Want to leave tenancy early, should I look for new place first or tell landlord I want to leave first?

[Tenant84]

What is the most sensible thing to do if I want to leave a tenancy early due to noisy neighbours?
Should I look for a new place first and secure it and then tell landlord that I am leaving early?
Or do I ask landlord first if I can break the tenancy early before even looking for a new place? Also if I ask to leave the tenancy early, would this conversation be classed as giving notice? As I wouldn't have anywhere to go yet and would only want to give official notice once I had found a new place.

@WillLiveLife my lease is up in 5 months and then reverts to rolling contract but I don't think I can stick the noise for that length of time. The sound insulation is rubbish so it's not totally my neighbours fault.
I'm just worried that if I say I would like to leave tenancy early and have nowhere to go, that they will serve me notice and I won't have anywhere in place for to go to

@WillLiveLife think I will just find something else to go to first, thank you for the advice so early in the morning, this has been on my mind all night!

Are you prepared that you may have to pay the rent up until the end of the fixed term whether you move out early or not?

If the fixed term is only 6 months, it's less likely there's a break clause allowing you to terminate early.

If there's a break clause that's excellent, find a new place and then give notice - the landlord has to give 2 months notice but you only have to give 1 (in the majority of tenancy agreements)

The LL can hold you to the fixed term. I think you would be better off talking to them about why you want to leave and try to negotiate some flexibility unless you can afford to pay rent & bills on both properties. Moving out doesn't end a tenancy or the liability for the property so it could be incredibly costly to secure somewhere new first.

I wouldn’t be signing any new tenancy agreements until you’ve checked your contract, unless you can afford to pay two lots of rent.

If you were my tenant I'd prefer you to ask me about leaving early and importantly WHY. Maybe you have already complained about the noise?
Is there a break clause in your contract? I think mine (I'm the landlord) usually has one year with a six month break clause. If no break and it's fixed for the term, then be prepared to have to pay to the end of that term.
But if the noise is that bad that you feel you have to leave, I hope you have told your landlord as they need to take steps this doesn't happen with the next tenant.

There not going to serve you notice, they are guaranteed 5mths rent from you.
Your currently at your landlords mercy, they may be nice and let you leave early, they may stick to the rules and insist you pay the next 5mths wether you live there or not.
can you afford to pay rent on 2 places due 5mth?

Should I look for a new place first and secure it and then tell landlord that I am leaving early?

only if you can afford to pay the rent on both places until the end of your tenancy.

@Littlebitpsycho would you recommend that I find a place first before asking if I can leave the tenancy early?

You can ask the landlord but be prepared that they might say no to the early release and that you have to pay for the next 5 months no matter what. They cannot ask you to leave before then without it being by mutual agreement.
If you wait until you have signed a new agreement you might be left with having to pay for two rents as the landlord may say no

Why not just tell the landlord that there is a noise issue and ask if they are prepared to install sound proofing? Often landlords won't release you unless you agree to funding any marketing and associated costs and any rent until the date a new tenant moves in. Or indeed won't release you. Also be aware that despite what another poster says if you are on a fixed term AST you do still need to give notice that you will be leaving at the end of the fixed term

FYI - it will only go to "rolling contract" should the LL agree - indeed both sides has to agree but it will only go to auto "rolling contract" if LL allows this

Have you actually talked - nicely - to the noisy neighbours? Next step, if they continue to be noisy, talk to the Council - they'll have a department that deals with noise issues.

And if its no you will have to pay rent until the end of the term AND rent, deposit etc on your new place.

Rubbish. A statutory periodic tenancy is created by law if the tenant is in the property beyond the fixed term.

Keep in mind when you apply for a new place the new landlord or agency will ask for reference to the old landlord so he will be surprised you gave him no notice. I will wait till my lease is over then start looking for a new place while on a rolling contract. In the meanwhile ear plugs are your friend.

Can you afford to pay two rents until the end of your current tenancy, if there’s no break clause? You haven’t answered this.

Were you my tenant I'd let you go a couple of months early providing I had at least 2 months notice, and you had never missed a payment, and the property is still in good condition. But then I don't want unhappy tenants!

I think you'd be best to speak to the LL about the sound proofing. They can't give you notice during the fixed period, so they can't 'kick you out'.

Are you on your own or do you have a partner/kids?

other than the noise, do you like the place??

im incredibly sensitive to noise (and smells etc) but around here, rentals are ££££ & like gold dusted unicorn 💩

so I think I'd have to learn to tolerate the noise if all else was ok.

im sorry for your situation though, it's crap!!

i own my place (well, me & the bank do) but it's still no guarantee the neighbours won't be noisy.

You need to check your tenancy agreement:

• do you have a break close?
• If not, I am afraid the landlord can insist that you stay/pay until the end of the current contract . You can always try to negotiate with the landlord though but they might refuse and would have the law on their side
• the notice you need to give should also be in your tenancy agreement
• if you need a reference from this landlord then make sure you do everything correctly.

It is awful to have noisy neighbours so I understand where you are coming from...

Speak to your landlord first, see if they can resolve the issue or if not, to start advertising to try and find a new tenant to release you from your contract (this will more than likely be at your cost). Have a rough date ready- do you want a month to find a place? 2 months? So they can work with any prospective new tenants.

Then go out and start looking. There's no point in doing so before, as you might find somewhere that you have to move in within a month, but your landlord can't find someone else, unless you can afford to pay for 2 lots of rent at the same time.Bear in mind that you won't have your deposit back from place 1 until after your tenancy has ended, so you need to have a deposit for place 2 seperately. If the landlord has multiple places available, do they have others you can try to switch to?

BS - once AST is about to end the LL and T will decide the way forward vai another AST or rolling agreement - fact!!

Our T's have been on AST for a few years now all 12 months - all done via agreements. Years ago, one of our T's did not want another AST after the initial AST finished - we agreed to rolling agreement subject to T handing their notice in by the end of three months otherwise we would action section 21. The T gave us their notice after a few weeks and we were happy with that as we did not want to be changing T's in winter

FYI - we are LL's

I've nver come across a "break clause" towards the end of the AST its been in 6 months in our experience and families that rent out property.