buying our ideal first home we had our offer accepted and started the process of buying.
At this point we informed our LA and made an offer to pay the rent up to month 8 of the tenancy, wave the deposit, find new tenants and pay their fees. (ie 4 months notice + deposit +vacant possession by month 6). The offer was rejected stating that the landlord wanted us to see out the remainder of the tenancy, the LA conveyed that the landlord felt upset that we had decided not to purchase his property (something we had only inquired about not committed to)
Month 5:
We request from the LA permission (as per our TA) to sub-let from month 6; denied on the grounds that he doesn't want it sub-let.
We find 5 different sets of tenants all willing to take a 6 month tenancy (with the LA) from month 6 at the same rental rate and presented their details to the LA; rejected on the grounds that they dont want to take on any new tenants.
After much discussion we are given a compromise by the landlord; he will put the property on the market in month 8 then end the agreement when the property sells. Although they have stated their intention to sell next year they will not put the property for sale any earlier "due to the market this time of year".
Although we could possible afford up to month 8, it will take 2-3 months before the the sale completes, effectively tieing us in for the full term.
Present:
We fully accept that we have a 12 month legally binding agreement, however we dont feel that the landlord is being very reasonable in the refusal to sub-let or take on the new tenants we have found, they would rather let us get into rent arrears from month 7 then deal with it in court.
We feel that we have communicated our intentions with plenty of notice and offered some very reasonable solutions to cover the rent with no additional costs on their part.
We have been told by the LA that should we not be able to pay the rent we will be taken to court, a situation we dont want to get into and could be easily avoided by accepting either of our compromises (non of which would have any financial impact on the landlord).
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, we haven't let this put a damper on buying and moving in to our first house :beer: :T
We have lived in the property for nearly 2 years, currently 5.5 months into a 12 month Fixed term tenancy agreement and are looking to get out early as we have now bought a property.
Backstory:
Month (-)1: We made an enquiry with the LA at the commencement of our 12 month renewal about purchasing the property from the landlord, the landlord had a valuation and gave us a price to purchase, we advised we would be looking at other properties and would get back to them.
Month 3: Having found a more suitable property to purchase we were advised by our LA that we didn't have a 'break clause' in our tenancy and our landlord wouldn't release us early.
Month 4: After having decided we couldn't miss out on buying our ideal first home we had our offer accepted and started the process of buying.
At this point we informed our LA and made an offer to pay the rent up to month 8 of the tenancy, wave the deposit, find new tenants and pay their fees. (ie 4 months notice + deposit +vacant possession by month 6). The offer was rejected stating that the landlord wanted us to see out the remainder of the tenancy, the LA conveyed that the landlord felt upset that we had decided not to purchase his property (something we had only inquired about not committed to)
Month 5:
We request from the LA permission (as per our TA) to sub-let from month 6; denied on the grounds that he doesn't want it sub-let.
We find 5 different sets of tenants all willing to take a 6 month tenancy (with the LA) from month 6 at the same rental rate and presented their details to the LA; rejected on the grounds that they dont want to take on any new tenants.
After much discussion we are given a compromise by the landlord; he will put the property on the market in month 8 then end the agreement when the property sells. Although they have stated their intention to sell next year they will not put the property for sale any earlier "due to the market this time of year".
Although we could possible afford up to month 8, it will take 2-3 months before the the sale completes, effectively tieing us in for the full term.
Present:
We fully accept that we have a 12 month legally binding agreement, however we dont feel that the landlord is being very reasonable in the refusal to sub-let or take on the new tenants we have found, they would rather let us get into rent arrears from month 7 then deal with it in court.
We feel that we have communicated our intentions with plenty of notice and offered some very reasonable solutions to cover the rent with no additional costs on their part.
We have been told by the LA that should we not be able to pay the rent we will be taken to court, a situation we dont want to get into and could be easily avoided by accepting either of our compromises (non of which would have any financial impact on the landlord).
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, we haven't let this put a damper on buying and moving in to our first house :beer: :T
0
Comments
-
Thanks for the quick relpy, our agreement states something along the lines that "requests to sub-let will not be unreasonably withheld"0
-
You're screwed, basically.
You have a 12 month contract and, no matter what, the Landlord is entitled to expect you to rent for that full 12 months. Whether some people on an internet forum think he is being unreasonable or not is irrelevant as it seems he is intent on making you see out the contract.
Check your contract too, many state as a condition that you must not leave the property empty in excess of x days or something to that effect. In that case, you could be getting yourself into more trouble...0 -
Check your contract too, many state as a condition that you must not leave the property empty in excess of x days or something to that effect. In that case, you could be getting yourself into more trouble...
Yes it states something along the lines that we must not leave the property vacant for more than 30 days without notifying the LA, which we will do when we move out.0 -
If you were wanting to buy somewhere why sign a fixed term for 12 months? That doesn't make sense.
I can understand why the LL doesn't want any old Tom, !!!!!! or Harry living in the property as sub-tenants.
The best outcome would be to negotiate an early surrender but your LL is under no obligation to agree.0 -
Basically you owe 6.5 months rent.
Is he being unreasonable? - well if that reason ( that you didn't buy his) is true then he's being petty.
However, it is unreasonable for you to expect him to let you go early. In your defence you have offered a reasonable solution, but perfectly entitled to say no.
The question does arise- why sign a 12 month agreement if house purchase was on the cards?
A solution for you: if one of you remains there as your primary residence for the next 6 months - u could get a lodger in who would help with paying the rent.
Legally you have no path to solve this.
So work out how much you need a month to cover everything and try to find a way to get this.0 -
Thanks for the quick relpy, our agreement states something along the lines that "requests to sub-let will not be unreasonably withheld"
Then, the landlord is not honouring that.
You need to ensure you have something to support your claim in this regard, and you can easily get a court to limit any claim the landlord makes.Well life is harsh, hug me don't reject me.0 -
Then, the landlord is not honouring that.
You need to ensure you have something to support your claim in this regard, and you can easily get a court to limit any claim the landlord makes.
We have had the following in an email from the LA, post our offers:
"As you are aware your tenancy agreement commits you until [month removed] 2015 and the landlord is not willing to re-let the property at this time and therefore is not willing to accept your offer (nor do you have his permission to sub-let the property)."0 -
As has already be said, why did you sign a 12 month tenancy when you knew you were looking for somewhere to buy?
How far along is your house purchase and when do you think you will complete? It could take several months anyway taking you much closer to the end of your fixed term.0 -
fairy_lights wrote: »As has already be said, why did you sign a 12 month tenancy when you knew you were looking for somewhere to buy?
How far along is your house purchase and when do you think you will complete? It could take several months anyway taking you much closer to the end of your fixed term.
We signed up for 12 months not knowing that we didnt have a break clause.
We found an ideal property much quicker than expected and the sellers couldn't wait, we have already completed.0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 354.2K Banking & Borrowing
- 254.4K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 455.3K Spending & Discounts
- 247.2K Work, Benefits & Business
- 603.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 178.4K Life & Family
- 261.3K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.7K Read-Only Boards