Deed of Assignment - Term Dates

[Mototxak]

Hi,

I recently moved to a new house and I'm having trouble with the agency. This is a joint tenancy with 3 people in total. The new tenancy was supposed to start on the 10th of September.


- 7/9 Received a new tenancy agreement for review. 12 month fixed term from the 10th of September 2020
- 9/9 We were informed we couldn't go ahead with a new tenancy as we needed an EICR before this. The agent explained we could get around this by signing a deed of assignment. All parties signed the document and I move into the property. The deed of assignment said the following:

"This Licence is supplemental to an Assured Shorthold Tenancy dated 10th March 2020 (“the Agreement”) made between the Landlord and the Original Tenants for the property known as ***** (“the Property”) was let to the Original Tenants for a term of 12 Months from the 10th March 2020 (“the Term”) at a rent of (“the Rent”) and subject to the rights and obligations of the Landlord and the Original Tenants contained in the Agreement."

- 23/9 Electrician visits the property and we email the agent to confirm if we are good to go ahead to with the tenancy agreement. No response
- 1/10 We received a phone call from an electrician saying they are at the property but there is nobody to give him access. We email the agent to clarify what is happening with the EICR. He says this is for the maintenance department to deal with and he will revert our queries to them.
- 29/10 We email again to confirm we would like to go ahead with the new tenancy agreement. No response
- 4/11 We call the agent and he says we are on a monthly rolling contract, as the tenancy had a break clause. One of the tenants now wants to move out and is planning to give notice this month which effectively means she is giving notice for all of us. Also, the electrician still needs to come to the property to carry out the EICR.

I understand that I was taking over someone else's rights and obligations based on a previous tenancy agreement but I feel like I was not properly informed of the situation as the deed of agreement states that the tenancy in place was for a term of 12 months from March to March. He never sent me the previous tenancy agreement and even if I had it, the break clause was enforced using email correspondence with the previous tenant so I would not have been able to know this either just from seeing the contract. I spoke with the agent and he refuses to accept any responsibility, he claims I should have asked for all the relevant information or my new housemates should have informed me of the situation.

It is all quite stressful as we only have a week to decide if we want to hand our notice at the same time or stay and try to look for someone to replacement the tenant that is leaving, which we think would be difficult with a lockdown and Chrismas approaching.

Is this added to the lack of organisation with the EICR enough to go ahead with a formal complaint? What would be a reasonable compensation or solution if this is due to the agent's incompetence?

Thank you in advance!

[jpkeates]

What is the break clause and who invoked it?

[Mototxak]

The previous tenancy was from 10/03/2020 to 09/09/2020 (6months) and thereafter from month to month with a break clause on the 9th of August that was enforced by a tenant who no longer lives in the property. The person that I took over from. This is not even the 12 months that the agent wrote in the deed of assignment.

[jpkeates]

There seem to be three problems for the agent.

The break clause, which was during the fixed term of the tenancy would have to be invoked by all of the tenants One of joint tenants can't invoke a break clause in the fixed term, all of them have to give notice. The tenancy will not, as the agent believes, end when the tenant's notice expires because it's not valid. So the tenancy has continued on a periodic basis and can be assigned.

The agent can't force the other occupants (or you) to serve your own notices. But any one of the tenants giving valid notice now the tenancy is periodic will end the tenancy for everyone when it expires.

If the tenancy became a new periodic tenancy on 10th September 2020 it's likely that the EICR was needed before that new tenancy began, not just for a completely new tenancy with different parties. The wording of the legislation isn't that clear, and there have been no test cases that I know of.

[Mototxak]

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

Do you think there are reasonable grounds for claiming agent incompetency since he stated the previous tenancy was for 12 months in the deed of assignment? Or was it my responsibility to challenge this and ask to see the previous contract?

I was under the impression I would be "covered" until March whilst the EICR was being solved. I would have never moved otherwise. There are certain costs associated with a move, getting a day off, renting a van, purchasing new furniture, etc. I would like to stay but if we fail to find a replacement we will have to cover full rent or I will have to move and pay for these things again.

[MdeB]

If the tenancy became a new periodic tenancy on 10th September 2020 it's likely that the EICR was needed before that new tenancy began, not just for a completely new tenancy with different parties.

Unless the following means it was a contractual periodic tenancy.

The previous tenancy was from 10/03/2020 to 09/09/2020 (6months) and thereafter from month to month