I believe I am due a refund by landlord

[Ineedlegalhelp]

Dear mumsnetters and lawyers and legal experts

I vacated a property midway into my monthly rent. Property has been relet. Am I correct in believing I am due a refund. The relevant clauses in my agreement are as follows.

1. If in breach of this Agreement the Tenant vacates the Premises before the Expiry Date, the Tenant will be liable to pay:

a. The Rent up to the date that the Premises are re-let or the Expiry Date, whichever is the sooner; AND b. a pro-rata part of the Landlord's costs of re-letting the Premises should the Premises be re-let before the Expiry Date.

I have now notified the landlord that I want a refund of the days, from my vacating the property, to the end of the month. Which is about £400.00

Below are my questions

1. If the landlord doesn’t refund me, can I take him to court. I intend to use small claims court or something like that.

1. Is there a statute of limitation as to when I must take him to court, after which I can no longer seek legal redress

1. Is there a chance I will lose the case. Note. There was no damage and I have received my deposit, although I had to fight for it

1. If I lose the case in court, will I be liable to pay his costs?

That clause is about the costs YOU’D incur, not the landlord. It’s very unusual to vacate halfway through a rental month, and tbh I doubt you’d get money back. When you give notice it has to be a month normally, and you’d be expected to be liable for rent until the end of your notice, regardless of when you leave

When did the new tenants move in?

Speak to Shelter.

You're not liable for rent after he's re-let it. If he hadn't re-let, you would have had to pay up until the end of the term.

Did the landlord re let the property before your notice expired? Did you give correct notice?

@InTheLabyrinth, I left 2 weeks into the month. A new tenant moved in when it was about 10 days left in the month

@MrsRobbieHart, I gave correct notice. He relet the property before notice expired. New tenant moved in about 10 days before notice expired

You're liable up until the day the new tenant moved in, but not after that.

What are the costs incurred for b. Above?

Surely rental refunds apply to full months only not part months? Though you might be right I suppose.

@FAQs, I do not know. But by thrawlimg through the website of the letting agent as if I am a prospective landlord, their cost for the package my landlord was in, was £600 to find a tenant (landlord does rent collection and maintenance). I believe that since my notice was a month, and I was on a 12 month contract, which I vacated 2.5 months earlier, my pro rate cost should be £50.00. Especially as the house was relet fast.

I am not a legal expert though, hence asking for advice here

1. Yes you could take the matter to court
2. Normally you have up to 6 years to pursue a debt
3. Yes, there is always a chance of losing/ not getting the full amount
4. Costs which can be claimed if using small claims court are very limited in most cases, but it would be worth getting specific advice

The landlord has been pro active in finding a new tenant so soon.

He/she will almost certainly have incurred costs which your Tenancy Agreement indicates they may recover from you, on a pro rata basis.

If, for example, they employ a Letting Agent, they may have paid a fee of 50% of the first month’s rent. They may have had to supply a new gas safety certificate, or other costs such as a few days Council Tax and utility standing charges for the void period.

You can certainly let them know that you are aware that the property has been re let, and ask for a breakdown of their costs, and for a refund of any ‘profit’.

I don’t understand why you think you are due any refund for the period from when you left until the property was re let.

@CloseYourEyesAndSee

Surely rental refunds apply to full months only not part months? Though you might be right I suppose.

You are right. Rental periods normally relate to a whole month, but there is an exception if the property is re let within the month. Broadly speaking it’s not permitted to have 2 lots of rent for a common period. ( I suppose that there are exceptions even then).

You are entitled a refund from the period starting when the new tenants moved in to the date you paid rent up to OP, because technically you were still the occupier of the property and it shouldn’t have been relet until your notice period expired.

Enforcing it may be difficult though so you should send a signed for letter to the landlord requesting the refund within x days after which date you will pursue it through the small claims court. Hopefully that will prompt them. If not, you should get advice (Shelter, CAB) to go down that route.

@LumpyandBumps

1) Yes you could take the matter to court 2) Normally you have up to 6 years to pursue a debt 3) Yes, there is always a chance of losing/ not getting the full amount 4) Costs which can be claimed if using small claims court are very limited in most cases, but it would be worth getting specific advice

The landlord has been pro active in finding a new tenant so soon.

He/she will almost certainly have incurred costs which your Tenancy Agreement indicates they may recover from you, on a pro rata basis.

If, for example, they employ a Letting Agent, they may have paid a fee of 50% of the first month’s rent. They may have had to supply a new gas safety certificate, or other costs such as a few days Council Tax and utility standing charges for the void period.

You can certainly let them know that you are aware that the property has been re let, and ask for a breakdown of their costs, and for a refund of any ‘profit’.

I don’t understand why you think you are due any refund for the period from when you left until the property was re let.

"If, for example, they employ a Letting Agent, they may have paid a fee of 50% of the first month’s rent. They may have had to supply a new gas safety certificate, or other costs such as a few days Council Tax and utility standing charges for the void period."

The landlord would have incurred those costs anyways as the tenant gave notice of their intention to leave the property on the specified date.

Unless this was a fixed term tenancy with a long time during the fixed term still remaining and where a surrender was agreed, I do not see how she wouldn't qualify for a refund...

@ldnflatbuyer2021, it was a 12 month tenancy. I left 3 month to the end. But there is a break clause, which is what I posted above in original post. The surrender was agreed mutually.