My tenancy was supposed to end mid of June. The landlord informed he has no plans to extend the contract beyond and he doesn’t agree to any extension even for two weeks after that. Since i will be out on business trip that month, I checked with him if I ca move out early. Move out date was confirmed for April 3 via agent. All set, I signed a new contract with different landlord and on April 1 at 4:55 pm, the agent comes back to inform LL will not return a week’s rent paid in advance. After negotiations the agent informed he will return half of the rent. We moved out as agreed and then he held my deposit until yesterday on picking silly reasons and deducting for a single strand of hair on the mattress etc., Still now he hasn’t returned my agreed half of the advance rent. I have every details in the email. Don’t know what to do as I’m new to this country.
I think much of this will depend on the wording of your communications, which is not clear from your post. How you both worded this ‘arrangement’.
I had a paid a deposit of 5 weeks and it was secured under TDS insurance backed scheme. It was done properly. But after staying in the apartment for 22 months, paying monthly rent in advance properly, keeping the property in decorative order, the landlord has given me hard time. While moving out I used the cleaning agency recommended by the agency and paid £330 for a 2 bedroom furnished apartment. I checked out on April 3 (after mutually agreeing with the landlord through the agency). I had paid rent in advance until April 9. My understanding was that since it was mutually agreed and since the landlord gave us a notice that the rental contract wouldn’t be extended any further, the advance payment from April 4 to April 9 (6days rent) would be returned to me. But on April 1, at 4:55pm I am informed by the agency that the landlord wouldn’t be returning the advance rent paid (from April 4 to April 9) without providing any reason. While negotiating to get back the unstayed rent paid, he held by 5 weeks of deposit saying there is a strand of hair on the headboard, some fair wear and tear to 7 years old dining chairs faux leather, some white discoloration to one of the rings on the stovetop. I moved out on the 3rd April, he has just returned my deposit back after deducting for all those silly reasons and after rigorous follow up. But he is nit returning the 6 days of unstayed rent paid in advance. I even agreed to agents request, that I am okay if he can return 3 days of rent back.
We didn’t move out, because we wanted to move out. We stayed in that apartment for 22 months. Our contract was ending at the time of my son’s GCSE exam. He didn’t want to extend for two more weeks. So finally i was forced to look out for another apartment before the start of exams.
The landlord responds on Tuesday/ Wednesday of the week. Then the agent promises me that they will have an answer by Friday and that never happens. I started paying in the new place from 1st of April. If the landlord had informed he wouldn’t return the rent paid in advance I would have moved out only towards the last days of my contract ending.
@I_Am as others have said, it depends what evidence you have for your ‘understanding’
You say
so you say you had a contract about paying for the extra days. If you either didn’t check its terms or didn’t make sure you agreed them with LL in advance of agreeing the contract, that’s entirely your own fault not the LL’s.
The LL has accommodated your needs quite reasonably when they didn’t have to. They have voluntarily allowed the tenancy to end a few days later despite your earlier notice and you have paid for those extra days in advance just like your normal monthly rent. You have chosen not to use all the extra days and moved out sooner, ending the tenancy.
Unless you had a contract/agreement with LL saying you would only pay for extra days actually used and you might move out any time, you can’t reasonably expect any refund.
As for deposit deductions for damage - if you don’t agree with them challenge via the deposit scheme they generally side with tenant unless LL has evidence of damage from inventory photos or correspondence with you.
Good luck
You didn’t need to move out. Just because your current fix term was ending your tenancy does not. Only a tenant or a court can end a tenancy and that was the case before the changes in the Renters rights act.
True but then back before April when @I_Am discussed with LL, if @I_Am hadn’t agreed the LL would likely have served a s21 instead so they would have had to move anyway.
As a LL I don’t want people in my property who don’t want to be there . As a tenant it’s not good to stay somewhere if LL wants them out. In this case LL accommodated @I_Am moving dates at least
Best
You can dispute all the deductions from the security deposit with TDS. If they agree with you they will order a full refund.
With regard to the extra days rent paid, if you have anything in writing, (email, WhatsApp etc) from either the landlord or agent agreeing to you ending the tenancy on 3 April then the landlord can’t retain the extra 4 days rent. If not you may struggle, but in that case I would make a formal complaint to the agent, who should have made sure all this was clear before you left.
If a tenant gave a month’s notice and paid the month’s rent in advance as usual, and that date agreed by LL, if tenant chooses to leave a week early and LL says OK, the tenant would have no expectation of a week’s rent refund.
Why is this any different? Tenant had a contract allowing use for a further 6 days and chose not to use it. Why should they break a contract and pay no rent for the 6 days when previously agreed.
