12 month lease - how to break?

Renno123

hi, I moved into an accomodation in september with 3 other people. we rent the house as a whole.
however, after paying the deposit of 1000 euro we were left with no keys and no idea of when we were getting them. after we finally got them 2 weeks later we moved in. everything was fine untill it was mentioned that the apparentment next door shares our electricity and gas.
it has been a problem, and still is to this day. we are trying to see if we can legally break the lease due to this issue being undisclosed, even though i specifically asked about the apartment when viewing.
the apartment next door has controll of the boiler switch, but we have the boiler and temperature. they have the pump on 24/7 which is sending the electricity bills through the roof. we have no control of this and
when the first bill came we were told by the land lord that the bill will be split 4-1 even though there are 2 dwellings.

at this point we are tired of trying to come to a deal with next door on leaving the boilder alone and have tried to get seperate electricity bills from our provider but it is getting beyond a joke.
the control of the heating was due to be moved to the common hall way back in october but hasnt.

is this grounds to legally terminate the lease?

xper

Do you have a written lease and does the situation with the shared electricity and gas bill and location of the water heating control contradict any of the clauses within it? If so, you can give the landlord notice to remedy the discrepancy in a timely manner and if he does not, you would have grounds to say the contract is not being fulfilled and walk. For example, if the lease states that the tenant is wholly responsible for all utility bills, you could conceivably argue that this cannot be enforced because the bill is shared with another premises and therefore the contract is frustrated.

I am not sure that the situation contravenes the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2008 (pdf). Articles 6 and 7 of those regulations deal with sanitary and heating requirements, respectively, came into effect for all rented properties just this month. Article 7 states that the heating must be supplied for each room and be under exclusively control of the tenant. However, Article 6, while it does state that piped hot water supply must be provided, it does not carry a similar explicit statement about the control over the means of heating the water.

Renno123

thank you, i will take a look through it. the underlined point you referr to is of interest to me here and i will look into it further. i do not have exclusive control of heating.we were told that the heating switch would be moved from next door to the hall way but its been 5 months now.

xper wrote: »

Do you have a written lease and does the situation with the shared electricity and gas bill and location of the water heating control contradict any of the clauses within it? If so, you can give the landlord notice to remedy the discrepancy in a timely manner and if he does not, you would have grounds to say the contract is not being fulfilled and walk. For example, if the lease states that the tenant is wholly responsible for all utility bills, you could conceivably argue that this cannot be enforced because the bill is shared with another premises and therefore the contract is frustrated.

I am not sure that the situation contravenes the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2008 (pdf). Articles 6 and 7 of those regulations deal with sanitary and heating requirements, respectively, came into effect for all rented properties just this month. Article 7 states that the heating must be supplied for each room and be under exclusively control of the tenant. However, Article 6, while it does state that piped hot water supply must be provided, it does not carry a similar explicit statement about the control over the means of heating the water.

sarahw520

Renno123 wrote: »

thank you, i will take a look through it. the underlined point you referr to is of interest to me here and i will look into it further. i do not have exclusive control of heating.we were told that the heating switch would be moved from next door to the hall way but its been 5 months now.

I work in a letting agency once you give 28 days clear written notice, ur not breaking any lease, I deal with this every day and I can guarantee you that if you mention that you got this advice from the prtb you won't have any probs!
Also if the property is ok ur landlord has to by law release your full deposit if u give 28 days written notice!!
Good luck

aN.Droid

sarahw520 wrote: »

I work in a letting agency once you give 28 days clear written notice, ur not breaking any lease, I deal with this every day and I can guarantee you that if you mention that you got this advice from the prtb you won't have any probs!
Also if the property is ok ur landlord has to by law release your full deposit if u give 28 days written notice!!
Good luck

You cannot be released from a contract just by giving notice unless there is a break clause in the lease.

Victor

sarahw520 wrote: »

I work in a letting agency once you give 28 days clear written notice

All other evidence would appear to be different. What you say only applies to situations where there is no stated period for the lease (typically 1 year) and the tenant has been there less than 6 months. Do you have anything to back this up?

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/renting_a_home/types_of_tenancy.html#l1f4da

sarahw520

Victor wrote: »

All other evidence would appear to be different. Do you have anything to back this up?

