Beaking residential lease early

edwar1984

Hi all, hopefully someone can give me advice on this as im unsure of the best way to proceed.


I starting renting a flat in November 2018 -lease is for 1 year with no break clause. I work mostly from home and only go into the office once per week so its important to have a quiet work environment (something the landlord knows).



Since moving in I have had a number of issues with the flat:upstairs is let as an air bnb so loud people coming and going late at night, we have a mouse infestation, upstairs has water leaking into my bedroom and bathroom. All of these issues have been reported to my landlord who is trying to fix them but has still not managed to fix leak after 1 month..


Just to cap all this off scaffolding has been erected on the front of my building and there is constant construction noise monday-friday during working hours so i can no longer work from home.


I have requested the landlord to break my lease early (giving 2 months notice which in my opinion is reasonable) but she is insisting on me paying all c omission charges associated which is around 2K!!



I was thinking of renting a co-working space and discounting from my rent and not leaving at all (this is around 500 pounds/.month in London though). There is no way the landlord did not know about the scaffolding as it was erected 6 weeks after moving in.



Do i have any other options? thanks

wesleyad

I'm afraid to say I doubt any of the issues you have mentioned are enough to release you from your contract (unless the contract stated your right to silence). As such the LL could hold you to the entire amount reaming on the contract, almost 10 months rent (which I'm assuming is a lot more than 2K in london).

edwar1984

thanks, the lease agreement says i have the right to 'quietly reside in the property' and it is not clear what this actually means.

Comms69

edwar1984 wrote: »

Hi all, hopefully someone can give me advice on this as im unsure of the best way to proceed.


I starting renting a flat in November 2018 -lease is for 1 year with no break clause. I work mostly from home and only go into the office once per week so its important to have a quiet work environment (something the landlord knows). - Something you should know and therefore carry out due diligence.



Since moving in I have had a number of issues with the flat:upstairs is let as an air bnb so loud people coming and going late at night - irrelevant to your landlord , we have a mouse infestation , upstairs has water leaking into my bedroom and bathroom. All of these issues have been reported to my landlord who is trying to fix them but has still not managed to fix leak after 1 month.. - well the leak is caused by the neighbour, not the landlord


Just to cap all this off scaffolding has been erected on the front of my building and there is constant construction noise monday-friday during working hours so i can no longer work from home. - How is that your landlord fault?


I have requested the landlord to break my lease early (giving 2 months notice which in my opinion is reasonable) but she is insisting on me paying all c omission charges associated which is around 2K!! - I agree with your landlord.



I was thinking of renting a co-working space and discounting from my rent and not leaving at all (this is around 500 pounds/.month in London though). - why do you think you can discount the rent? There is no way the landlord did not know about the scaffolding as it was erected 6 weeks after moving in. - why would the landlord know? AND why do you think that gives you any rights?



Do i have any other options? thanks

Yes. Pay your rent and sort out your work problems yourself.

AdrianC

edwar1984 wrote: »

thanks, the lease agreement says i have the right to 'quietly reside in the property' and it is not clear what this actually means.

It means the landlord has to let you get on with whatever you want to do in the property, and not be hassling you.

The situation you are complaining of would be no different if you owned the flat.

Honestly? It sounds as if your expectations of living in a flat are unrealistic.

You have a contract that says you are there until November 2019. You want to break that contract - the landlord is happy for you to do so, but wants you to cover the costs arising from your decision. Is that unreasonable of him?

Will any other flat be markedly different? Probably not. So just rent the office space.

lincroft1710

Flats are for living in. The fact you choose to work in your flat and it is proving not suitable, is no reason for your landlord to accept an early surrender of your lease, without penalty to yourself..

sal_III

If all of the issues you listed are real and not exaggerated and are affecting the habitability of the property (not the ability to work from home mind you) you can complain to the local council. If they find the property to be in a poor shape they will issue order to your LL to fix the issues, if he ignores these orders the local council may "condemn" the property issuing a prohibition order. Then you might be able to get out of your tenancy agreement without a penalty. Before that your LL is entitled to the rent until the end of the term in the tenancy agreement.

edwar1984

ok thanks for your help - of course i am paying rent as i am contractually obliged to do so.



Comms69 - it is not true that the landlord has no responsibility for the flat above -i also own and rent a flat out and i had to sort out and make good the damage caused by the flat upstairs leaking into mine at my tenants request in 2017 -i doubt the law has drastically changed to the LLs favour since then.



The LL has not fixed the leak for a month what is a reasonable timeframe for this?

Comms69

edwar1984 wrote: »

ok thanks for your help - of course i am paying rent as i am contractually obliged to do so.



Comms69 - it is not true that the landlord has no responsibility for the flat above - You're wrong. It's as simple as that. The LL is responsible for the property they let out. How exactly do you expect your landlord to arrange repairs in a property he or she doesn't own?.... -i also own and rent a flat out and i had to sort out and make good the damage caused by the flat upstairs leaking into mine at my tenants request in 2017 - that's nice, did you force entry into the flat and start mending pipes? -i doubt the law has drastically changed to the LLs favour since then. - excellent, which law is that then?



The LL has not fixed the leak for a month what is a reasonable timeframe for this?

Assuming you wrote to the landlord, in letter format. I'd say a reasonable timeframe would be 2-12 weeks.


Maybe longer as the leak could actually be coming from pipes owned by the freeholder.

AdrianC

You seem to be confusing sorting the damage arising from the leak, with sorting the cause of the leak. If the cause is still ongoing, there is no point in sorting the damage arising.


Your landlord's responsibility to sort the damage arising extends to your flat alone. The cause is outside your flat. He has no power or responsibility to fix it, beyond leaning on the freeholder to lean on the leaseholder of that flat.

edwar1984

“ ok thanks for your help - of course i am paying rent as i am contractually obliged to do so.



Comms69 - it is not true that the landlord has no responsibility for the flat above - You're wrong. It's as simple as that. The LL is responsible for the property they let out. How exactly do you expect your landlord to arrange repairs in a property he or she doesn't own?....I am asking my landlord to fix the damage in my flat as there is now mould accruing due the leak -i also own and rent a flat out and i had to sort out and make good the damage caused by the flat upstairs leaking into mine at my tenants request in 2017 - that's nice, did you force entry into the flat and start mending pipes? um no, obviously i contacted the agent managing the flat above and they fixed the leak then i had to make good my property-i doubt the law has drastically changed to the LLs favour since then. - excellent, which law is that then? the lease clearly states LL has duty to fix damage within a reasonable timeframe.


In my opinion it is stupid for the LL to insist as the result will be i will stay paying rent and refuse access for viewings etc - 1 month void rent on changeover in November would be equal to all admin fees anyway


The LL has not fixed the leak for a month what is a reasonable timeframe for this?