What if i wish to break out of an Assured shorthold tennancy

faringdon

Hi,
Qu 1...Say i move in to a flat on a 6 month AST, and then in the first week, the neighbours are screaming drunks and i cant sleep at night and am tired going to work. Then surely i have a right to simply immediately break out of that AST?

Qu 2...Say i stay in a flat for the 6 month duration of the AST, and then i request it moves to a rolling month by month tennancy.....but then the landlord refuses this and states i must take out another 6 month AST.....then what happens if i break out of that second AST after just 2 months and vacate the flat?...is the landlord able to charge me for the 4 months of the second AST  where i was not at the flat?

Qu 3....Supposing i break out of a 6 month AST after just 2 months and vacate the flat....then supposing the landlord immediately gets a new tennant in to the flat...then is that landlord still able to charge me for the rest of the AST that i did not serve, and was not even living at the flat for?

GrumpyDil

1) No

2) It moves to a rolling tenancy automatically so simply don't sign a new agreement. Landlord would need to serve you notice to leave as expiry of a fixed term doesn't end the tenancy.

3) No, landlord could charge for any time up until a new tenancy was in place and I suspect the costs of finding a new tenant.

Simple answer is don't sign a new tenancy unless you want to.

Mr.Generous

All tenancies will become periodic as soon as the new Renters Rights Bill becomes law - probably September this year. Regardless of what the landlord or agent says/asks/wants this will be the law. You have to give 2 months notice that's all. At present if you sign 6 months you have to stay or pay unless you reach an agreement. The landlord at present could refuse a rolling tenancy but it makes no odd's just sign nothing and it becomes periodic even if the new laws are delayed. Q3, you are liable unless you reach an agreement, but they can't move someone else in if you are paying (or being chased for) the rent. 

If someone wants out personally as a landlord I'd let them go - but if it was quick I'd ask them to cover cost of finding a new tenant - approx a months rent. Anyone expressing interest in how quikly they could move on will never get the property from me in the first place however...

faringdon

Thanks, in my line of work, jobs can go up in smoke very quickly, and you need to find a new job....that job almost never is in a commutable distance of where you are.
Ive gone to jobs where the work was either a total waste of their time, and you had to tell them that , and the job finished, or they overestimate the time a job will take and you finish things so quick they realise they didnt ever even need anybody for any length of time and their existent staff can now do the job without you, with a little bit of working_with, and initial handholding.

I lived in a hell hovel in Dunton Green once..the guy next door was a nutjob, playing super loud rock music  right through the night in the week.....i just did a runner and broke contract.....they didnt come after me, mind you i didnt leave a forwarding address.....they kept my deposit  (one months rent) and kept the remaining two weeks of the rent that i'd pre-payed.....so i reckon the landlord just got someone else in there.....but dont know how they handled it if they did.

_Penny_Dreadful

faringdon said:

Thanks, in my line of work, jobs can go up in smoke very quickly, and you need to find a new job....that job almost never is in a commutable distance of where you are.
Ive gone to jobs where the work was either a total waste of their time, and you had to tell them that , and the job finished, or they overestimate the time a job will take and you finish things so quick they realise they didnt ever even need anybody for any length of time and their existent staff can now do the job without you, with a little bit of working_with, and initial handholding.

I lived in a hell hovel in Dunton Green once..the guy next door was a nutjob, playing super loud rock music  right through the night in the week.....i just did a runner and broke contract.....they didnt come after me, mind you i didnt leave a forwarding address.....they kept my deposit  (one months rent) and kept the remaining two weeks of the rent that i'd pre-payed.....so i reckon the landlord just got someone else in there.....but dont know how they handled it if they did.

Im not sure how the landlord handles it because you left them in a dicey situation. Assuming you’ve left permanently and getting a new tenant in would open the landlord up to claims of an illegal eviction, a criminal offence, if you ended up coming back. The right course of action to ensure the landlord stayed on the right side of the law would be to issue a section 8 notice once 2 months worth of rent was owed and follow the process through to its conclusion to regain possession of the property. As a landlord, had I been forced to do that, I would have gone for a CCJ too.  Tracing agents aren’t expensive. 

Albermarle

faringdon said:

Thanks, in my line of work, jobs can go up in smoke very quickly, and you need to find a new job....that job almost never is in a commutable distance of where you are.
Ive gone to jobs where the work was either a total waste of their time, and you had to tell them that , and the job finished, or they overestimate the time a job will take and you finish things so quick they realise they didnt ever even need anybody for any length of time and their existent staff can now do the job without you, with a little bit of working_with, and initial handholding.

