Is landlord being unfair here?

[Anotherdayanotherusername]

Earlier this year we signed a 12 month tenancy agreement with a 6 month break clause. The 6 months is up in October. We then unexpectedly found a property to buy and are due to complete in the next month. As we will struggle to pay both mortgage & rent, we asked the landlord via the letting agent if they would let us out of the contract early. Agent said that usually if a new tenant can be found to move in earlier, a landlord will consider an early exit so would ask landlord. Agent came back to say that as they have decided to sell the property they will not be looking for a new tenant so we will need to pay up until October even if we move out earlier. I texted the landlord directly pleading my case, asking if we could even terminate a month earlier than contracted (September) but they got the Agent to reply to say no. Their argument is they too have a mortgage to pay and had been counting on having rental income until at least October while the property is on the market.

AIBU in thinking this landlord is just being greedy? This decision is putting us in financial strife and could jeopardise our purchase and I really don't know where we stand.

Any advice on what to do. Can we just refuse to pay?

This.👍

Didn’t you factor this in? 🤷‍♀️

Why are you trying to blackmail your landlord in this way?

I'll bet if he/she tried to evict you illegally before your contract was up in October and you had nowhere to go you would have something to say about that?!

Outrageous behaviour from you!

I'm not sure you can afford to buy anyway, given that you can't cover the rent and mortgage for a couple of months; house buying always throws up extra expense somewhere so it's impossible to budget down to the last penny.

Am absolutely baffled by the apologists on here. Are 98 per cent of people on here landlords?

More helpfully - could you just not pay the last couple of months rent? By the time it went to court you'd hopefully be in your new place so it wouldn't impact your mortgage application, and even if it became a CCJ situation, you could pay it off and get it set aside before you needed to remortgage in a couple of years.

Before anyone piles on and defends landlords - this is someone trying to escape their grasp (and not cause them any future aggravation!!). Like it says on adverts for financial products - your investment can go up as well as down. If you can't cope with someone costing you money because they're prioritising their own survival in the neo-liberal rentier hellscape that is the economy in 2024, don't own a BTL!

Your post is even more bonkers than the OP.

Ive been a tenant and a landlord. When I bought, I factored in having to pay a couple of months overlap in rent. That’s what normal, responsible adults do. If your financial planning is so bad you haven’t even thought to do this then buying a house is a really bad move likely to end in disaster.

If you can’t afford to pay rent and mortgage for a couple of months then it sounds like you are stretching yourself too far anyway.

Could you not push back your house purchase by a month or 2 - people are usually flexible as house buying a selling it often a case of waiting around for the chain to be ready. You could offer to exchange earlier but push back completion by a month or so.

Conveyancer here - not read the full thread.

Struggling with the time line here. If six months is up in October then you moved in in April. So when did you find the property to purchase? You are aware how long a Conveyancing transaction takes? I wouldn’t have rocked the boat AT ALL with your landlord until you were at the point of exchange. If you are not yet at the point of exchange, you can still advise the chain you are unable to complete until October. I assume the estate agent was aware the earliest contracted end date of your tenancy was October?

This is not for your Landlord to resolve. It’s between you, your conveyancer, your seller and the agent to find a solution, if it is even required as you do not give details as to exactly where you are in the conveyancing transaction.

You're basically asking your landlord to just give you some money out of the goodness of their own heart?? And they may or may not feel bad if you've told them about your purchase being compromised but I imagine you wouldn't just ask friends or family to give you a not insignificant amount of money, without even the commitment to pay it back?

YABU we were in same boat with 6 month break clause and had to pay 2 months rent and mortgage. Just how it works

you can try push exchange and completion

I’m a landlord! On the basis of your original post I would say you have to pay until October. Only in your 2nd post do you say that this is your 2nd 12 month contract. If you were my tenant you would have signed a 6th month AST which rolls over into periodic. You then would be giving 1 months notice now.
if I were the landlord I would be negotiating with you to get photos and viewings asap to get the property on the market now.
Legally, I’m afraid you’re stuck and the landlord isn’t being greedy. It’s a business arrangement. Please don’t default on the rent.

The landlord is not being greedy plus you might find that something goes wrong with your house purchase.

Unless paid in the first month a CCJ stays on your record for 6 years (even if satisfied after the first month) so unless the OP has a really long fix and doesn’t want to buy any items on credit for their home they probably shouldn’t follow your advice. Also a CCJ can cause issues for some jobs.

Its not being an apologist to say screwing your credit history for 6 years may not be in the OPs best interests.

YABU. Very common to have an overlap of rent and mortgage and if 2k of rent puts you in a position you can't buy, then you can't afford to buy! And yes, the landlord does have his own mortgage and you are under contract. How are you so sure you're even completing in September? I've never had a property completely in the 6-8 weeks timeline you're usually given.

The landlord having a mortgage to pay is irrelevant. He needs no further justification where a contract exists,

You have signed a contract with him and you want to breach the contract with his permission. He insists you stick to the terms of the contract and will not agree to your breach.

It’s the whole point of a contract.

You are 100% being unreasonable and he should enforce the contract.

If one month of rent can jeopardize your whole house purchase you can’t afford to buy.

Actually this is a very good point! Careful of karma OP.

This is what contracts are for. You signed up to the terms and you need to honour them if the Landlord won’t agree to vary them.

I’m not sure how greediness comes into it.

You’ve signed a contract. Of course you have to pay. YABU

But this isn’t about goodwill OP, it’s about the landlord having to pay mortgage on the property you are renting. Why should they be out of pocket when it’s your decision to move?
And as other’s have said, if you can’t afford to cover the difference you shouldn’t be buying. I had to pay rent for 2 months when I purchased my house; it happens but it was worth it for the long term gain.

Agreed. Hes not being greedy; he needs to pay his mortgage. Your rent is part of his income.

Have you exchanged yet? It seems odd that you are talking about completing in the next month and don't seem to have considered end dates for your lease first. If you can slightly delay exchange it may help financially. Or just set the completion date for October... We had a month between exchange and completion so we could terminate our lease, pack, and organise removal vans. So many people push for a week or same day. If you're due to EXCHANGE within the month with a week before completion, ask your solicitor to arrange a month before completion - this would give you a lot less rent to pay.

Also, I'm presuming you paid one month's rent or more as a deposit on where you are now. So theoretically you could move out early and the deposit kept in lieu of rent.

You could put the LL in financial strife too if you left early & didn't pay. He relies on your rent to cover his outgoings therefore why should he suffer because you've found another property to buy? It's not being greedy at all expecting you to adhere to the contract terms you were happy to sign when it suited you.

it's one week later and I wonder if the op @Anotherdayanotherusername is going to come back and update, esp as this thread probably didn't go the way she wanted it.