Early tenancy termination - advice please

[glider26]

Hello,

In early 2023 we sold our house and moved into rented accommodation (12-month contract) with the intention of searching for another (bigger) house to buy, from the advantageous position of not being in a chain. We found our dream home and completed on it 10 months into the tenancy contract. On the very same day as contract exchange, 8.5 months into the tenancy, we informed our landlord via the lettings agent that we wished to terminate the tenancy early. As per the contract (and for a fee), they agreed to market the property with us remaining liable for rent payment until a new tenant was found or the 12-month tenancy anniversary was reached, whichever occurred first. So far no problem.

We are now 6 weeks from the 12-month anniversary and no tenant has been found. We have already paid rent for the first of max two months on an empty property. Driving past the empty house yesterday, I saw that the “to rent” sign had somehow morphed into a “sold” sign! We were aware that the landlord was toying with the idea of selling instead, but were somewhat resentful with not being informed of the new situation. We were not informed that any of the (3-4) viewings were carried out with a view to selling. I called the agent today to a. voice my displeasure at not being kept informed b. demand a refund for our early marketing fee. The agent was initially reluctant to admit that a sale had been agreed, initially only conceding that an offer had been made, to which I said “Let’s be honest, I know enough about property to know that when a “sold” sign goes up, it means that the property is sold STC”, at which point he conceded that an offer had indeed been accepted. Frankly, I now doubt any effort was ever made to rent it out.

They agreed to refund the fee (I should get it early next week). My question is, should we still be expected to pay the last month’s rent when the agent and landlord are not giving finding another tenant any chance whatsoever? On the one hand it is clearly a 12-month contract, on the other, if an effort was made to find a tenant in these last 6 weeks then there is a chance we wouldn’t have to pay the last month’s rent. Instead they have benefitted from a paid-for, vacant, spotless property which they successfully marketed for sale.

… and if we’re being taken advantage of here, course of action? Withhold rent? They have 5 weeks’ deposit.

Case or no case? Cheers.

[glider26]

Does anyone have any advice please?

[R0b]

Hi

In my opinion, the answer is maybe, maybe not. We have not seen the full terms of the tenancy so it's difficult to say exactly but based on the limited information you have given, there may be a case if the landlord has failed to fulfil their duty under the contract then they would be in breach of contract. Equally, failure to notify you of their intention to sell and having accepted a sale for the property whilst still seeking to give the impression they are advertising for a new tenant could be considered deceitful, which is the civil equivalence of fraud and is actionable in the civil courts.

You could withhold the rent and the landlord may not do anything, but they do have your deposit so they could try to retain that. If there is a dispute then you might have to take it to court to recover that amount back, so whether that is worth your time and effort is something you need to decide.

I don't think your case is a clear cut one because as you say, you agreed a fixed term tenancy but wanted to get out early so the landlord would have expected to have been paid for that period. Having said that, if the contract terms allow for other obligations then this is where the dispute could swing in your favour but it would be up to the judge to see which side has the better argument on the day.

Also something to be mindful of and I can't remember if it is in force yet, but there was talk of tenancies being recorded on credit files, so a missed payment or worse, a default, could end up on there by the landlord/agent and then you may have to sue as an additional claim for data protection breaches to argue they have recorded incorrect information (based on the above argument).