I lived in a hell hovel in Dunton Green once..the guy next door was a nutjob, playing super loud rock music  right through the night in the week.....i just did a runner and broke contract.....they didnt come after me, mind you i didnt leave a forwarding address.....they kept my deposit  (one months rent) and kept the remaining two weeks of the rent that i'd pre-payed.....so i reckon the landlord just got someone else in there.....but dont know how they handled it if they did.

Maybe a change in career to something more stable ?

saajan_12

faringdon said:

Hi,
Qu 1...Say i move in to a flat on a 6 month AST, and then in the first week, the neighbours are screaming drunks and i cant sleep at night and am tired going to work. Then surely i have a right to simply immediately break out of that AST?

1 - That would be something to take up with the police or council. Its nothing to do with the landlord and not something they should take the hit for. You would either have to agree a mutual termination or if you stopped paying then they could sue you for the remainder. 

faringdon said:

Qu 2...Say i stay in a flat for the 6 month duration of the AST, and then i request it moves to a rolling month by month tennancy.....but then the landlord refuses this and states i must take out another 6 month AST.....then what happens if i break out of that second AST after just 2 months and vacate the flat?...is the landlord able to charge me for the 4 months of the second AST  where i was not at the flat?

The LL can't actually refuse a rolling tenancy (even if they claim to), it happens automatically if you just decline to sign anything. 
If you chose to sign a second fixed term then you are tied into that, so again you'd be liable for the remainder of the rent. 

faringdon said:

Qu 3....Supposing i break out of a 6 month AST after just 2 months and vacate the flat....then supposing the landlord immediately gets a new tennant in to the flat...then is that landlord still able to charge me for the rest of the AST that i did not serve, and was not even living at the flat for?

If the LL treated the tenancy as vacated and got a new tenant, they can't charge you rent at the same time. However they can deduct costs eg rent during any void, costs to relet eg advertising, referencing, inventory, etc. 
Reason being they should have had a tenant for at least 6 months whereas you made them have to incur these costs again after just 2 months. 

faringdon

Thanks, i see what you mean.
I understand entirely that supposing someone breaks out of a 6 month AST after 6 weeks (ie they still owe 4 months rent because they have already payed 2 months rent the day they moved in).....then surely if the landlord takes that to court, then surely the judge will just say "you must put the property back out on the market, and only charge the runaway tennant for the period inbetween getting the next new tennant in"? (plus any advertisment or inventory costs etc)

I get entirely that if it takes the landlord 4 weeks to get a new tennant in then the runaway tennant should make good the cost of that 4 weeks...but surely with the current shortage of properties, if a landlord cant fill a property in 4 weeks then they re doing something very wrong or just seriously overcharging for rental at the property..surely?

I mean, surely the judge would just be wondering, "why hasn't this landlord been able to fill  this property given the current national shortage of rental properties"? I mean, with the current shortage of properties, if a landlord can't fill a rental property in 4 weeks then surely the judge should just be advising them to sell up and get out of the rental game for good?

The thought of a 6 week "runaway" tennant having to stump up 4 months rent for 4 months when they were not even living at the property is surely madness? ...surely the judge would see that?

I mean, if someone  " does a runner" after 6 weeks of a 6 month AST , then the judge  would surely realise its because the poor guy has lost their job and needs to re-locate to get another?

Maybe a change in career to something more stable ?

These days?...we are heading into Nuclear war with Putin within 18 months...everything in the economy  is down...career changing is difficult even in good times.

 I would have gone for a CCJ too.  Tracing agents aren’t expensive. 

Surely the cost of a tracing agent is a total waste of time?...the landlord would be better off financially if they just kept the runaway tennant's deposit, and also kept the pre-payed rent that the runaway tennant has   already payed, and just get another tennant in? I mean, the country is literally screaming for rental properties at the moment. If a landlord in today's UK can't let within 4 weeks, then surely they are in the wrong game?
..By the way, how much is a "tracing agent"?

I tell you, i went to view a rental room in London.......it was £950/month and was literally the store room at the back of a congregational hall of a church!!! (near  Mitcham in South London)....they told me it was next to a church so i would have to be ok with the sound of hymns every sunday morning...they didnt tell me it was INSIDE the church!

By the way, every year in UK.....how many people break out of an AST  and just vacate a property before the 6 months term?...and how many of those actually get taken to court?...i bet its a tiny percantage...because a landlord would be better served by simply keeping the "runaway's" deposit and pre-payed rent and then re-letting the property. If a landlord tried to take it to court, the judge would wonder why they were wasting the court's time..surely?......i mean, just keep the deposit and whatever pre-payed rent, and re-let the place........surely?

And surely if a landlord hasn't managed to re-let a property after say 2 months..then surely that means the property is either way over-priced, or there is something massively wrong with the property, and surely any judge with a bit of  common-sense about them would see that and throw the case out?

Hire a Tracing Agent?....surely this doesnt make financial sense?