If I book a hotel for a week, pay in advance but choose to leave after 1 day they aren’t going to stop me but I wouldn’t expect a refund for the 6 days. I might well ask and if hotel.able to fill the room they might well be nice and refund me but I wouldn’t have any legal entitlement to a refund because had I chosen to stay they would have provided the room. If I book a holiday and decide not to turn up to get the flight why should the holiday co suffer? Unless tenant has clear terms allowing them to cancel provision of the property part way through why should they expect a part refund?
Best
It appears that the tenant didn’t give notice in this case, so the tenancy can only have ended by implied or agreed surrender. If there is nothing in writing then the latest that the landlord could argue that the surrender took effect would be the day they took back possession. Let’s assume thats April 9th in this instance and they are therefore refusing any rent rebate. If, however, there is some exchange of emails or text messages agreeing to 3 April, a court is likely to conclude that the tenancy ended on this date. If there is such an email, the devil will be in the detail as to exactly what it says.
@I_Am April?
To address @David122 's points, can you say
A. did you give notice before moving out by telling LL.in writing or verbally you’d move out by or before that 9 april ?
B. Did LL agree and accept the proposal/notice?
C. Did you end the tenancy by moving out and handing back keys before 9 april, on 3 april?
D. Did you tell the LL about the earlier date for moving out in writing or verbally and did they agree to it?
E @David122 the tenant and the LL clearly believe the tenancy had ended as they would not have proceeded to discussing return of the deposit. I’m still not clear why that matters. If I as a tenant pay to allow a tenancy to end as late as 9 april but choose to end it earlier that’s my choice why should LL have to refund unused days? If it’s during a normal monthly rental period and I moved out before the final day I wouldn’t get a refund. It’s a contract.
Thanks
The reason it matters is that once the landlord takes back possession, the tenancy ends or they have illegally evicted the tenant. Therefore what was agreed or when they implied it would end is important.
The definition of implied surrender is the both parties behave as though the tenancy is at an end.
@David122 well they have discussed and agreed the end of the tenancy on 9th and agreed and received payment according. They have discussed the return of the deposit which has since been returned (with deductions). If that’s not behaving as though the tenancy has ended I don’t know what is. @I_Am has not anywhere above suggested either illegal eviction or that tenancy hadn’t ended. Indeed they have indicated they had a contract ending on the 9th. The LL hasn’t taken any action to illegally evict them as they had a mutual agreement the tenant would move out on the 9th. The LL accommodated their needs by agreeing a later date. What has LL done wrong?
And, again, how does any of that in any way affect the fact the tenant agreed to pay for the facility to use the property up till the 9th, paid for that facility in a contract, and has chosen not to use the facility in full. Why should tenant get a refund for the days not used- the LL hasn’t broken the contract or failed to provide anything it’s the tenant who decided not to stay up to the 9th?
Best
The fixed term was until mid June so everything about this situation is outside what would be normal procedure. Should a deed of surrender have been signed by all parties ?
I dont think we’re disagreeing that the tenancy has ended. As I said, the latest date it could have ended is 9 April for the reasons you say, namely that there is evidence that both have acknowledged the end of the tenancy through their actions. The only remaining question, and the one that I_Am is most interested in, is whether there is written or recorded/witnessed evidence that either the agent or the landlord said anything that could be reasonably construed as agreeing to end it on 3 April.
@David122 so suppose tenancy has ended 3 April not 9 April.
A. How does that make any difference to whether tenant is entitled to refund for the 6 days unused when tenant agreed to pay up to 9 April and was not forced in any way to move out before 9 April by the LL ?
B What reason if any would tenant have to expect such a refund?
Best
Because the tenant cant be charged rent after a surrender because the landlord then has possession.
If on the other hand the tenant gives notice, they pay until it expires, even if they leave early, unless the landlord takes back possession before the notice expires, in which case theyre excluding the tenant and no rent can be due from that point.
There’s not been any surrender nor the LL stopping the tenant staying up to the 9th tho. Tenant has made clear they had a contract allowing them to stay to the 9th and simply chose to leave early but could have stayed to the 9th which was the notice date agreed
The Tenant has simply left early before the notice agreed date of the 9th. There’s no indication they agreed with the LL an earlier notice date or that LL prevented them from using the property from 4th to 9th, rather the opposite the tenant has said they would have stayed longer and used some of the extra days had they known they wouldn’t get a refund.
All we are told is the tenant and LL agreed a notice date of 9th April and tenant chose to move out early which the LL agreed to. Nothing about any change to the agreed notice date of 9th.
So why would tenant be entitled to a refund?
Best
That is either an agreed or an implied surrender depending on what was said.