Hello everybody,
Hope you’re all well.
My co-tenant (him and myself only two occupants) has given his required 30 days notice to end his tenancy. I have found replacement tenant. Estate agent said we need to pay £50 fee to them for changing the name on the tenancy agreement. Is this correct? They have also said that the landlord needs to pay £180 fee. They said the landlord is refusing to do this. The agent have therefore asked if we can pay the £180 fee as well as the £50. They have said we are not obliged to do this but are they even allowed to ask this given the tenant fees ban etc? The agent said the landlord will either force me to keep the departing tenant on the tenancy agreement even though he will be in a different country! This would also mean the replacement tenant I’ve found won’t be able to move in and therefore I will have to cover all of the rent and bills myself which I cannot afford to do. The agent also said there is a possibility the landlord could just serve me with a section 21 notice to evict me. I understand no-fault evictions haven’t been banned yet? So would they be able to evict me under these circumstances, especially if they are acting illegally by asking me to pay these fees? Forgive me if any of my assumptions on legality are incorrect.
Thank you very much for reading, I would really appreciate advice from you learned people.
Best Wishes
Stephen
The estate agent can charge £50 or a reasonable cost ( TFA 2019) if there is a clause in your contract stating such
No they cannot pass landlord fees on to you
What they should have done was bill you the reasonable cost because they may have to do exit inventory , deposit refund and rewrite a new contract serve new documents etc etc
It would have been better if they worded it correctly ( but that’s not your problem)
S21 depends upon landlords bent of mind
Is it cheaper to keep you or find another tenant
Statistically it’s cheaper to keep you, unless there were issues with you.
If you have had no issues with your tenancy ( rent arrears, unnecessary drama etc) write the estate agent a polite letter stating your option of replacing the tenant is cheaper , avoids the void of getting a house ready and the unnecessary void whilst they find a tenant .
Ask them to forward it to the landlord
If you are not sure they are reliable write to the landlord yourself ( address on land registry).
A problem is only a problem if you dwell on it. Dwell on the solution and it’s no longer a problem!
Thank you so much. That is very helpful. I will take your advice and write to the agent. Will keep thread updated. Thank you again for your quick helpful reply
More information is needed. Is this a joint tenancy? Is it still in the fixed/initial term or is it now periodic (monthly rolling)? Does the tenancy agreement say anything about how you must give notice?
30 days would not normally be sufficient for a tenants notice and one tenant cannot normally serve a valid notice during the fixed term. If the notice were valid, then the tenancy would end for both of you on expiry and you’d be looking to get a new tenancy for you and the new person. There should then be no fee for this.
If, as is more likely, the other tenants notice is not legally binding then its about persuading the landlord to end your current tenancy and create a new one. A fee of £230 for this is probably not unreasonable. The tenant fees act doesnt cap the payment at £50, it allows the landlord/agent to charge their reasonable costs as an alternative. It sounds as though the agent is effectively trying to do this by the back door, but if you challenged it at the tribunal you wouldnt necessarily win, so you have to decide if its worth it, particularly given that the landlord could just refuse to allow the swap.
Hi, thank you. Sorry was away at weekend.
So we’re in the monthly rolling stage as both lived there over 2 years, original minimum term was 6 months. Agreement says 30 days written notice which flatmate gave. Its a joint-tenancy so as i want to stay living here i assumed the easiest way would be me finding a replacement tenant which i’ve done. If i gave notice to end tenancy too then i thought it would be more hassle for agent/landlord particularly as I’d then need to ask them to set up new tenany etc. Also i didn’t want the uncertainty of not knowing if they’d even decide to re-let to someone else. The agent has said they’ve contacted the landlord regarding my point that it’s cheaper for them to keep me as tenant. If i contaact them again saying there should be no charge as it’s a new tenancy I wonder what the response will be. I assume i have no legal right to be re-offered a tenancy at the flat?
The other issue now is my new flatmate needs to move soon and may look elsewhere. Rent is £950 per month in South England plus bills about £300 a month. I work full-time in retail and take home £1800 a month so believe i won’t qualify for any welfare assistance? Thank you for your helpful reply
If the worse comes to the worst you could offer to pay the landlords agents costs. It’s a lot less hassle than finding a new house.
At the end of the day as David said it’s a reasonable cost because the landlord will be charged because of you .
Caviat
That depends on the wording of your contract
If you want it to go ahead and their is a sense of urgency cover the cost for the landlord
Offer to pay in instalments if you cannot do it at once
Im not sure you get it. If the other tenants notice was valid, the tenancy will end for BOTH of you. You now have to persuade the landlord to rent to you and the new guy and there should be no fee. However if the landlord declines, you need to find somewhere else to live.
Thank you both. Again apologies, been away with work and had a lot on. I do understand what you’re saying. The landlord wouldn’t budge so I spoke to the replacement tenant to see his thoughts but he had now found somewhere else to live anyway without this issue. Spoke to the agency again and they said the landlord wants them to find a tenant for him now and I’m liable for the full rent until someone else moves in. So given they had no timeframe on this and it’s not affordable for me I’ve luckily found somewhere else to live. It’s a house-share but at least I’m actually saving money now as opposed to paying double. So I didn’t realise that by my joint tenant giving notice it would end my tenancy as well. The agent never said anything about this when we signed. Does that mean in future if I’m sharing a place with just one person we should get separate tenancies (like an HMO) to protect us? Many thanks again
Landlords are not going to write two tenancies for a two bed house or group share where you know each other
It’s a waste of their time and not in their financial interest
Double the paperwork etc
I certainly wouldn’t
I used to but not anymore because of costs and risks and too many tenants defaulting in rent
The only way to rent a room with no responsibility for another is a single room in an hmo not on the same tenancy
If tenants come as two in adult bed I’ll still write them one contract as it’s in my benefit to do so
Thank you that is interesting to hear your viewpoint