Re letting fees

smith9801

Me and my partner signed a contract to rent a property from August 2019 - September 2020. About half way through this tenancy we were asked if we would like to stay another year, we did and therefore we signed a contract for another year. Since then, I have been offered a job too job to turn down and we are forced to relocate. We therefore asked the landlord if we could leave, he agreed, contacted the Lettings agency and placed the property on the market. A new tenant was found and contracts have been signed. He then informed us we would be liable for the advertising/agent costs. Doing some research, I’ve heard of these fees being up to a years rent.
This has me panicking, I don’t have that sort of money to pay him and pay rent on a new property closer to my job. 

Has anyone had experience with this and can fees be that much? 

For some context: 
the rent is £1100pcm 

macman

Why don't you ask the LL to confirm the costs? Bearing in mind that he has released you from your agreement to pay about 7m rent going forward, asking for the costs of replacing you is perfectly reasonable: this involves advertising, tenancy agreement, credit check, inventory, void period etc.  But that can't possibly be a year's rent! 
Didn't you ask at the time you asked him to void your fixed term agreement what costs would be involved, as you can't have expected it to be without extra charges?

grumiofoundation

When the landlord agreed to let you leave what exactly was said (in writing ideally). 

If they agreed to a mutual surrender of the tenancy with no caveats attached (as in you would pay for reletting fees etc) then I don’t think you are liable to pay anything (sure I will be corrected by someone more knowledgable if I am incorrect).  

AdrianC

The fees won't be "up to a year's rent". The very most you can possibly pay is the rent up until the end of your current tenancy - because it'd be cheaper for you to just walk away and continue paying the rent...

Ultimately, you are in a signed contract that binds you to paying £1,100/month until September. It's July next week. If you want to get out of that early, that's fine -  but you have to pay the costs the landlord incurs as a result. Hardly unfair, right?

Remember - you chose to sign that 12mo tenancy last year. You could have gone onto a periodic.

steampowered

I think you've misunderstood what you've read. Whatever you've read was probably saying that, unless the landlord agrees to end the tenancy early, you'll be locked in for the full duration - so if you sign a 1 year tenancy, that's one year rent.

It isn't the advertising fees that are up to a year's rent. If the landlord was paying a year's rent to the letting agent for you to let the property for a year, there'd be no point in letting the property! 

Typical letting agent fees might be 3 weeks rent.

greatcrested

smith9801 said:

Me and my partner signed a contract to rent a property from August 2019 - September 2020. About half way through this tenancy we were asked if we would like to stay another year, we did and therefore we signed a contract for another year. Since then, I have been offered a job too job to turn down and we are forced to relocate. We therefore asked the landlord if we could leave, he agreed, contacted the Lettings agency and placed the property on the market.

Please clarify exactly what happened.

Was it all verbal or in writing? If verbal, was it followed up in writing?

Whichever it was, what were your exact words (please quote) or what exactly did you write?

What were the LL's exact words in response (please quote) or what exactly did he write?