Everyday experience!!
If there is any way for us to keep people in a lease, believe me, we will!
Unless it specifies a clear penalty in the lease for breaking it, then there's no way of penalising someone!
If the lease specifies that a tenant will lose a deposit for breaking the lease, that's fair enough but if it doesn't say that in the contract he's on a winner!
We use a standard lease from Irish landlords.com and it states that once 28 days written notice Is given then your entitled to your deposit less any damages etc back

sarahw520

sarahw520 wrote: »

Everyday experience!!
If there is any way for us to keep people in a lease, believe me, we will!
Unless it specifies a clear penalty in the lease for breaking it, then there's no way of penalising someone!
If the lease specifies that a tenant will lose a deposit for breaking the lease, that's fair enough but if it doesn't say that in the contract he's on a winner!
We use a standard lease from Irish landlords.com and it states that once 28 days written notice Is given then your entitled to your deposit less any damages etc back

35 days if over 6 months
Most leases are either 6 or 12 months

Barracuda1

Renno123 wrote: »

hi, I moved into an accomodation in september with 3 other people. we rent the house as a whole.
however, after paying the deposit of 1000 euro we were left with no keys and no idea of when we were getting them. after we finally got them 2 weeks later we moved in. everything was fine untill it was mentioned that the apparentment next door shares our electricity and gas.
it has been a problem, and still is to this day. we are trying to see if we can legally break the lease due to this issue being undisclosed, even though i specifically asked about the apartment when viewing.
the apartment next door has controll of the boiler switch, but we have the boiler and temperature. they have the pump on 24/7 which is sending the electricity bills through the roof. we have no control of this and
when the first bill came we were told by the land lord that the bill will be split 4-1 even though there are 2 dwellings.

at this point we are tired of trying to come to a deal with next door on leaving the boilder alone and have tried to get seperate electricity bills from our provider but it is getting beyond a joke.
the control of the heating was due to be moved to the common hall way back in october but hasnt.

is this grounds to legally terminate the lease?

I like to know is two dwellings under one tenancy agreement. I am pretty sure that the two dwellings should have separate electricity and heating supplies. If you didn't rent the apartment and only the house you aren't liable for its bills.

Renno123

Barracuda1 wrote: »

I like to know is two dwellings under one tenancy agreement. I am pretty sure that the two dwellings should have separate electricity and heating supplies. If you didn't rent the apartment and only the house you aren't liable for its bills.

yes im not renting the appartment. in fact during the viewing we didnt even notice the appartment straight away as it is a house converted into 2.
when i asked we were told everything was seperate and we had nothing to do with that property. we were told this by the letting agency.

sarahw520

Apologies, from my experience, "legal obligation " or not, landlords will not sue someone for breaking a lease!!!i was just trying to give someone everyday advice rather than legal advice, I'm not a solicitor!!
There's no need to be so bloody rude though, the law maybe the law, but the reality is different

djimi

sarahw520 wrote: »

Apologies, from my experience, "legal obligation " or not, landlords will not sue someone for breaking a lease!!!i was just trying to give someone everyday advice rather than legal advice, I'm not a solicitor!!
There's no need to be so bloody rude though, the law maybe the law, but the reality is different

Everyday experience is all well and good, but legally a landlord can persue a tenant for the full amount of a lease should they break it early, and even if 999 out of 1000 wouldnt bother, you dont know that youre not dealing with the 1 in a 1000 who will when giving someone advise. Give the legal position; let the person make up their own mind whether or not they want to chance it.

And just out of curiosity, as an agent/landlord why would you want to write a 28 day break clause into a fixed term lease? Its not exactly in the interest of the landlord to allow the tenant to break the lease after a month. Surely the security offered by a fixed term lease is the very reason why a landlord would want a tenant to sign one?

duckysauce

Legal Expert wrote: »

A stunning lack of knowledge from a letting agent there.

It always amazes me that somebody who works full time at one particular job can know so llittle about their own field.


Have you ever actually read the residential tenancies act Sarah? Ever bothered to get a legal opinion. Have some pride in your craft.

Say there was three months left on the lease , and tenant gives a months notice, why would you go to the hassle and expense of getting a solicitor. What fees would you charge for a case like this out of interest? , I was also told the same crap about the prtb saying breaking the lease is ok if a months notice is given , and the deposit is only for any damage done to the house and not for the lease ?

Renno123

thanks for the advise offered, i would like people to focus a little on my specific situation which is why i asked.
as mine is an unusual one i would appreciate some more specific adivse.
Thanks