_Penny_Dreadful

faringdon said:

Thanks, i see what you mean.
I understand entirely that supposing someone breaks out of a 6 month AST after 6 weeks (ie they still owe 4 months rent because they have already payed 2 months rent the day they moved in).....then surely if the landlord takes that to court, then surely the judge will just say "you must put the property back out on the market, and only charge the runaway tennant for the period inbetween getting the next new tennant in"? (plus any advertisment or inventory costs etc)

I get entirely that if it takes the landlord 4 weeks to get a new tennant in then the runaway tennant should make good the cost of that 4 weeks...but surely with the current shortage of properties, if a landlord cant fill a property in 4 weeks then they re doing something very wrong or just seriously overcharging for rental at the property..surely?

I mean, surely the judge would just be wondering, "why hasn't this landlord been able to fill  this property given the current national shortage of rental properties"? I mean, with the current shortage of properties, if a landlord can't fill a rental property in 4 weeks then surely the judge should just be advising them to sell up and get out of the rental game for good?

The thought of a 6 week "runaway" tennant having to stump up 4 months rent for 4 months when they were not even living at the property is surely madness? ...surely the judge would see that?

I mean, if someone  " does a runner" after 6 weeks of a 6 month AST , then the judge  would surely realise its because the poor guy has lost their job and needs to re-locate to get another?

Maybe a change in career to something more stable ?

These days?...we are heading into Nuclear war with Putin within 18 months...everything in the economy  is down...career changing is difficult even in good times.

 I would have gone for a CCJ too.  Tracing agents aren’t expensive. 

Surely the cost of a tracing agent is a total waste of time?...the landlord would be better off financially if they just kept the runaway tennant's deposit, and also kept the pre-payed rent that the runaway tennant has   already payed, and just get another tennant in? I mean, the country is literally screaming for rental properties at the moment. If a landlord in today's UK can't let within 4 weeks, then surely they are in the wrong game?
..By the way, how much is a "tracing agent"?

I tell you, i went to view a rental room in London.......it was £950/month and was literally the store room at the back of a congregational hall of a church!!! (near  Mitcham in South London)....they told me it was next to a church so i would have to be ok with the sound of hymns every sunday morning...they didnt tell me it was INSIDE the church!

By the way, every year in UK.....how many people break out of an AST  and just vacate a property before the 6 months term?...and how many of those actually get taken to court?...i bet its a tiny percantage...because a landlord would be better served by simply keeping the "runaway's" deposit and pre-payed rent and then re-letting the property. If a landlord tried to take it to court, the judge would wonder why they were wasting the court's time..surely?......i mean, just keep the deposit and whatever pre-payed rent, and re-let the place........surely?

And surely if a landlord hasn't managed to re-let a property after say 2 months..then surely that means the property is either way over-priced, or there is something massively wrong with the property, and surely any judge with a bit of  common-sense about them would see that and throw the case out?

Hire a Tracing Agent?....surely this doesnt make financial sense?

I’ve explained to you why the landlord can’t simply put another tenant in the property whilst there’s an existing tenancy in force. 

A tracing agent costs a fraction of £950 x 4 months so it would be worth the cost. Alternatively the landlord could serve all paperwork to the tenant’s last known address which would be the rental property. 

How many break out of an AST in the UK each year? That would be zero in Scotland, zero in Wales, zero in Northern Ireland and very few in England. 

I’ll tell you what’s a total waste of time…this thread. 

noitsnotme

faringdon said:

These days?...we are heading into Nuclear war with Putin within 18 months...

Well this thread has taken a bizarre turn!  I wonder if there’s another reason the OP can’t hold down a job 🤷‍♂️

faringdon

[QUOTE/] I’ve explained to you why the landlord can’t simply put another tenant in the property whilst there’s an existing tenancy in force. [/UNQUOTE]

...Yes thanks, you  basically said because the "runaway" tennant "still officially  lives there"...but if the runaway  sends  an email to the estate agent saying they've gone and they are happy for the flat to be re-let then you would think it would be fine for the landlord to simply re-let?...chances are the landlord will overall make money as they keep the runaways deposit and pre-payed rent and get someone else in there.......quids in for the landlord.

[QUOTE/]A tracing agent costs a fraction of £950 x 4 months so it would be worth the cost. [/UNQUOTE]
...But its more expensive than keeping the runaway's deposit, keeping the runaway's bit of pre-payed rent for the month, and just getting someone else in to the property.

I once had to do a "runaway"....i signed for 12 month AST, but the company i went to work for went bust after the third month...it was in cardiff.....the next job i got was in northampton...so i had to do a runaway...they didnt bother taking me to court...they initially sent some threatening emails, but then just got someone else in there.....of course, they kept my deposit and 3 weeks rent that i'd pre-payed , so they were quids in.