What are my options, legally

[Ineedlegalhelp]

I live in a privately rented accommodation in southwest England. I have a 12 month assured short hold tenancy. I have 4 months left

However, my circumstances have changed and I can no longer afford to live in the house

I have informed my landlord of the change in my finances and that I will like to vacate. No response from him. It is now 2 weeks since I informed him. I have sent a reminder

Please lawyers and experienced people and experts in the house, what are my options. Below is the relevant section of the contract

If in breach of this Agreement the Tenant vacates the Premises before the Expiry Date, the Tenant will be liable to pay:
The Rent up to the date that the Premises are re-let or the Expiry Date, whichever is the sooner; and the standard rate of Council Tax up until the date that the Premises are re -let or the Expiry Date whichever is the sooner; and any standing and/or consumption charges for Utilities up until the date that the Premises are re-let or the Expiry Date whichever is the sooner; and a pro-rata part of the Landlord's costs of re-letting the Premises should the Premises be re-let before the Expiry Date

Just try ringing him.

Have you contacted the lettings agent?

@RizzleRazzle, he used letting agent only for finding a tenant. He is managing the house on his own

Thank you

Call him, offer to help find the tenant and explain honestly your financial situation. Say that you don't want him to be hit with unpaid rent, you are doing everything to pay but the best way to ensure the rent gets paid is to find someone new. Be very flexible about accommodating viewings and with date of move, it's in your best interest.

Basically how well this works for you will come down to keeping the landlord on your side.

Don't blame yourself @Ineedlegalhelp. Realistically, you probably wouldn't have been able to negotiate a break clause anyway.

Have you checked to see if you are eligible for any benefits? Have you talked to the local private housing team at the council? If you are at risk of becoming homeless (sleeping in your car) and your financial position is not your fault, sometimes they can negotiate on your behalf or make small one off payments to stop you being evicted.

How much of the rent can you afford? You could also try negotiating a reduced rent.

If you deduct the deposit (assuming you won't need a deposit if you are moving in with a friend), can you cover the remaining rent for 4 months?

Can you get a lodger or sublet (you will probably need the landlord's permission but he shouldn't withhold permission unreasonably)?

If he refuses to reply, you can write and tell him the date you are vacating the property and return the keys, forcing his hand. Once you have vacated, as a PP says, he is obliged to mitigate his losses by trying to relet the place. Hopefully he will find someone quickly and that will reduce your liability.

How much can you afford to pay? Can you calculate the debt (minus the deposit)? It wouldn't be great to have the debt hanging over you or the fallout from a bad landlord reference or potential effect on your credit rating but there is a huge backlog in the courts so you could probably pay off the debt before it even got to court. It wouldn't be the end of the world

Have you contacted Shelter for impartial, legal and practical advice? Find out your options

Maybe you are entitled to benefits?

Just don't pay the rent he'll soon get in touch.
Will your circumstances improve any time soon.
You could apply for benefits depending on what's going on and apply for housing benefit.

Maybe he'll let you repay any arrears, obviously he needs to speak to you anyway

I work for an EA and in this situation, you are liable for the rent for the 6 month period. What we do is advertise the property to find a new tenant ASAP, and then you would be liable for the rent up to the day before they move in. That is the best that you can hope for, because you signed a legally binding contract. The outgoing tenant also pays a £50 fee to find a new tenant, and this is allowable under the new guidelines.

I know it is not managed, but I would ring the EA that you rented it through, for some advice and to forewarn them.

We have a lot of Let Only landlords, where we just find them a tenant and they manage it themselves.

Can you not claim housing benefit to cover the gap if your income has decreased?

@fakeplantsdontlookreal,

Thank you. I will follow your advice

The thing is, I don’t want him or me to be out of pocket. I know he is entitled to receive his rent. I get that. I don’t begrudge him at all. I want to work with him to relet the property. In that way, none of us is out of pocket. I don’t see why it is difficult for him to get this. If I have ever been late on rent, or done anything bad to him or the property, then I will say he is getting revenge. But no, property is like I met it. No trouble with neighbours. No late rent payment. Nothing whatsoever.

Well, I am learning my lessons. Never ever shall I sign a 12 month without a break clause that gives me some rights

Your landlord is not legally obliged to answer your emails, we don’t write laws like that, this is not the angle you need to be following up.

Should this ever go to court, the plaintiff would be expected to have done what they can to limit their losses, i.e. in this case by trying to re let the property. Whether your contract states that or not, that is what the law expects.

If I were you, I would send one final letter, registered post, retain a copy, give the date you are leaving and then ensure that you empty the property by that date and leave it in good state. Then it is up to the landlord and in all probability he will decide it is not worth the effort of taking action. Expect to lose your deposit.

