Offer on rental property... What are the rules?! Can I withdraw?

curtisbennett155

We recently viewed a rental property in which the available date was the 1st July 2016.

Our current agreement finishes on the 1st August and our landlord is moving back to the property so we have to leave.

We completed the offer document and sent this to the estate agents for the property that is available from the 1st July but with a move in date of the 15th to avoid having to pay two full months rent and informed the estate agent we were in discussions with our landlord at the possibility of moving out 2 weeks earlier. Our current landlord has now declined and as he wants to renovate, does not want us to leave early.

The estate agent then came back saying that the new property likes the sound of us and however would like us to move in earlier, I asked what we could compromise on and was given a rather vague, when is the earliest we could do? Which to us, would have been our offer of the 15th.

This process has taken a week and the property is still being advertised on RightMove. We received a call from a separate estate agent and viewed a property with them which is larger, nicer, closer to the station and much more convenient.

As soon as we found out yesterday evening regarding our landlord not allowing us to move out earlier than the 1st August, I emailed the estate agent that we put the offer in for and said...

'We have chased our landlord again last night and unfortunately our landlord has declined our request for any flexibility on our move date. Therefore please accept this email as confirmation of our withdrawal of an offer on Chesterfield Court.

Thank you so much for all your help so far and please let us know whether anything else suitable comes up, the further to the end of July the better.'

However, I want to know whether we are able to do this and proceed with the other property and whether the estate agent we put our offer in with has any rights to take funds? Of course there is a document detailing our names, jobs, salaries etc and for a potential £400 holding fee. Which states:

'I/ We acknowledge receipt of £400 (excluding bank charges) in connection with your proposed tenancy of the above 'subject to contract and referencing'. This covers the administration costs incurred to draw up the proposed tenancy, including referencing and compiling the contract. Please be advised that this payment is non- refundable under the following conditions: If you withdraw from the proposed tenancy, The Landlord is forced to withdraw as direct result of your referencing criteria not being met. In any other circumstance this payment may be refunded at Greenfields discretion. Any costs incurred by Greenfield will be withheld.'

As we have not formally even agreed a date, I am hoping that no money can be taken and we are fine to withdraw however I have received this email from the estate agent this morning.

'She hasn’t declined your offer of the 15th July!! She just asked the question of if you could move any earlier!?'

I don't want to feel like we have formally agreed to move in and the 15th was assuming that we would be able to move out earlier, however we really want to secure the other property we viewed which is much better as a property without having any come back from this offer.

Hopefully this email makes sense and any information is very much appreciated!

It is probably me panicking but it is only the second time I have had to rent so want to make sure I'm not about to be stung!

Thanks!

AnotherJoe

Have you paid the £400?

Hoploz

If the other property is better and the dates work better then if the worst comes to the worst it might be worth taking the £400 hit on the chin.

It isn't fair to make you pay when they haven't come to a proper formal agreement, but you have indeed withdrawn from a deal which was assumed to be going ahead. So it's hard to say whether you'll have to pay or not.

Guest101

curtisbennett155 wrote: »

We recently viewed a rental property in which the available date was the 1st July 2016.

Our current agreement finishes on the 1st August and our landlord is moving back to the property so we have to leave. - eventually, but not on the 1st of August.

We completed the offer document and sent this to the estate agents for the property that is available from the 1st July but with a move in date of the 15th to avoid having to pay two full months rent and informed the estate agent we were in discussions with our landlord at the possibility of moving out 2 weeks earlier. Our current landlord has now declined and as he wants to renovate, does not want us to leave early. - That seems silly. Obviously he cant renovate whilst you're there.

The estate agent then came back saying that the new property likes the sound of us and however would like us to move in earlier, I asked what we could compromise on and was given a rather vague, when is the earliest we could do? Which to us, would have been our offer of the 15th. - So that is the earliest. It's a long time until then, if they don't agree to the 15th, simply withdraw.

This process has taken a week and the property is still being advertised on RightMove. We received a call from a separate estate agent and viewed a property with them which is larger, nicer, closer to the station and much more convenient. - Great.

As soon as we found out yesterday evening regarding our landlord not allowing us to move out earlier than the 1st August, I emailed the estate agent that we put the offer in for and said...

'We have chased our landlord again last night and unfortunately our landlord has declined our request for any flexibility on our move date. Therefore please accept this email as confirmation of our withdrawal of an offer on Chesterfield Court. - Why are you withdrawing? They haven't declined the 15th, simply tried to negotiate.

Thank you so much for all your help so far and please let us know whether anything else suitable comes up, the further to the end of July the better.'

However, I want to know whether we are able to do this and proceed with the other property and whether the estate agent we put our offer in with has any rights to take funds? Of course there is a document detailing our names, jobs, salaries etc and for a potential £400 holding fee. Which states: - Have you paid £400?

