Pls advise, I want to terminate my contract with the letting agent after 4 years. The contract I signed with them did not have a start date or finish date. I pointed this out after one year and requested a new contract via email they did not respond. Throughout 4 years no rental increase , when I requested they said it’s five years before rental increase. Two year ago the agent moved into the property. The tenancy agreement is between the agent and himself. Do I need to send a section 21 directly to the tenants or the agent has to send it.
You need to check your contract with letting agents (as well as the tenancy agreement)
If they have signed an agreement with you letting them choose who rents in return for a fixed rent to you including void periods (a ‘rent to rent’ type agreement) you will be tied to the terms of that contract and need to check how long it is for and what if any clauses allow you to end it early.
I would try getting legal advice from an expert to look at the actual contract and tell you your options.
Good luck
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You mean two years ago, you agreed to let your letting agent become your tenant. Kafka would be proud.
Yes
Pls advise, I want to terminate my contract with the letting agent after 4 years. The contract I signed with them did not have a start date or finish date. I pointed this out after one year and requested a new contract via email they did not respond. Throughout 4 years no rental increase , when I requested they said it’s five years before rental increase. Two year ago the agent moved into the property. The tenancy agreement is between the agent and himself. Do I need to send a section 21 directly to the tenants or the agent has to send it.
Pls advise, I want to terminate my contract with the letting agent after 4 years. The contract I signed with them did not have a start date or finish date. I pointed this out after one year and requested a new contract via email they did not respond. Throughout 4 years no rental increase , when I requested they said it’s five years before rental increase. Two year ago the agent moved into the property. The tenancy agreement is between the agent and himself. Do I need to send a section 21 directly to the tenants or the agent has to send it.
@David240 the contract I signed with them did not have a start date or end date. I noticed after one year and requested several time for a new contract with a start and finish date. It was not sent to me. I visited the property two year ago only to find out that the owner of the letting agency is living there . I recently asked for a copy of the tenancy agreement and his name and patterns name was there. Whilst reading my agreement, the termination notice said I have to give 1-3 months notice in writing. .
You mean he granted himself a tenancy without telling you?
@tatemono no I did not agree with. I had a contract with them 4 years ago to rent the property out, pay me a certain amount even when the property is empty. After one year after the contract, I noticed the contract has no start date or finish date, the rental amount was not right as well. We initially agreed a certain amount which changed but did not reflect on the contract. I requested for another contract with a start date, finished date and the right amount. They did not respond. Two years ago I visited the property and the letting agent owner has moved into the property without informing me. I requested for a copy of the tenancy agreement it has his name and partner in it
@Folashade1 so you signed over control to the agent as a ‘rent to rent’ deal. That will have included them deciding who they rent to. You chose that in return for no void periods. You cant complain who they rent to. They pay a fixed guaranteed amount you benefit from that, they get the place cheap (relatively) towards the end of the 5? years because they dont increase what they pay you, but they can charge tenants more. That’s the deal you signed. It’s against their interests to end it early.
If you want to end it you have to end your rent to rent contract with the agency first. But if you signed a 5y deal there may not be an early break clause unless they have actually breached things from their side. If they are still paying up what are they doing wrong, exactly? If you arent named as LL on the tenancy agreement you cant serve a s21 to end it - to be valid an s21 has to have the correct LL name.
Requesting another contract isnt the same as getting it. If you didnt follow up you cant have been terribly bothered. Emails do go to junk/spam. Can you even prove they received it?
Sorry but if a tenant signed a contract, wanted to back out because they felt like it irrespective of what they had signed, you’d give them short shrift wouldnt you?
Get some proper legal advice but unclear you have any sort of a case except if maybe the lack of clear terms in the contract with the agent makes it void somehow. Sadly ‘rent to rent’ scams do happen
Good luck
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You need to get a solicitor.
You either signed the contract without reading it or signed it knowing that it had problems. You waited one year to raise a concern.
but
So that’s another two year gap between noticing a problem and raising a concern.
You must admit that you have allowed this to go on for far longer than it needed to.
That doesn’t make sense. It can’t be “1-3 months”. Standard ASTs usually say the LL has to give 2 months’ notice, but even then, that does not end the tenancy. The tenant can stay on in the property until you have obtained an eviction order. That can take 18 months. If you wait until May to serve an S21, you’ll only be able to get your property back if you either sell it or move back into it because S21s will no longer be an option.
You have two issues. The contract with the letting agent and the tenancy agreement with the letting agent who is now your tenant. It’s likely the letting agent knows rental law much better than you do. If they want to stay there, you are going to have a difficult time doing this on your own. That’s obvious from the history so far.
Get a solicitor who specialises in evictions.
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@Folashade1 good advice on ‘rent to rent’ at
‘The ultimate landlord guide to rent to rent’ by mydeposits
Also ‘How NOT to do Rent to Rent’ by Visum David Smith
-looking online if your contract with the agent doesnt have a start and end date legally risky. Start date may be when you both signed. Perhaps it says how long for then it becomes rolling? If it has no way to end it you are in a real pickle and will need to negotiate a mutual surrender date with the agent
Typically, contracts with letting agents don’t have an end date. Rather they’ll have a way of giving notice to end the contract. @Folashade1 does the original contract with letting agent have any details about how to end the contract?
If this is a lease it should specify an end date. And if you have actually entered into a lease, that’s a very different beast. If it’s rent to rent, it’s quite possible that this is a lease, not a typical contract with a letting agent.
@Folashade1 does the contract say it’s a lease anywhere? Did you have witnesses sign it at the same time as you and the agent?
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Also seems if you are able to end head contract that will end sub tenancy too, normally. But you need to get all this checked by a lawyer
@tatemono i think @Folashade1 mentions getting a fixed rent even during void periods which does suggest it’s a rent to rent arrangement
Ugh, the usual rude responses.. I feel for you, it does sound like you have a Rent to Rent..even if not signed you have 4 years of “agreeing terms” even if not signed.. Head to FB and find Mark Dawson Eviction Specialist. I got caught in a similar situation with a serial con-artist. I changed my locks & he also refused to continue. I’m still pursuing him Curtis..
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