My daughter is currently renting a house (jointly responsible for rent) with some housemates- 4 in total. It is through Dexters as managing agents in London. She and her friend have both fallen out with the couple living with them. The tenancy started 10 months ago and they (stupidly) signed a 2 year fixed term contract with no break clause (well they didn’t ask me!). Anyway, the two girls have found tenants to take their rooms and the couple are staying - all good you might say. However, Dexters are being a real pain first saying they need to give 2 weeks notice in writing, which they have done, and now saying the new tenancy can only start at the beginning of the month, not in the middle. The latter means that the two kids trying to move in have no home to go to for some weeks. They need to move in asap and also my daughter and her friend will have to pay 3 more weeks rent than they need to. The new tenants are ready to move in and the girls are ready to move out. Dexters just say they cannot move that fast with the contract change. I think it is really unreasonable. There is nothing in the contract about how much notice they need to give in this case, just that there is an admin fee for changing the contract. They have paid for this. Of course they are breaking the contract if they allow the new tenants to move in as that is classed as subletting which they are not allowed to do. The new tenants are worried about moving in without the contract being changed to include them. The payment and return of the deposits is another issue. And so it goes on. Very stressful for everyone. What else can we do? I am also annoyed that they took £300 pm more than was advertised from this naive bunch of young people and bamboozled them with talk of ‘being gazumped if you don’t act fast’. Disgusting! What can you advise?
You have to ‘bend’ to the agents requirements. The alternative is that your daughter remains liable until the end of the 2 years that she signed upto.
But life happens and there is such a thing as surrendering a tenancy. They have fulfilled the agents requirements by giving the right amount of notice. The other demand was that a lead tenant has to stay. Both of these have been adhered to. Still, Dexters cannot tell them when they will have time to write up a new contract. They have been awful managers, not fixing things in the house etc. Totally incompetent.
Why don’t you contact the landlord through the land registry and let them know and see if you have more luck
Interesting you should mention that. I actually did find those details. They live in the US. That is our next move I think
Snail mail may prove to be longer than dealing with the estate agents
London estate agents are the reason landlords are being vilified
They are the worst
But Foxtons takes the biscuit
Yes, awful agency. I think my daughter may have learned a very painful lesson.
All of the conditions being mentioned by the agent are being invented by them and they clearly have no interest in being helpful. Subletting may be the best solution, (or at least the threat of it to the agent). Yes its in breach of the agreement, but what’s the agent going to do about it? I cant see any justification for a deposit deduction. If the girls do go down this route, it would need to be a sublet from the whole tenant group and the tenancy agreement would need to be signed by everyone.
Thanks for the reply. But wouldn’t subletting mean they are still named on the contract and liable for the rest of the fixed term contract (14 months)? If anything untoward were to happen in the house that is caused by the new people wouldn’t the girls be liable?
Yes, they would be liable. To be frank, its not a great option and often just more of a bargaining chip, but it could backfire.
I know you’re not going to like this but, to be honest, requesting 2 weeks notice and change of tenants to take place on rent due date doesn’t strike me as unreasonable, especially when there is no break clause in place. I rented in a 4-person houseshare in London for 15 years (same house the whole time) with a joint and severally liable contract and had some 13 different housemates I think over that period. I went through the break clause and renewal processes multiple times and I could tell you plenty of examples of absolutely maddening and unfair terms, but these aren’t. In fact, 2 weeks notice is as reasonable as you can get in the industry. Change of tenants on rent due date is standard and doesn’t seem too much to ask considering it’s the tenants are reneging on their agreement with the landlord. My advice would be to look on the bright side and be grateful that there is a clear path out of the contract.
Ah yes, the 2 weeks notice was fine.. but that meant they could do the handover in the 1st week of the month. Then Dexters said, ah sorry no it has to be from the beginning of the month. So they lose 3 weeks waiting for that.. meanwhile the two new kids have nowhere (legal) to live. Also Dexters are not even assuring them of when exactly they can do the change in the contract! Very non committal - saying they are too busy to jump on it and not even asking the two new tenants for their details - salary, guarantors, status etc! I guess it’s not a money earner for them and they have bigger fish to fry. The new tenants are young and one probably needs a guarantor as he doesn’t earn enough. He’s worried he gets rejected as his parents are retired. So the whole thing drags on. I guess Dexters insisting that a ‘lead tenant’ stays means he may ultimately be responsible for payment of the rent? I just want my daughter off that contract in case of any future problems that may arise in the house during the rest of the tenure. As you say, at least there seems to be a way out, but practically, because of the big time delay it really doesn’t work. So the new ones have moved in ‘as friends staying over’ but that’s not a comfortable situation- if you know what I mean! I do hope they manage the contract change from 1st July!!
Do you mean issue a Deed of Surrender to end a fixed term contract? Not simple as person ending liable to find new tenant, pay agency fees etc.
Dexter’s asked for 2 weeks’ notice. Seems fair.
Not sure about comment about all agencies. I’m
London based and agree their fees are high hence why we use open rent! Big agencies operate within the laws. Not going risk legal action.
Your comment about Life Happens… well we have contracts and exit clauses to circumvent this so not having to react to the whims of tenants. Signing a 2 year fixed no break clause was an error. Looks like the agents are offering a solution.
If it was me I’d get your daughter to move out and the new tenants can move in straight away. The three week rent will have to be forgiven by your daughter… Just be glad she’s not being stuffed for 2 years.
It’s a hard lesson, but next time she’ll run any contacts through an adult and won’t rush to sign on the fitted line.
In life, if anyone uses the FOMO technique… It’s your sign to run.
Yep, done.. but Dexters are still not giving a date for the start of the new contract. Hopefully they will do it soon.
Update.. It’s all sorted now BUT Dexters are lying, cheating toe rags. The only way I managed to get this done was to contact the landlord who was actually reasonable. It was by pure luck (and some clever searching- land registry, facebook etc) that I managed to get their contact details as Dexters point blank refused to give me that info citing ‘privacy laws’. Turns out they lied to them about stuff and they lied to the tenants too. Absolutely abysmal company.
I’m glad it worked out for you
London estate agents are reputably bad
This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.