'I/ We acknowledge receipt of £400 (excluding bank charges) in connection with your proposed tenancy of the above 'subject to contract and referencing'. This covers the administration costs incurred to draw up the proposed tenancy, including referencing and compiling the contract. Please be advised that this payment is non- refundable under the following conditions: If you withdraw from the proposed tenancy, The Landlord is forced to withdraw as direct result of your referencing criteria not being met. In any other circumstance this payment may be refunded at Greenfields discretion. Any costs incurred by Greenfield will be withheld.' - Well that's a fairly one-sided contract. Probably argue that it's not enforceable.

As we have not formally even agreed a date, I am hoping that no money can be taken and we are fine to withdraw however I have received this email from the estate agent this morning. - Well how would it be 'taken'?

'She hasn’t declined your offer of the 15th July!! She just asked the question of if you could move any earlier!?' - Well that's just unprofessional. (but accurate she hasn't declined. )

I don't want to feel like we have formally agreed to move in and the 15th was assuming that we would be able to move out earlier, however we really want to secure the other property we viewed which is much better as a property without having any come back from this offer. - You probably wont.

Hopefully this email makes sense and any information is very much appreciated!

It is probably me panicking but it is only the second time I have had to rent so want to make sure I'm not about to be stung!

Thanks!

Dear Letting Agent,


We took the request for an earlier move in date as a decline to our offer. You should be clearer in your communication.


As we reasonably believed our offer was declined we have applied elsewhere and will not be proceeding with yourselves.


As a tip, overuse of exclamation marks in correspondence with your clients is highly unprofessional and simply confirms our decision to not proceed.


Kind regards,

curtisbennett155

Thanks already for the contribution! The £400 has not yet been paid as we hadn't agreed a date.

Our current landlord who we have had a great relationship with over the 2 years we have been in the property, unfortunately not willing to budge on the date does put us in a tricky situation and we had assumed as he is coming back that he wouldn't have a problem with it.

We are withdrawing as they want us to move in before the 15th however we asked for the 15th assuming our landlord would have no issues with departing two weeks early as we have had a good relationship with him previously.

I understand she has not declined the date of the 15th but I was considering an email something along the lines of...

Dear 'NAME',

I understand that the 15th has not been formally declined, with our situation now clearer that our landlord has declined us departing two weeks prior to our contract with him, we are not in a financial situation to pay part rent on both properties and would look at amending the offer to a later date. We have discussed whether this would be an option but would prefer to find a property that is closer to the end of August so therefore would like to withdraw our current offer on this property.

Many thanks,

curtisbennett155

I also was wondering where is mentions 'subject to contract and referencing' this hasn't yet been carried out so therefore no money should be taken?

Mossfarr

As you have not paid any money I would simply tell them that you are withdrawing your offer. If you feel the need to give a reason just say you have come to an arrangement with your current landlord to stay longer.
I definitely wouldn't say "would prefer to find a property that is closer to the end of August" as they may agree to a later date - not what you want at all!You can then start the process for applying for the other house.

elverson

If you prefer the other place then walk away, if the agents are any good they'll find other tenants anyway.

elverson

Guest101 wrote: »

As a tip, overuse of exclamation marks in correspondence with your clients is highly unprofessional and simply confirms our decision to not proceed.

Haha, very good. If I had £1 for every over-excitable or badly spelt email from an estate agent...

casper_g

If you haven't paid anything I think they're unlikely to pursue any payment from you, whether or not they believe they are entitled to it. As to whether or not they ARE entitled to anything, I would say not as you merely expressed an interest in renting the property from 15th July, and the landlord/agent never accepted this offer.

As to their response of "'She hasn’t declined your offer of the 15th July!! She just asked the question of if you could move any earlier!?'" - I think the issue here is that they have misunderstood your email. When you said "unfortunately our landlord has declined our request for any flexibility on our move date" they thought you meant your prospective landlord, not your existing landlord. The confusion was made worse by the fact that the only reason you gave for withdrawing was the lack of agreement to flexibility on the move-in date, which meant it was perfectly reasonable for them to point out that there was still potential for your landlord (your new, prospective landlord) to accept your offer of taking the property from the 15th.

Reply to the letting agents and clarify:
1: Your existing landlord has declined to be flexible re. moving date.
2: You no longer wish to rent the Chesterfield Court property irrespective of whether or not your prospective landlord agrees to be flexible re. moving date.

If they subsequently bring up the issue of and monies being owed to them, then you can start arguing the toss on that one, but you haven't yet reached that part of the conversation due to miscommunication all round!

warby68

Just tell the truth

Offer not accepted yet and you have found a property you prefer

If not, what happens if agent comes back and accepts 15th? Then you look daft or end up tied in.