12 month clause in a 6 month contract

Tenant Discussion
1

Hi,

We signed a six month short-hold tenancy and ended up leaving after 11 months and 14 days. The contract however had a clause that saud we had to pay £250 if we left before 12 months. IS this allowed? It seems we were held in a 12 month contract while the landlord was free after 6 months.

Thanks

2

This would not be a legal fee under the Tenant fees Act.

3

Yes, illegal. Do you have the exact wording for us? What was the payment supposed to be for? It seems an arbitrary and relatively negligible amount.

4

The wording is this:

Custom Clause 2. In the event of the tenancy being terminated by the tenants within the first 12 months of the
tenancy, the tenants agree to pay a sum of £250 to cover the landlords early costs in re-letting the property. In
the event that the landlord terminates the tenancy in this period, no fees will be charged to the tenant.

I didn’t think the fee itself was illegal, just that it is in relation to a period that is not in the initial term of the tenancy.

5

I see you have two options;

It is illegal under the Tenant Fees Act. The Landlord may not be aware of this. If you have already paid, you could ask the Landlord to refund it or you will complain to trading standards who enforce this regulation, where the Landlords penalty could be upto £5k if a first offence.

Or… you agreed to it in your contract. You would have read that & knew what you were agreeing to. The Landlord could argue that he offered a lower rent because of this. You could honor that commitment & pay it.

6

It is going through arbitration now. We have told the landlord it is illegal and provided him with a copy of the landlord’s guidance to the Tenant’s Fees Act 2019. There is also a clause in the contract that demands that we pay for professional clean at the end of the tenancy. He has doubled down and refuses to accept any of this is illegal.

From what’s written in the guidance, I would argue the onus is more on the landlord than the tenant to be aware of the law, and it seems the law does not even permit a charge for a break-clause.

We have had so many problems with this landlord, and we are leaving in part because of him, so we are not in the mood to be making concessions.