Hello,
I’ve rented a flat with my friend and the contract was of one year with break clause of a year.after six months into tenancy my female friend started harassing me stealing my things ,not paying bills etc. so I discussed with the landlord and try to remove my name but landord was not interested in giving her the flat by herself even she passed the affordability. Then landlord gave me an option to reletting the property with reduced cancellations fees which i agreed with him. So ultimately me and landlord decided to cancel the contract with one month notice. My friend told that she’ll not pay the cancellation fees as me and landlord want to cancel the contract. Landord and agency people didn’t reduce the cancellation fees so i couldn’t afford reletting. So, I’ve sololy paid all the cancellation fees which was 922 pounds. But now they’re asking to pay rent untill they find a new tenant or till the fix term. I’m already facing financial problems and I’m not sure how to get out of this mess!?
Its not as easy as just “cancelling the contract”. If the tenancy has already begun and you are still in the fixed term, then you and the landlord can’t end the tenancy without the consent of the other tenant.
Assuming that both tenants have agreed to surrender the tenancy, the landlord is not allowed to charge you a cancellation fee. He can charge you the cost of re-letting, but I would say that £922 sounds way above that. Its reasonable for him to charge the rent until its re-let though.