Clarification about ending a fixed term lease early

Kimia

Hi all

I know this question has been asked loads but I read this on the Threshold website:

If a tenant wants to end of fixed-term tenancy early, they should inform the landlord in writing of their wish to assign or sublet the lease. Where the landlord refuses to give his or her consent, the tenant is entitled to serve a Notice of Termination.

The length of notice is determined by duration of the tenancy (see the Table above) and the Notice should correspond to the example Notice of Termination provided above.

The tenant is entitled to the return of their deposit if they take these steps.

This means that even though you have a fixed lease for 12 months say, you can still leave early if you follow the above steps.

Can anyone clarify?

D3PO

basically if you can find somebody else who is willing to take on your lease with the exact same terms for the remaing period of the lease then you can leave.

Kimia

But how can you advertise for new tenants without the agent or landlord knowing?

D3PO

Kimia wrote: »

But how can you advertise for new tenants without the agent or landlord knowing?

why woult you be keeping it from them ?

Contact your landlord (in writing and keep record of everything) explain to him your reason as to why you cannot fufill the lease and that you intened to find somebody to take over the lease.

if he refuses point out to him that under the RTA 2004 (Residential Tennancies Act) his refusal to allow you assign a new leasee allows you to terminate the lease agreement with him without penalty.

Kimia

Excellent thanks D. I think that's the best explanation I've seen here.

The_Conductor

Point of note- if the tenant you get to take the lease is only willing to pay a lower rent that you had been paying- you are liable to make up the difference with the landlord.

Kimia

Good point and thanks for the heads up. I'm glad to finally see it laid out so clearly - whenever I searched it seemed like there were several viewpoints and opinion but nothing for certain.

Scambuster

The landlord has no say on who you get either which can be useful.

The_Conductor

Scambuster wrote: »

The landlord has no say on who you get either which can be useful.

However the new tenant has to sign the lease and adhere to its terms and conditions. If they break the lease- you have only reassigned the lease- legally it can be assigned back to you again. It is in your interest not to get any old Jackass to replace yourself on the lease, as it can come back to haunt you......

Kimia

What if the landlord flatly refuses to let you reassign the lease? Are you still liable for the remainder of the rent?

The_Conductor

Kimia wrote: »

What if the landlord flatly refuses to let you reassign the lease? Are you still liable for the remainder of the rent?

If the landlord refuses point blank to allow you to reassign the lease, you are legally entitled to serve statutory notice and walk away from the lease.

Victor

Scambuster wrote: »

The landlord has no say on who you get either which can be useful.

I think it would be reasonable for a landlord to impose the same conditions on the new tenant as were imposed on you, e.g. references, method of payment, etc.

The_Conductor

Victor wrote: »

I think it would be reasonable for a landlord to impose the same conditions on the new tenant as were imposed on you, e.g. references, method of payment, etc.

Indeed- the exact same conditions conditions apply. If the person to whom the lease reassignment is proposed fails to meet these conditions- or breaks any clauses in the lease- the reassignment can be turned back to the original tenant, who is then liable for the term of the original lease.

It makes sense to try to mitigate this by making a genuine effort to getting a decent replacement for yourself.