Leaving apartment early

vn32427

Hello friends,

tl;dr -- landlord and myself gave each other notice at the same day. She claims I still need to pay for the next 30 days, I think that since I have a person that is willing to sublet, I should be exempt, but landlord wants the place to herself.
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I have an odd instance in which I think I know the answer (basically: I'm screwed), but would like a second and a third opinion.

I live in this current flat on a fairly standard lease agreement for 21 months already. I decided to move in with my girlfriend and therefore moving out.

I already found someone to replace me as a tenant, and originally intended to tell my landlord in the next few days.
This evening the landlord, who lives in the neighborhood (Ballsbridge) came by, quite surprisingly. I thought it was just to collect her post, but she came to tell me she's interested in moving to my place, since she's selling her current residence.
So practically she came to give me 2-3 months notice.

I told her it's a happy coincidence since I intend to move out, so she assumed I am giving her 1 month notice, but I told her "No, I actually found someone to replace me immediately". Most landlords would be happy to have smooth handover, but in this case she's naturally unhappy and not willing to let me go with less than a 1 month notice.

She's also not willing to take my friend for a short term, which would to mitigate my "wasted" rent and in fact would not cause any financial stress to the landlord.

My research so far has yielded two interesting findings, marked with stars below.

* RTA 2004, section 186:
... (2) If a landlord of a dwelling refuses his or her consent to an assignment or sub-letting of the tenancy concerned by the tenant, the tenant may serve a notice of termination in respect of the tenancy and terminate it accordingly.

(3) The period of notice to be given by that notice of termination is—

(a) that specified in section 66 [42 days in my case], or

(b) such lesser period of notice as may be agreed between the landlord and the tenant in accordance with section 69 [saying we can agree to any term]

* Tribunal Report (TR57/DR785/2010)
"The early termination of a fixed term tenancy is not sufficient grounds in itself to justify the retention of a deposit which remains the property of the tenant who paid such a deposit. The Tribunal finds that to justify retaining a deposit in such circumstances a landlord must also show that he/she has suffered losses as a result of the early termination of the tenancy and he must make reasonable efforts to mitigate such losses."

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What do I do? Is it too early to get legal consult? Should I pay the damn 900e and be done with it?

Any advice is appreciated.

Paulw

The landlord has no obligation at all to accept your replacement tenant. It is the landlord's choice as to who can reside in the premises.

So, you can give one month notice (if that is what your contract says), but you are liable for all rent and bills up until your notice period is served.