Hello everyone, I would like to ask about an issue regarding to a one month rent refund. I have previously made a 6 month extension contract with my landlord through agency. However, as I had to leave the UK earlier than expected I have notified my landlord that I will leave the flat earlier. Until this point I did not have any expectations of refund but, my landlord offered to pay me the rent of the last month of my tenancy and I have of course accepted it. For that reason, I handed over the flat at late January 2022 (Tenancy ending date was late March 2022 and he offered me to refund the rent of March). Nevertheless, when I asked for the refund he first said he cannot remember such promise and after I forwarded the email which, contains his previous statements, he said that as he was happy to refund my one month rent agency only made him the payment of 5 month rather than 6 months. I called the agency and they told me that they will investigate this asap and contact me back. I have been waiting for two days and still waiting for response. My question is, do i have any legal rights over the rent of last month, which was promised by my landlord? Also could you please note that I have paid 6 months in advance. Thank you very much for reading.
You would be reliant on the promise he made in the email and whatever process was put in place for you to surrender the tenancy. Can you give more detail about these?
Hello David, thank you very much for your reply. Here are the details; I have made an extension agreement on september 2021. However, I my masters degree was finished on mid-January and my family wanted me back to my home country. At the same time, there was still time for my contracts end as it was ending at late-March. Nevertheless, as I have already paid 6 months in advance I didnt want to waste my money and asked my landlord if my friend could use the flat for rest of my tenancy term. His response was that it is a complicated process but, he said normally I need at least 2 month notice period if I wanted to end my tenancy, but he is happy to reduce it to 1 month, that means my tenancy would be end on the 20th February, so I would get 1 month of my rental refunded in his mail. Just two days before I wrote an email to him asking when will he send my refund but he said he cant remember any agreement of refund so, I send him the screenshot of previous email he sent me stating the refund I have previously mentioned. Following my email that reminding his statements, he said that I need to speak to the agent because, I have paid 6 months rental in advance to them and they only paid him 5 months as he told them he is happy to let me leave 1 month earlier, so they should return the last month rental to me. After that statement I called the agent and explained the situation and forwarded the relevant mails to them. However, I am very concerned and I wonder if my landlord or agent (whoever is responsible) is obliged to fullfill their promise. If you would like to know any specific detail please dont hesitate to ask and thank you so much for your interest.
Takkng what youve said at face value, then the answer is yes, he would be prevented by the legal principle of promissory estoppel from reneging on the agreement.
Keep chasing the agent and copy the landlord into the correspondence.
Thank you very much for your response David. I have contacted them and the things seem to be solved for now. I will write the updates after I receive my refund.