Ending a tenancy early

[PookieDo]

I am private renting and a long term tenant (9y)
I signed a 12 month agreement with my LL which ends 24.04.19

I have been offered a housing association property and there is no flexibility with the start date from 08.02.19

If I do not take the HA property on this date I will lose it. I was not expecting to be offered housing this quickly as I only signed up to the housing list in Dec 18

I cannot pay 2 rents. I have paid my rent for this month until end Feb and will have to pay new rent from 08.02.19. I therefore cannot pay rent for March but I will have vacated

I can’t see a break clause in my contract. I have £1000 deposit in protection scheme which would cover 1 months rent (unless they took substantial amounts for property but IMO it is in excellent condition)

I need to speak to my LL but I do not know what to ask for except ‘can I leave early’ please can anyone give me any advice

I have heard I can ask the local council if they will grant me discretionary housing benefit for the 2nd rent but I can’t call them until Monday now and May well find out I can’t

Any advice? Thank you

I’m going to dispute it
You can’t make this shit up but 4 weeks ago I came home and my key wouldn’t turn in the door. I ended up with some cowboy who drilled the lock out and replaced the barrel (I phoned 29 people before I found him willing to come out) but he said the snib had fallen on the lock on the inside
I told the LL and they didn’t do anything or reimburse me £75

It happened again today
I’ve had the entire thing replaced now and was £100. I was going to cry but instead I bought myself a bottle of wine and got fucking pissed.

Locksmith was reputable this time and said it was a major fire hazard. I am so needing to move ASAP

Op, when you signed your last tenancy were you given a copy of the gas safety certificate, a copy of the 'how to rent' booklet and a copy of the energy performance certificate?

I don’t have gas, only electricity

Wasn’t given anything. No electrical safety Certs. No electrical safety test has ever been carried out. The main power board is above the front door (which potentially won’t fucking open) I do not feel safe here - which is why I want to leave. I never have done.

When you renewed the lease, were you given a letter setting out exactly which scheme your deposit is held in, along with details of the landlord, the tenant, the length of lease and the rent?

Experienced LLs will know better than me but it sounds as if he has not done everything by the book.

if they didn't do an inventory when you moved in they don't have a leg to stand on. and as pp said decorating after 8 years is included anyway.

I'd expect to pay advertising costs if leaving early and pay til new tenants in as worst case. was that the landlord or agency? LL might be nicer?

ITs all LL no agent

Yes was given deposit details - going to need it if I need to dispute!

Your LL sounds very unreasonable! I would imagine you would have to pay remainder of rent but not decoration costs!

I agree with others on decoration costs. There is no scheme that will find in the landlord's favour after such a long time.

Thanks all

They agreed to pay the locksmith - as in give it back to me. I also have an invoice.

Will certainly dispute but to be honest I have not done a bad job of touch ups and cleaning with sugar soap - unfortunately the touch ups in the hallway shine in the light and look crap so they might have a whinge about that

I am feeling really overwhelmed with this challenge of moving and basically doing it all by myself

I shouldn’t really lift anything too heavy so need to be careful

Today the DC wanted to paint their new rooms. The HA slapped on 90 litres of white Matt paint on every surface (even wood) but it doesn’t actually cover the bright orange, bright blue and purple paint underneath (who has a bright orange wall). I wish I hadn’t agreed to the painting - the house has no heating (gas off till Friday) and it’s So Cold. The paint isn’t drying and looks awful. I now have to work all week and have a million boxes everywhere, need to phone British Gas, water, redirect post, clean everything, move as much as I can to the house, 2nd coat of paint 2 rooms

I have no cooker no curtains/blinds and no upstairs carpets. I feel like I may have fucked up in this decision as the £1500 I had saved is already £500 down! (Rent, painting things and tons of cleaning stuff!!)

Op, its worth checking freegle, or freecycle in your local area. We put lots of stuff on there like rugs, curtains and things and have also received stuff too. Decorating you can do as you go along.

The fact you were not given the how to rent booklet and the epc means the landlord has not carried out his statutory duty. The penalty is any s21 notice will be invalid, and he risks a fine. This may help you in negotiating. There is no legal requirement for an electrical safety test at present.

If you have good access to the internet, BG, and water companies have good online account access once registered, which is fairly straightforward and saves sitting on the phone.

If there are floorboards upstairs, a sander and floor varnish are cheaper than carpets if you have someone who can help you. I've even done my bedroom in the past with a little hand sander.

You are doing the right thing, but it's tough doing it on your own. Good luck.

I’ve been checking locally one issue is I cannot collect things. I have a very small car and hiring a van requires £500 deposit on a credit card and the cheapest I can find is £89. I also looked man with a van - much more reasonable at £55 per hour (because need 2 people) but ends up if I need to collect different things at different times then it’s £55 every time!

It’s not traditional floorboards it is paint splattered MDF

Also all the meters are prepayment (which I don’t have) and they all have debt on them. I got the debt off the electric meter and topped it up. But the gas has debt on it too and I need that cleared and seems more complicated and all has to be done by phone, might need an engineer. And I have to work so don’t know how I will manage to meet the engineer before Friday when the gas is turned back on and I must have credit on it to get it turned on!

Also need to get the contents insurance changed over - again have to phone can’t do it online. I don’t want to keep putting things in an uninsured house!

Feel like doing an update!
So I am moving on Saturday and it’s been gruelling. To try to cut moving costs I have moved most of my own boxes so it’s mostly just furniture to go now

Gas meter nightmares today - it got ruined as someone left the lid off. Has now been replaced!

Someone’s nicked my black bin so ordered a new one

Still no response from the council re DHP.

I met the letting agent at my flat today and told him to bring anyone he likes round any time to get this flat let ASAP!

Today I caved and bought carpets. I cannot really afford them. But the house is awful with none, cold and horribly noisy. £700 fitted hall stairs landing and 3 bedrooms. I really feel guilty agreeing to pay for them as it is so much money!

DC bedrooms are also painted!