I was due to leave my flat at the end of June with no notice required, now I have to give two months notice even though the landlord can honour the agreement, he’s chosen not to. Can I still leave without penalty?
The RRA allows for less than two months with the LL’s agreement. There’s a slight chance that the LL is not aware of this and thinks that the RRA requires 2 months’ notice. At the end of the day though, without written proof of any other arrangement, you are bound to the 2 months’ notice.
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So you had a fixed term tenancy that was due to end at end June.
Due to RRA it became a APT from 1 may. This stopped tenants being tied in to fixed terms but also meant in your case you have to give 2 months notice (less if agreed with LL).
No, strictly the LL could choose to accept a shorter notice. LL can’t ‘honour’ a fixed term agreement which no longer exists in law due to RRA
You can leave without penalty by giving the 2 months notice, or by giving a shorter notice period (if agreed by LL) or by a mutual deed of surrender (if agreed by LL). These all end the tenancy. None of these involve any 'penalty '.
If you move out without ending the tenancy you remain liable for paying the rent.
Might be that if you are co operative in allowing access for viewings the LL is able to find a new tenant able to move in sooner in which case you could move out sooner, and LL would have to refund for any excess period you’d paid rent for - they can’t charge you rent after tenancy has ended.
Good luck
Thank you but landlord is aware he can let me leave earlier, he’s just hoping for more money from me. I sent the paragraph from RRA to him but he didn’t respond.
Well it’s not just hope.
You have a contractual obligation to pay rent up to the date the tenancy ends.
You could try saying you plan to leave on and arrange handover of keys and meter readings, take checkout photos of condition etc on that date.
@David122 may be able to advise if I’ve got this right but once keys have been handed back I think tenancy has ended by 'implicit surrender" and LL has gained possession so they cannot legally charge you rent beyond that date. Deposit scheme will rule (if you left early without paying last month rent and LL tries to claim)
Good luck
Landlord is allowed to accept keys for safekeeping without agreeing to end the tenancy, but they should have clear evidence they’d done this.
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Thank you,very useful comments but my brother is guarantor so I think they will just approach him which I can’t risk. At the moment I’m placing very negative comments on many sites so hopefully they will not easily let flat again after I leave. His lack of income may make him realise what an a** he’s being.
He is not being an “a***”, he follows the new legislation. You cannot cherry pick what you accept in the new legislation and what you don’t. The new legislation took certain potential advantages from your landlord but it did give him the advantage of being eligible for a two months notice from you.
You seem to think that he should “honour” parts of the agreement that have been made invalid by the new legislation, and you are upset that he won’t do it — how does this make any sense?
As to leaving “negative reviews”—it sounds like being vindictive for him merely not being willing to forfeit what he is entitled to by the law. It’s more or less as if he was upset for you not being willing to gift him your security deposit “just because he could put it to good use”—sounds silly, doesn’t it.
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And your lack of written proof that you had any alternative agreement may make you realise that you could have approached this differently.