And could the 3 of us remaining be considered a brand new tenant because membership of 'the tenant' has changed? entitling us to a new contract?

Hi all, I have a few questions about our (assured shorthold) tenancy agreement with a private landlord, which is currently managed through a property management agent. 1) 4 of us are renting the property (we have separate rooms and a communal area), and one of us is leaving at the end of the fixed period in 2 months time. In the contract we are collectively “the tenant”. This means that if one of us leaves, the rest of us are still incumbent to pay the rent and therefore pick up the extra cost of rent which is now split 3 ways, rather than 4. Does this mean that that it is also incumbent on us, as tenants, to find a replacement person to keep the number of people whom make up “the tenant” at 4? According to the agent this is the case, and we are required to advertise the room, not the agent. Is this correct? Is this something which they can technically insist that we do rather than them, because not all of us who make up “the tenant” are moving out? In the case of a complete handover, where all 4 of us leave, the agent has to find the replacement and place the advert, since in this place “the tenant” has left. I need clarity over this grey area of liability where ‘the tenant’ is made up of more than one individual and not everybody is leaving. One concern I have is that by advertising, we are doing the agents work for them, especially as we would have to include details of the agents initial fees in the adverts. My understanding is that agents, when they advertise properties themselves, are required by law to include this information in their adverts, or else they can be reported to the Advertising Standards Authority. Can we be held liable in the same way? 2) The agents admin /reference fee is £150, to be paid by the incoming /prospective housemate. This seems unreasonably high. Where agents charge such a fee, is this sort of figure the norm? I have heard of agents charging as little as £20 for the same service, which makes me think the amount actually varies wildly, suggesting that this is unregulated. This charge, especially being as high as it is, could put prospective housemates off, making it more likely that we will fail to find a replacement housemate and will incur the extra cost of rent for an empty room. Is this fee something that we could try to negotiate down with the agent? It is arguably a barrier to their trade as much as it is to us finding a replacement (if indeed it is incumbent on us to do so). As an explanatory note, I should add that the 4 of us never had to pay any fees because we were already in the house as the tenants of the landlord directly, before he started using this agent. This change obviously imposed new contractual terms on us all, but none of us were required to get references, since the agent ‘inherited’ us as the tenant. This is the reason we were not told about any fees. However, no admin fees are mentioned in the contractual fees either, apart from the checking out inventory fee.

Yes - It is the AST and not the scottish SAT - sorry for the confusion. Thanks for your replies both of you. It seems this is standard practice. The only other letting agent I've been with had it renewed with me after every period, which is why this confused me. It seems the (UK) Housing Benefit and Council Tax people do understand this when they ask for proof of rent, so if you supply them with a 6 months AST signed 2 years ago they have no basis for requesting you get a new one.

Hello, any pointers in the right direction would be much appreciated. I signed a shorthold tenancy for 6 months last year with a letting agent. They claim that there is no need to renew the tenancy, - that if a tenant wants to stay on after the 6 month period the agreement just runs on and on, on a month-by-month basis. There is nothing in the contract about this however, meaning I'm surely left with a meaningless piece of paper. With my previous letting agent the contract had to renewed after every period. This seems right to me. I've requested a new contract and they don't seem to want to do that - claiming it costs the landlord (or something). What they've offered instead is to send me a letter so that I have it in writing at least. Is this Ok?. Doesn't seem right to me. Thanks.

Hello people, Apologies if this has been asked many times or if it's a bit obvious. I'm currently looking for a new flat/house to rent with a friend (I have 3 weeks to move). We both work f/t, but I intent to quit my job and become a mature student (I start in sept), and work p/t. A lot of the agencies I've gone too for viewings have asked me whether I work or whether we're both 'professionals' (which aparently means the same thing), and in some cases what line of work we're in. This seems to be a condition for being allowed to rent, and I've noticed lettings seem to be rigidly split in some cases between Prof. and student lets'. Surely a landlord will be prepared to continue a contract with someone dispite the change in circumstances?, surely heads of families become mature students and aren't expected to find a new place to rent. Technically it's true that I fit the 'Professional' category and I can afford to pay, so I haven't mentioned to any of them that I'm soon to be a student, maybe I should of though?. Thanks for reading.

Hi, I would appreciate any advice on this matter. I have verbally notified my Letting Agent that I intend to break the shorthold tenancy agreement (that ends 18/09/08 with no break-clause) and leave in 6 weeks time from when I declare this intention to the Letting Agent in writing. I'm trying to type up the surrender letter now, but there are just a few things I need to clarify beforehand because I'm not sure whether this makes me liable for tax and utilities in the same manner that it does for rent. In my contract, under my obligations as a tenant, I must: "# Pay for the reconnection of water, gas, electricity or telephone if the disconnection results from any act or omission of the tenant or the tenants agents. Does breaching the contract early qualify as an 'act' or 'omission' on my behalf?. I intend to notify suppliers of my leaving the property just as I would had I left legally in september, but could the LL/LA count disconnection in this manner as an 'act' which makes me liable to pay for reconnection, even if the property is left vacant? ## Pay the council tax, or any replacement tax (even of a novel nature), in respect of the property for the term of this agreement, unless the tenancy is lawfully terminated. Where do I stand with Council Tax if I vacate the property early in breach of agreement?, am I liable for this on top of the rent, from the wording it seems as though I am as I don't think what I'm doing counts as a 'legal termination'?. Should a surrender agreement include an agreement that the leaving Tenant is not responsible for any more Council Tax after the early leaving date?. ###Pay a 50% share of the costs & disbursements in relation to the preparation of the inventory and "check out" at the end of the tenancy. The other 50% to be payed by the Landlord." This clause I just don't understand. The inventory is 2 pages of photos taken before I moved in of appliances, and a note the property was newly decorated + new carpets & cooker. What 'preparation' does an inventory need, and how would it have a monetary cost?. I just need to get an idea of the sort of things it's wise to agree on in a early-surrender notice basically, to cover my ass.

Thanks for your replies. I'm gonna go in today and do like you suggested.

I've already had a look through the posts on this topic, which were very helpful but I think I need help with my specific situation. I am contractually bound by a assured shorthold tenancy of 1 year. It expires in early september. I have no break-clause but need to leave this place to move to another city with a friend while the oportunities there. It can't really wait because he needs to vacate the place he's in in a months time, and I'm not sure I can afford to be sued for 5 months rent + fees and the loss of the £650 deposit if the Landlord refuses to break the lease early. So basically my ideal situation would be to avoid having to pay all of that and reach some sort of compromise - but I need an idea of what a typical compromise scenario is and how likely/common it is to get this sort of agreement, as well as what form it should take, and what requests I should make. I'm unsure whether it would be best to submit a tenancy surrender to the landlord or the letting agent. And does the fact that it's through a Letting Agent (with my rent being Direct Debit through them) affect the possibility of reaching a financial settlement?. Come to think of it, what are the possibilities of reaching a settlement anyway?. Why would he accept a goodwill gesture when he could rightfully have all would-be rent up to september with no obligation to mitigate his loss by re-letting?. Why would he be that[i/] reasonable when I'm being unreasonable?. Has anyone over here ever successfully received permission to end a lease early?, what was agreed?. I'm also unclear what charges I may incurr if I leave early and what charges/fees are likely to be covered by my £650 deposit (seems a small amount up to some peoples). Thanks in advance, and sorry about the long-ass post.