Pro rated rent - weird calculation

Alistairw123

I’m moving out on the 7th March having agreed with the landlord to vacate early. My move in date was the 29th January several years ago so for my last month I need to pay rent to the 7th March.  I last paid rent on 30th January for the month to 29th February.
I assumes that the pro
rated rent would either be 7/31 days multiplied by my daily rent or 7/365 multiplied by my daily rent.
The letting agent, however seems to think that I should pay 8 days.  There explanation was

“your rental due date for February would be the 29th as this is a shorter month, meaning there would be 8 pro rata days to pay, from the rental due date to the vacating date (rental due date included)”

This seems stupid as I am therefore paying the 29th February twice.  They have already confirmed to me that I would be moving out on the 29th if the landlord hadn’t agreed the extension.  Am I missing something? Also what would be the consequence if I just paid my pro rated calculation?

Thanks

Aliatair

[Deleted User]

Alistairw123 said:

I’m moving out on the 7th March having agreed with the landlord to vacate early. My move in date was the 29th January several years ago so for my last month I need to pay rent to the 7th March.  I last paid rent on 30th January for the month to 29th February.
I assumes that the pro
rated rent would either be 7/31 days multiplied by my daily rent or 7/365 multiplied by my daily rent.
The letting agent, however seems to think that I should pay 8 days.  There explanation was

“your rental due date for February would be the 29th as this is a shorter month, meaning there would be 8 pro rata days to pay, from the rental due date to the vacating date (rental due date included)”

This seems stupid as I am therefore paying the 29th February twice.  They have already confirmed to me that I would be moving out on the 29th if the landlord hadn’t agreed the extension.  Am I missing something? Also what would be the consequence if I just paid my pro rated calculation?

Thanks

Aliatair

It would seem off that if your tenancy start date was 29th January, meaning your tenancy rental periods run 29th to 28th, that you would pay rent on the 30th January to the 29th February.  Are you sure those dates are correct and that your rent due date isn't actually the 29th of each month taking you to the 28th of the following month as that would tie in with the letting agent's 8 day calculations.

oldbikebloke

if the tenancy started on the 29th Jan and you pay rent "monthly" then one rental PERIOD would be 29th to the following 28th. Do you understand that notice and rent is in "periods" not in calendar months? 

The rental period "February" ran from 29th Jan to 28th Feb - leaving 29th Feb for the "March" period or, in your case, the shortened period to the agreed leave date of 7th March , ie 8 days after your last full rental period ended. It is what happens when you have a leap year .... nothing "weird" about it at all except for the fact you don't seem to understand what a rental period means. 

princeofpounds

If my memory serves me correctly... (it's been a while since I last looked into this so I would hope someone can confirm).
Google 'apportionment of rent'. For most rental contracts (depends on the details technically), if you stay one day into a rental period you theoretically owe for the whole period. So pay the 8 days and move on.

This seems odd and unfair, but there is a good legal reason why such principles were established. It prevents legal arguments about liabilities for rent based on the month, the day, the hour, the second, the microsecond etc.... you have to draw a line somewhere, and the law usually draws the line using period specified in the rental contract.

notrouble

Whether you have to pay for X days pro rata (8 or whatever), or for the fullperiod (as explained by princeofpounds) depends entirely on what was agreed (ideally in writing) between you and he landlord as regards your surrender of the tenancy.

If you agreed rent to be paid pro rata up to the date you vacate (7/3), then that is 8 days.

Your monthly rent, due each 29th, covers the period 29th to 28th, so on Jan 29th you paid up till 28th Feb. You therefore owe for 29th Feb and the first 7 days of March.

The confusing part of your post is

"My move in date was the 29th January several years ago .....  I last paid rent on 30th January for the month to 29th February."

If you moved in on 29th it seems strange you paid rent on 30th, not 29th. But even if, for some reason, you always paid on the 30th, the rent paid would still have been covering the period 29th to 28th. You would simply have been paying a day late either by choice or by agreement.