Tenants moving out early leaving country

Landlord Discussion Legal
1

My tenants are moving abroad 4 months before their tenancy is up. The lease has no brake clause.
But so how can I ensure that they pay the entire amount remaining once they’ve left the country? Presumably once they leave I will have no recourse to get unpaid rent.
And so can I legally insist that they pay for the entire period prior to leaving the country? Thanks.

2

Will3

You are correct, you won’t be able to pursue them for unpaid rent once they have left the UK. You can put it to them that they are legally obligated to pay the rent until the end of the term although I wouldn’t hold much hope that they would be willing to honour the terms of the tenancy. I would release them from their obligations and seek mutual agreement for them to surrender the tenancy early on the understanding that they would forfeit their deposit and then re-let. In this current climate (with the exception of the Christmas holiday period) there’s a good chance you will be able to re-let before you have exhausted their 5 week deposit so you won’t be out of pocket.

1 Like
3

Just agree to release them from the tenancy early and all sign a deed of surrender as they leave.

4

I’m in an extraordinarily difficult position. The only thing I can do is ask them to pay the remainder of the rent in advance before they depart.
(The property is shared ownership, which I’m only authorised to rent out for a 2-year period by the housing association due to the goddamn cladding debacle. So I can only put it on the market again for a few months - which nobody is would take! I depend on their rent to cover the rent where I live now!! I cannot go even one month without this. I won’t be able to pay my rent and then I’ll get in a lot of trouble!!!
What a world.)

5

I’m afraid there is nothing you can really do to ensure they pay. They could simply point blank refuse to pay the rest of the fixed term’s rent and there’s little you could do about it. I would suggest you speak to the housing association about the problem and perhaps ask for permission to short-let it on Airbnb until you can sell it.