How to get out of a 12 month renting contract when you were mislead and assured their were buses

tooldle

Is there is there any community transport? If others are in the same boat, there may be something. Edited to ask the OP, you mention an extra £60 for a taxi to take the dog. I’d this refundable in any circumstances? Depending on how big the dog is, could it go in a crate, removing the need for a cleaning charge (if this is what the £60 is for).

Flugelhorn

I think this is very difficult - there can't be many places that accept pets and possible that many of them are more rural? (or perhaps I am just assuming that from helping relative hunt for rental - few seem to allow pets in the towns).
transport is a big deal in rural areas - has been for a long time, sometimes there are volunteer drivers who take people to appointments etc for payment of petrol or a set donation per mile - there is usually a coordinator who handles it all and you have to book in advance etc - might be worth seeing  if there is something like this 

user1977

sevenhills said:

maybe there is a retired chap in the village that might give your daughter a lift.

Or somebody who isn't retired or isn't a chap...

SensibleSarah

This is tricky but I'd second the idea of getting on local groups etc to see if anyone local can help her out. The landlord can't be held responsible for your daughter not checking bus services etc as others have posted. 

Getting a dog as an adult was the motivatation that I needed to pass my driving test in my early 30s after not really needing to up to that point (public transport provision was decent in the area I lived). The idea of not being able to get to the vets in an emergency/middle of the night etc disturbed me greatly. 

Fizz1981

Dogs are very expensive as you are demonstrating. It is a choice to have a dog. If funds are limited and it is affecting other aspects of life maybe look at what the best priorities are for now - can she really afford to keep a dog on top of her other expenses? Could she consider rehoming the dog? This is intended to be constructive. If the real priority is the dog then she needs to find other compromises - for example would it be practical to get a flatmate to help reduce the costs of the house ?

diggingdude

How big is the dog could you get one of those dog bicycle things and cycle?

pinkshoes

margaretbrowning221 said:

My daughter signed a 12 month contract and can not afford to learn to drive or a car and has a dog. She signed the contract and moved in only to find the bus stops had been taken down and there are no buses. The taxis will not take her dog to the vets unless she pays an extra £60. she can not afford to take the dog to vets and can not get a bus. The bus company told her they have stopped stopping near her house in the middle of no where because of shortage of bus drivers. The landlords assured her there was public transport and buses. she moved 2 & 1/2 hours away and had no transport so could not go to find out and now she is in this situation that she can not get her dog to vets or get anywhere. The last tenant was in same position and moved quickly but the landlord has tightened up the contract making it impossible to get out of it and is being told public transport / lack of is not covered. On the advertisement it stated good public transport links. Is there anyway she can get out of her contract?

Well the LL was correct in the fact that there WAS public transport, but unfortunately it has stopped. As the LL does not live in the property, it is unlikely they would have known that. 

It was up to your daughter to phone the bus company to verify the bus timetable given she was so reliant on public transport and it sounds like a very remote area.

She will just have to either pay the £60 to use a taxi, use an Uber that will accept pets, or use social media to find someone in the local area that would be willing to take her.

How far is it to the nearest vets? Could she not get a bicycle with a trailer for the dog? I live in a rural area and see lots of families using these so the dog can come on picnics!

Grizebeck

Fizz1981 said:

Dogs are very expensive as you are demonstrating. It is a choice to have a dog. If funds are limited and it is affecting other aspects of life maybe look at what the best priorities are for now - can she really afford to keep a dog on top of her other expenses? Could she consider rehoming the dog? This is intended to be constructive. If the real priority is the dog then she needs to find other compromises - for example would it be practical to get a flatmate to help reduce the costs of the house ?

Good point well made

theoretica

Is the problem really getting the dog to the vet?  How many times would that happen in a 12 month stay?

_Penny_Dreadful

CSI_Yorkshire said:

Unfortunately, the advert isn't binding, only the tenancy agreement is.  I don't think there'll be anything in there saying "the tenant can leave if there isn't enough buses. 

That’s not entirely true. Tenants have some protection under the Consumer Rights Act so if for example, a rental property was advertised as having a designated parking spot and once the tenancy had started it turns out there isn’t a parking space the tenant could have the tenancy unwound due to misleading information. 

In this case I think it would be a gamble as to whether the advert was misleading enough and when the bus stop was removed to attempt to unwind this tenancy.