Pushed to leave lease early

[Saybyebye]

Hi there,

Me and my boyfriend have been renting from a private landlord since June

About a month a go the water pump burst and we now have some moisture in the hallway and bathroom.

We found out from the plumber that this is the 2nd pump that has been fitted since the landlord bought the place in January and that he advised him then that the tank need changing as well and the pump is feeding air. But landlord only changed the tank when it burst again a month ago.

He has now asked us to move out so he can do the repair works. We then said that because it is safe to live in the flat we would rather finish our lease and then move to give us time to save up for a new place. He said if we wanted to do that he will take us to court. We then compromised and said we can leave early if we get our deposit in advance so we can put that on a new place, bear in mind the place is pretty much spotless a part from small marks that we can wipe off or paint.

He doesn't want to give our deposit back but still want us out.

On top of this he has harrased us with moisture in the bedroombedroom it's because we don't open windows however we found our from the insurance guy that measured the moisture that the gutter is leaking into the bedroom wall, this has also ruined our bedframe.

It's a bit of a nightmare but any advice on the best approach would be much appreciated

Thanks for reading!

[jpkeates]

The landlord can ask you to leave, but, unless he lives in the property with you, you don't have to do anything he asks unless he serves proper written notice, so I'd ask him to do that.

If your tenancy agreement has a fixed (or "initial") term, he can't serve notice for you to leave before it ends, unless he can show an actual reason, like you're not paying the rent - and he'd have to go to court to do that.

You can get helpful advice from Shelter if necessary (it's free but they're very very busy, so it will take ages to get through).

[Saybyebye]

We have a short hold tenancy agreement of 1 year so finishes in June.
So do you mean he can't serve us the section 21 before that lease is up as long as we take care of the flat and pay rent?
and if he wants us out we need to agree on a Deed of Surrender, correct?

[jpkeates]

We have a short hold tenancy agreement of 1 year so finishes in June.
So do you mean he can't serve us the section 21 before that lease is up as long as we take care of the flat and pay rent?
and if he wants us out we need to agree on a Deed of Surrender, correct?

Yes, he can only serve a section 21 notice that expires after the fixed term ends in June.
If you stop paying rent or damage the place, he can serve a different type of notice that can end earlier, but a) you'd receive a document telling you what he was doing and b) he'd have to go to court to prove what he was saying was true if you don't agree,

Even with a section 21 notice, you have a right to stay until he goes to court to enforce the notice (although that might involve you going to court and paying his court fees, so you might decide not to take that option).

If you and he agree to leave early, a deed of surrender is a good idea, because it documents the terms of your agreeing to end the tenancy.
The Tenant Fees Act means that the landlord can't charge you more than his actual costs to end the tenancy early, so he may not want to do that when it comes to it.
You don't have to agree to anything you don't want to.

[Saybyebye]

sorry, I am a worry kind of person

So what would it cost him to end the tenancy? we don't want to leave before our contract is up as we is struggling to find something else so don't really want to pay any fees for him to end the tenancy early more the other way around we think he should pay us so that we can afford to get another place as we have no time to save up if he wants us out early

As for the section 21, if he insists that the works are emergency works, does that change his right to serve the notice?

[jpkeates]

sorry, I am a worry kind of person

That's not a problem.
I'm trying to stick to facts rather than trying to be reassuring.

So what would it cost him to end the tenancy?

Some admin time, he might try and charge for the re-advertising etc. He may have to pay any letting agent involved for the month's you're not going to be there.
There'll be some council tax he was expecting you to pay.

we don't want to leave before our contract is up as we is struggling to find something else so don't really want to pay any fees for him to end the tenancy early more the other way around we think he should pay us so that we can afford to get another place as we have no time to save up if he wants us out early

And that's fair enough. You should make that point, if it comes to it.
Lots of landlords have had to pay tenants to move out when there aren't other options available.

As for the section 21, if he insists that the works are emergency works, does that change his right to serve the notice?

That makes no difference to a section 21 notice.
A s21 notice has no reasons or explanation required, it has a simple set of rules, and one of them is that it can't expire before the end of a fixed term, so in your case, June.

If the landlord wants to serve notice because there is work that needs to be done, they can do so under section 8, rather than 21, but, again, not until the end of the fixed term.

The landlord doesn't have any realistic option of getting you to leave before the end of the fixed term, unless there's a break clause in the tenancy agreement or you agree - unless you start seriously doing things wrong, like stop paying rent.
In the same way, you can't just leave during the fixed term, that's what they're for.

[Saybyebye]

ah that is amazing thank you so much for your help!