Tenancy agreements

student20

Hi, I currently rent a student house with 6 others. The contract we signed ended on the 30th June but one housemate enquired about extending this to the end of August, which we had discussed. I never received anything about this, we were never contacted individually asking about this and never signed anything else. Yet have now been told our contract has been extended to the end of August, and that if some of us want out of it at the end of June and some want to stay till August then all of us will have to pay till August, even those who have left. Is this correct, are they allowed to make those who want to leave at the signed date pay till August? 

Slithery

That depends on your contracts.
Is this an HMO where you have all signed separate contracts or is it a joint contract with all of your names on it?

greatcrested

Do you mean it will end on 30th June, or it ended last 30th June....?

I assume the former. No change can be made to the contract without the agreement of all parties ie each joint tenant + the landlord. I learned recently this can be done via 'novation' where a new contract replaces an existing one (see below).

You could either

1) simply ignore, move out on June 30th, stop paying rent, and write requesting your deosit back. The problem with this is that if you don't all mover out, the tenancy will automatically become 'periodic (see link below), and continue month by month, with the same 7 tenants all remainng liable.

2) write to the landlord (or his agent), pointing out that the contract is due to end on 30th June and that any agreement to alter this requires the consent of all of you, which has not been given. Suggest that if some tenants wish to stay till end of August, they should be granted a 1 month tenancy in their own names.

You also need to discuss this with the tenant concerned.As you can see from 1) above, he could cause you problems by simply refusing to leave.......

Post 4: Ending/renewing an AST: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?

Changes to tenancy

A payment in respect of the ‘variation, assignment or novation of a tenancy’ at the tenant/licensee’s request is a permitted payment.[22]

This could, for example, include agreeing to a tenant’s/licensee’s request to keep a pet, take in a lodger or assign a tenancy following a relationship breakdown.

Novation occurs where all the parties consent to creating a new agreement. This could happen, for example, where one joint tenant wishes to leave and the landlord agrees for her/him to find someone to ‘take over’. If all joint tenants (including the leaving tenant) and the landlord agree, a new contract could be created and the original joint tenancy would be in effect surrendered by operation of law (for more information, see 'Implied surrender' on the Surrender page).

https://england.shelter.org.uk/legal/housing_options/paying_for_accommodation/tenant_fees/tenant_fees_permitted_payments#4

student20

Slithery said:

That depends on your contracts.
Is this an HMO where you have all signed separate contracts or is it a joint contract with all of your names on it?

I believe it is a joint contract, but the letting agency does not seem very good as at least one of my housemates never went in to sign the contract and was never chased on this. Also, they have previously broken the contract themselves as it states 24 hours notice needs to be given to us before anyone comes and this is not the case, multiple people have been into our house without warning to us. 

greatcrested

student20 said:

Slithery said:

That depends on your contracts.
Is this an HMO where you have all signed separate contracts or is it a joint contract with all of your names on it?

I believe it is a joint contract, but the letting agency does not seem very good as at least one of my housemates never went in to sign the contract and was never chased on this. Also, they have previously broken the contract themselves as it states 24 hours notice needs to be given to us before anyone comes and this is not the case, multiple people have been into our house without warning to us. 

Sorry - this is fundamental! "I believe...." is inadequate. What exactly have you signed?

On the contract you yourself signed last year, how many names were listed as "The Tenant"?

If more than one, who were they?The same 7 people now living there? If some have left and others moved in, how was this managed, both legally, and practically (ie with deposits)?

student20

greatcrested said:

student20 said:

Slithery said:

That depends on your contracts.
Is this an HMO where you have all signed separate contracts or is it a joint contract with all of your names on it?

I believe it is a joint contract, but the letting agency does not seem very good as at least one of my housemates never went in to sign the contract and was never chased on this. Also, they have previously broken the contract themselves as it states 24 hours notice needs to be given to us before anyone comes and this is not the case, multiple people have been into our house without warning to us. 

Sorry - this is fundamental! "I believe...." is inadequate. What exactly have you signed?

On the contract you yourself signed last year, how many names were listed as "The Tenant"?

If more than one, who were they?The same 7 people now living there? If some have left and others moved in, how was this managed, both legally, and practically (ie with deposits)?

I signed a contract that listed all 7 of us at the bottom, I'm guessing this means it was a joint tenancy? The problem is we do not have a copy of the agreement we signed, and when I have asked for one they have said that as they are not in the office they don't have access. I thought it was strange they do not keep an online copy of a tenancy agreement. All I have managed to get from them is a template copy of an agreement which missed the first half of the contract, which I believe is what I need to look at. 

Yes it is the same 7 living there now that have done from the start. 

greatcrested

So yes, you have a joint tenancy so the information I provided above applies.

As a life lesson for the future, always ensure you get and keep a copy of any contract you sign with anyone - a copy with their siginture on it. but it should not matter. If this ever escalates to a point where the contract becomes relevant/critical, you simply ask them to produce the contract at that point, but it won't ever get there.

dimbo61

So you need to write a letter with proof of posting and inform the landlord /Letting agents that you want to end the tenancy on the 30th of June as per your tenancy agreement.
Take lots of photos of the property and clean the property from top to bottom and remove all your rubbish.
This is a HMO and the Letting agents should inform you with 24 hours notice if work people are going to attend the property.
However other tenants may have been informed about visits but not you and the Landlord has a legal responsibility to carry out things like Gas Safety checks 

Slithery

dimbo61 said:

So you need to write a letter with proof of posting and inform the landlord /Letting agents that you want to end the tenancy on the 30th of June as per your tenancy agreement.

If this is a joint tenancy (which it sounds like) then it will only end if all of the tenants vacate. If even one of them remains then the tenancy continues with all tenants still being jointly liable for the entire rent.

student20

greatcrested said:

So yes, you have a joint tenancy so the information I provided above applies.

As a life lesson for the future, always ensure you get and keep a copy of any contract you sign with anyone - a copy with their siginture on it. but it should not matter. If this ever escalates to a point where the contract becomes relevant/critical, you simply ask them to produce the contract at that point, but it won't ever get there.

Okay, thank you. 
I do have an email stating that it is a 10-month tenancy starting 1st September 2019 and ending 30th June 2020, did not realise that they can keep it going if some don't leave.
Yeah, I thought I did but what I got is missing the first pages, it was a rush to move in and things didn't run smoothly to begin with, did not realise we never got a copy of the full agreement at the time. 

Slithery

student20 said:

I do have an email stating that it is a 10-month tenancy starting 1st September 2019 and ending 30th June 2020, did not realise that they can keep it going if some don't leave.

It's not the landlord who's choosing to extend the tenancy - they have no legal say in the matter. It's you (the tenants) that have decided to stay.