Rental Legal Advice

Marcus3344

Good afternoon all

My son split with his girlfriend in January 2025.
They were joint tenants on a house rental, which expires this month.
Taking into consideration his ex partner did not have anywhere to move to, he agreed to pay his half of the rental (£900 per month / £450 each) as legally obliged to, including this months final payment.

He has been contacted today by the letting agent, stating this months payment has not been made.
Nor have the managed to get in contact with his Ex.
He did pay his share into their joint account - which they agreed to do until this last payment, then they would close the account.

Multiple questions:-
The agent is planning on changing the locks on Friday this week.
Presumably he will be charged half of this cost?

I am led to believe the condition of the property is apparently in an extreme dirty mess.

What procedures are options for him?

He can prove his payment history.

What should he do now in the coming days, and also be prepared for??

Many thanks for the information

Marcus

swingaloo

If he is on the tenancy agreement then there is no 'his half/her half' of the rent. Both tenants are responsible for the full rent and if it not paid the landlord can chase either tenant. The fact that your son paid his girlfriend half is between them and the agent wont care about that. The rent is still due.

Likewise he can be chased for any damages or cleaning required.  

Your son will have to take this up with the ex.

eddddy

As an aside, the landlord should be cautious about assuming the tenancy has been abandoned, and changing the locks - there's a risk that it may be treated as an illegal eviction.

But I guess your son is keen for the tenancy to end one way or another, so maybe he shouldn't discourage the landlord.



But as above, if it's a joint tenancy with joint and several liability, the landlord can choose to chase either tenant or both, for all the rent arrears and property damage.

So if your son seems like the 'softer option' for getting money, the landlord might chase him.

Then it's up to your son to get any money back from his Ex that is owed by them.

.

saajan_12

NAL, but a few mistakes made here namely in paying to her account rather than directly. The key question is are all parties in agreement to vacate at the end of the fixed term? If ex girlfried remained there, then she could do so on a perfectly valid periodic tenancy. If she's leaving then that's a win in itself. 

Marcus3344 said:

Good afternoon all

My son split with his girlfriend in January 2025.
They were joint tenants on a house rental, which expires this month.
Taking into consideration his ex partner did not have anywhere to move to, he agreed to pay his half of the rental (£900 per month / £450 each) as legally obliged to, including this months final payment.

He has been contacted today by the letting agent, stating this months payment has not been made.
Nor have the managed to get in contact with his Ex.
He did pay his share into their joint account - which they agreed to do until this last payment, then they would close the account.

Marcus3344 said:

Multiple questions:-
The agent is planning on changing the locks on Friday this week.
Presumably he will be charged half of this cost?

Under what circumstances is the LL changing the locks? This wouldn't usually be at the tenant's cost unless they've lost keys or something. 

Marcus3344 said:

I am led to believe the condition of the property is apparently in an extreme dirty mess.

What procedures are options for him?

He should get as much proof of the condition now and when he moved out as possible. 
Use the condition now to dispute any unfounded deposit deductions by the LL. If there are valid damages then those would be deducted from the joint deposit. Then son might argue the split with the ex based on whether its worsened since Jan25, but that's between them. 

Marcus3344 said:

He can prove his payment history.

What should he do now in the coming days, and also be prepared for??

Many thanks for the information

Marcus

Unfortunately if he's been paying ex, that doesnt' help re proving payments to the Landlord. The Landlord could claim any rent arrears and damages from both tenants jointly and severally, ie can chase either one. If son ends up paying, he'd have to claim ex's share from her, accounting from the payments made between them. 

_Penny_Dreadful

Each country within the United Kingdom has it's own specific housing legislation since housing is a devolved issue.

That said, common themes across the 4 counties are that joint tenants each have joint and several liability to pay the whole rent, and landlords cannot rock up after one month of unpaid rent and change the locks.

Is there any money in the joint account?  If so could your son use that to clear the rent arrears?

Under whose name is the deposit registered?  Sometimes it's registered under a lead tenant's name rather than all joint tenants.

RAS

If son has any communication with ex, check that she has vacated the property?

If he has a key or can get one, get back in and sort the place out if possible. Otherwise assume the deposit is lost.

If he hasn't got a key, make this explicit to the LL/EA.

DeathByFluffy

If they can't get in touch with her, he's likely going to be dealing with this I'm afraid. 
The kicker is they'll still want the full rent from him, as him paying it into a joint account doesn't concern them - if she's passed none of it on, he'll be liable for the full amount. 

I'd recommend offering to go and tidy up the property if at all practical - if they employ a company to do this, he'll be liable for the cost of this too.

Marcus3344

So the update.
The ex is ignoring the LA.
She has confirmed she has nowhere to go as yet, so not moving.
The landlords issued the section 21 as they were not confident they would have the keys returned.
so they have issued a new time line which means the tenancy will end in December 18th.
presumably he’s on the hook for the next two months.
Hyperthetical question.
If we changed the locks tomorrow, (as a paying tenant) left a note to contact the LA, and handed the keys to the LA.
what would be the ramifications?

saajan_12

Marcus3344 said:

So the update.
The ex is ignoring the LA.
She has confirmed she has nowhere to go as yet, so not moving.
The landlords issued the section 21 as they were not confident they would have the keys returned.
so they have issued a new time line which means the tenancy will end in December 18th.
presumably he’s on the hook for the next two months.

Worse.. if the ex doesn't leave after the 2 months, the LL can't force her to. They would have to go to court and then get bailiffs. All the while, son remains on the hook. 

Marcus3344 said:

Hyperthetical question.
If we changed the locks tomorrow, (as a paying tenant) left a note to contact the LA, and handed the keys to the LA.
what would be the ramifications?

That would be unilatterally modifying the tenancy, which he can't do legally without ex agreeing. Without that, ex has a valid tenancy and can get a locksmith to break back in. 

If you want a somewhat high risk option, Son could let it go periodic and then serve the required notice on the LL to terminate the tenancy. This can be done unilatterally and is usually 1 tenancy period but check the agreement. Upon expiry, the tenants *should* move out and if not, the LL can charge double rent. this may push ex to move out sooner. 

Marcus3344

TBF he has paid his dues for the past 9 months.
shes had plenty of time to move out.
The LA Was notified of this in February.
The fact she wont engage with the LA (who thought she’d left, as no response)
I think we have no choice to change the locks, leave a note and hand the keys into the LA:

MeteredOut

Marcus3344 said:

TBF he has paid his dues for the past 9 months.
shes had plenty of time to move out.
The LA Was notified of this in February.
The fact she wont engage with the LA (who thought she’d left, as no response)
I think we have no choice to change the locks, leave a note and hand the keys into the LA:

So long as he understands the risks involved.

Could he move back in in order to make a point?