My self and my two flat mates have recently come to the end of our 1 year tenancy agreement which has now moved to a periodic agreement. We asked for a new contract (for a year) however, our agents asked for fees to do this, which we did not accept and thus remain on a periodic contract. 1) The contract now reads as Void on docusign, do the contents of this contract still apply for our periodic agreement? And despite not having a non-void contract, can they “chuck us out”?
Secondly, one of my flat mates wishes to now move out, we were previously responsible for finding replacements (a verbal agreement). our agents have been very slow in the past about making any changes and responding to us (us to 8 months for repairs)! We are concerned they will not action my flat mate moving out, she is concerned she will either put me and my other flat mate in danger of being responsible for all rent or having to move out, does she have any grounds on this if she gives correct notice etc
Hey! A few questions here. Let’s see what we can do…
Firstly, yes. When a tenancy becomes periodic, all the terms of the fixed term continue into the periodic tenancy. Your tenancy is not void. The contract is not void. It’s just that the fixed term has elapsed. This has consequences for how hard it is to evict you, but not much else.
If you have a joint tenancy agreement, then for one flatmate to move out, you either need to end the tenancy (for all parties) by the tenant serving notice and the others signing a new agreement, or by removing them from the contract by signing a deed to that effect.
If you have only agreed to find replacements verbally and this is not recorded anywhere, and is not in the tenancy agreement, then it;s unlikely you will have to do this.
In a joint tenancy, you are all jointly and severally liable for the full rental amount. So if your flatmate stops paying their share of the rent, you and the third tenant could be pursued for the full rental amount.
The drawing up and signing of the deed of assignment to a new tenant is probably the thing that would take the agent the most time (apart from actually finding a new tenant), but it’s pretty routine stuff. They’ll almost certainly charge for both tasks.
You can advertise your spare room on OpenRent for free, and when you’ve found the new tenant, you could then approach the agent?