Renting with boyfriend but breaking up..

[PetalB]

I currently rent a flat with my boyfriend through an estate agent on a 6 month contract, we are half way through our contract and are in the process of sorting out our break up and have come across the issue of.. Neither of us are in a financial situation to rent alone.. I'm going into the estate agent to speak to them later in the week but wondered if anyone knew of any loopholes in contracts that allow for anything like this or if anyone has any ideas of how to resolve the issue..

Speak to the Landlord and explain your situation, there won't be a break clause in the lease so it's either talk to him/her nicely. I'm not sure what happens if you just leave a resi lease, they can chase you for the unpaid rent but not sure if they'd bother.

Sorry this has happened

As the pp has stated, you need to talk with the agents, and do ask them to tell the landlord about the situation rather than fob you off that you must just stay where you are until the end of the tenancy. You are really appealing to the landlord to release you from the tenancy early. They might just say no at this time of year, it depends how quickly new tenants can be found. The landlord will be charged fees by the agent for finding new tenants so best case scenario is probably that the landlord asks that you and your ex cover his costs in finding new tenants, which is likely to be equivalent to another month's rent. Good luck.

You will be joint and severally liable, meaning that if one leaves the other is responsible for the whole of the rent. So your only option is to appeal to the good nature of your landlord to release you early.

Thank you everyone, I will be going down in the next couple of days.. Finger crossed!

You can't just put someone else in the place instead of one of you named on the tenancy agreement. A new tenancy agreement should be signed by the new tenants and would be for a minimum of six months.

The problem is that the landlord cannot enforce the original AST against someone who is not a signatory to it. If one of you moved someone else in and that person didn't contribute to the rent then the one who had moved out would still be liable to pay it.

I'm assuming it's a one bed place which means that the only option, unless you can stomach living together with one of you sleeping in the living room, is early release from the AST.

Sorry - part of what I've just posted is wrong. If anyone you moved in didn't contribute to the rent, the person who had stayed would be liable for all of it. Forget about the joint and several liability.

Hell - forgot, not forget!

Are you hoping that one of you can move out and the other stay? Could either of you afford it and want to? If neither of you can afford it or wants to stay you'll have to sit it out. Make sure you give notice in plenty of time to leave at the end of the 6 months

it happens, landlords risk this with couples. As mentioned, get in touch, explain the situation and ask if the place can be remarketed. The landlord doesn't have to do this of course. There's no loophole in the contract. Contracts can be renegotiated if BOTH sides agree.

offer viewings at any time - this is something you don't have to do so that's your offer. Offer to pay your checkout costs and the check-in for the new people.

do it quickly, the 'do nothing except buy sparkly tat' time hasn't started yet.

if the landlord refuses you'll both just have to keep paying. Make sure you issue your notice in good time for the end of the contract.