Issue with final rent payment and notice period

leemoss

I was renting a property from a housing association and moved out on the 15th May this year.

My original notice period was until the 25th May however the confirmation letter stated:

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'If you wish to return your keys sooner, please contact us on 0300 100 0303 to discuss this'

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Myself and my partner spoke to them on 3 separate occasions to confirm that if we handed the keys in early we would only be charged rent up to this date, each time we were told that would be the case. The final call was on the morning of the 15th where we were advised to post the keys through the letterbox which we did.
About 2 weeks ago we got a demand for rent arrears however its calculated up to the 25th, I have spoke/emailed them and their latest reply is:

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I have contacted our voids and lettings team to see if any assurances were given to you regarding leaving your property before the end of tenancy (void) date.

I am afraid they have confirmed that they would not have given any assurances as all standard tenancies have to give one month’s notice, and will be charged up to the end of tenancy (void) date.

You are correct in highlighting that on our termination of tenancy confirmation letter, it states, ‘If you wish to return your keys sooner, please contact us on 0300 100 0303 to discuss this’, but this letter does not confirm you will not be charged up to the end of tenancy date.

I am sorry I could not be of assistance, but I cannot locate any information to suggest you would not be charged the standard full months notice, and we believe the arrears still stand.

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Do I have any kind of recourse? I have no proof that they said I would only be charged rent until the date I handed the keys in as it was never given in writing but I was assured of this over the phone multiple times.