Tenant leaving early......rent to pay?

zenshi

My neighbour has an issue with his tenants as they left before contract was up

They signed for a year with a 6 month break clause I believe. They gave one months notice and moved out after five months.

My neighbour is under the impression that he can with hold the deposit in lieu of the missing rent but I'm sure they have to be sorted As two seperate things?!

Can anyone confirm either way please

melstar11

The wording of the tenancy agreement is important here. If they correctly gave notice and have paid six months' rent then he cannot refuse to return their deposit. That deposit should have been protected in a scheme. If it wasn't he leaves himself open to legal action and having to pay the tenants up to 3 times that amount.

He may be able to charge the tenants the fees for finding new tenants, but it depends entirely what the tenancy agreement states.

If he doesn't know these things he really needs to do his research.

tacpot12

If the tenants moved out without giving the correct notice, the landlord will be able to claim some rent from the deposit protection scheme. This will be limited to the rent that would be due had the tenants given the minimum notice required by the tenancy agreement.

Pixie5740

Your neighbour shouldn't be under the impression as a landlord he should know a) if the tenancy was terminated correctly, b) if the tenants have paid the correct amount of rent, c) under which circumstances he can retain some or all of the deposit.

Perhaps he should read G_M's guides to Ending/Renewing an AST and Deposits.

zenshi

They left message with his wife saying we are giving months notice. This was at 4 months in. They have paid rent for the 5 months they were there. Deposit is in the protection scheme

I will take my iPad and show him this thread and get hi to read the links

Pixie5740

I would be very surprised if the tenancy agreement said that notice could be given by leaving a message rather than in writing. It's important he reads the break clause carefully.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

Surely the thing to do would be to tell them he wasn't accepting a month's notice, not to let them move out and then try and keep the deposit to pay for the final month that they weren't there? By accepting them moving out has he not accepted the notice?

And if he keeps the deposit as rent, they have an additional month of living in the house which they have paid for and are entitled to use. This way he is trying to have his cake and eat it, in taking rent for a period when they are not living there.

This just strikes me as wrong on all sorts of levels.

ThePants999

How do you propose to stop them moving out!?

saajan_12

To terminate the tenancy under the break clause, the tenants must follow the terms of the break clause in the tenancy agreement regarding notice. Check if this should be
* 1 rental period / 2 months / 4 weeks / etc
* in line with rental periods or calendar months
* in writing / verbal
* earliest date of activation (e.g. to expire after 6 months or to be served after 6 months)

The LL is entitled to rent as if they had provided proper notice, so if there is still a month's rent due, this can be claimed in addition to damages from the deposit.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

ThePants999 wrote: »

How do you propose to stop them moving out!?

How does who propose to stop them moving out?

G_M

Your 'neighbour' should refer to 'his' tenancy agreement.

'He' should, of course, know/understand what it says, since 'he' is the landlord.

In particular, 'he' should re-read the sections relating to

a) the Break Clause

b) the deposit