*sorry, I didn't register that it was a 12 month contract, all of ours are 6, so I said that without thinking. 6 months is the minimum, and a lot of EA do 12 months as it gives more security to the tenant and the LL.

If the LL is not responding, then do contact the EA, because they can then contact the LL and ask him what he wants to do and hopefully steer him in the right direction, to relet it and let you go ASAP.

Does your change in circumstances mean you might be eligible for benefits and help towards your housing costs? Might be worth checking at the entitledto website

He's not obliged to answer you, but it's quite possible that life has just got in the way, you messaged at the wrong time and he's forgot to follow up. Landlords either tend to have a load of properties, and so easy to forget to reply to one person, or they have a property which they manage alongside a normal job, so can't always answer right away. Try and ring! Or send an email. You're hurting noone but yourself by sitting and crying instead of trying something- you are going to be responsible for the bill if you don't try.

For those who are saying he won't bother chasing for the remainder of the rent, if I had a tenant who thought they could just walk out, tough luck, I absolutely would just think 'stuff them', and not even try to re let, charge them for the rest of their tenancy and keep the liable for council tax and bills, then take them or their guarantor through small claims for the money. Why help someone who screws you over?

Op have you informed him in the right way? I fell foul before where I had to write by registered post and thought an email would suffice. It didn’t.

So check what it says in relation to how to inform you’re vacating.

Also check if it says there is a notice period if you wish to exit before the end of the contract Id by giving three months notice.

Sorry just seen it’s only four months left.

You need to call him and ensure you’ve notified him in the correct manner

I absolutely would just think 'stuff them', and not even try to re let, charge them for the rest of their tenancy

You would be legally obliged to try and mitigate your losses.

If a tenant didn't just do a runner, I would probably be quite grateful that they had the decency to vacate as soon as they couldn't pay the rent, giving me the chance to relet. I would be hopeful that their deposit would cover the void period/my costs. The alternative would be that they stay put, rack up months of unpaid rent while I had to wait for them to owe enough to be able to serve notice, wait for the notice to expire, then go to court to evict them, racking up even more losses and court costs that it might be hard to recover.

@chesirecat99, your last paragraph is exactly what I don’t want to do. I thought that both of us will have a mutual agreement and end thing amicably. I think it is unfair I stay put, rack up unpaid rent, and let him take me to court. I won’t like that done to me. So I don’t want to do it to him either. I just want to go quietly, no fuss, he re-let’s as soon as possible, he isn’t out of pocket, I reduce losses

Thanks everyone who has given me advice. Much appreciated

@Ineedlegalhelp: 4 months really is not v long for your landlord to find someone, and he may not be v motivated to do so as many properties empty/rents fallen due to lack of demand (in London at least)

Check situation re benefits, but could you rent out a room (ie get a lodger) as a short term solution: you have said you are prepared to sleep in your car, so sleeping on your sofa would be an improvement!

Obviously check your tenancy agreement to see if you can, & you vs a lodger would be liable for damage

I also think as well as call him and talk to him about it, you should explore other options, inc getting a lodger or sub letting. To someone you trust obviously. You can then live elsewhere.

4 months really is not v long for your landlord to find someone

Four months is a very long time (even in the current market). The standard (unenforceable) clause in ASTs only allows viewings in the last 2 months. The landlord might actually be in a better position if he agrees to release OP from her contract as soon as he relets the property as it gives him a longer marketing window so he might avoid having a void when her contract expires. As long as OP pays rent until the new tenant moves in.

We can't Let places quick enough at the moment, they are flying off the shelf. As soon as they go on RM, we get 20 phonecalls within an hour , so depending on the area obviously, it should relet quickly hopefully.

@fakeplantsdontlookreal, do you mind stating the area? Even if not too specifically. If you could mention county or something like that please

Obviously if you rather won’t for privacy reasons, I respect that totally

Have you tried getting advice from Shelter, to confirm what has been said on here(although it seems correct). Are you now on a low income and eligible for any benefits?

So why are you leaving? Have you lost your job? As others have said can you get housing benefit? That would help.

How much deposit did you pay, one month plus a months rent in advance? Well if the property is in good condition you just have to find two months rent.

Do you have a credit card? Can you put the four months rent on that and then you’ll get your deposit back to pay off two months worth and you just have two months of debt to pay off in due course?

Can you do a payment plan with the landlord?

Don’t panic about this. If you’re going to end up paying until a new tenant arrives that could be a couple of months so you’d honestly be better staying till the end of the contract.