My Daughter was due to move into a house from a private landlord, signed a contract (by return of e-mail not wet signature or on line) in Oct 2025, a gurantor ‘letter’ was returned in January but no copy was ever sent to or recieved by the guarantor. (me)
My daughter then changed universities and sent an e-mail notifying the landlord in June that she would not be attending in September. Also, the deposit was not paid as requested in August.
The Landlord advised that we would need to find a tennant, we have not been able to do so, and also that he would advertise the room, he has not done so and is showing no single rooms available on his webite.
What are our rights to no pay the full 3 months of the first term? Would a ‘settlment’ be advisable?
Points of note are:
No electronic (on website) or wet signature on the guantor letter or contract - only typed and sent via e-mail.
Advanced notice of not taking the property - 3 months.
Thanks
@iammartinrudkin
A contract is a contract whether agreed verbally or by txt, email or ink (or handshake or smoke signals…). It’s irrelevant how it was signed. You are still bound by it. Stop trying to weasle out - imagine if a LL agrees to rent to your daughter by email then didnt honour because not signed in ink - she’d be outraged.
Irrelevant that LL hasn’t advertised again, indeed unreasonable to expect that to happen - LL has contract with daughter, until properly ended it would be misleading to advertise to others as available.
However if it was an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (check the agreement) then following the Renters Rights act it became an Assured Periodic Tenancy on 1 may 2026 and from that point it was possible to terminate the tenancy with 2 months notice plus days ending on the date before a rental period
So give formal notice ending the tenancy now. If the move in date was 1 september with monthly payment, then you could now give notice to end the tenancy on 30 November and would have to pay the rent up to then ie 3 months rent..
Possible notice given was valid but just saying ‘sorry can’t move in as planned’ may well not be accepted by a court as having given valid notice, depends exactly what the notice given said, see below. Ask Shelter or Citizens Advice but the first 3 months rent may well be due.
You may be able to negotiate an earlier release from the contract if you can find a tenant who starts paying the LL before the end of the 3 months.
Good luck
Key Requirements for a Valid Notice
- Put it in writing: You must write a letter, email, or text to your landlord or letting agent.
- Give the correct notice period: You typically must give at least 2 months’ notice, unless your agreement specifies a shorter period or your landlord agrees to less in writing.
- Pick the right end date: Your notice must end on the first or last day of a rent period (the day rent is due or the day before).
- Include essential details: State the property address, your clear intention to end the tenancy, and the exact date you are leaving. [1, 2, 3, 4]
“It’s a good idea to ask your landlord to confirm in writing they’ve received your notice.” – [Citizens Advice].
Your daughter would be in breach of contract if she did nothing, but as the tenancy hasn’t begun, the landlord is obliged to try to mitigate his losses. Whether he could claim anything from you might depend on what you mean by the “guarantor letter”. Guarantees are usually signed as a deed with witnesses. Other forms of agreement may be enforceable, but if, for example your letter was more vague, agreeing to sign a guarantor agreement at some point, then it may not be enforceable. The landlord could sue your daughter, but without your money to back it up its not likely to be worthwhile. Neither you nor your daughter has any legal obligation to find a replacement, so if the landlord continues to do nothing to find one himself, he may not have a strong enough case to force payment from you or your daughter anyway. You would need good evidence of this. Several snapshots of his rooms status over time along with the absence of any adverts in all the usual places.
If you are on the hook as a guarantor and he does start advertising the room, your maximum liability would be 2 months rent, since your daughter could give notice on day 1 of the tenancy. This would leave him with an empty room possibly for the rest of the year, so it’s in his interest to find a replacement.
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There’s no two month cap. The only guarantor provision in the Act is s.19, which stops a guarantee biting on rent that falls due after the tenant dies. Nothing about a ceiling. The six months figure people keep quoting was an amendment that didn’t make it into the Act.
Doesn’t matter much here though. A guarantee has to be in writing and signed by the guarantor, Statute of Frauds 1677 s.4, and you’re saying you never signed or returned it. So you aren’t a guarantor. Whatever the landlord’s claim is worth, it’s against your daughter.