First thanks for all the great replies. Sad really. Oh well. Though the notice we gave him was quite well worded and seems to be an agreement to let us leave early it seems that the best thing we can do is not fight. after all the landlord seems to have us exaclty where he wants us. 1. The contract has no clause allowing us to give notice before the end of the tenancy whereas it does have one for him to give us 2 moonths notice to quit. 2. The deposit is not protected in any sort of scheme as this was a tenancy through a private landlord with no agnecy involved. 2. Though the notice is signed by both parties and witnessed i suspect the courts will rule in favor of the original contract. Lets not drag out over this. We made a mistake in signing the contract. However, there is a note of relief in all this. Last night we spoke to the landlord and had quite a calm discussion. He has allowed us to leave as he says he has already got tenants lined up. He has said he will keep the deposit and allow us to leave when we want to. We both drafted a uch more suitably worded letter stating all of this and both signed it. So although we lose our deposit we can still move to our new place without having to fork out until November. I appreciate all the advice we have been given here and will take our hard learned lessons into the contrat negotiations with the agency we are working with now. Thanks. Brainchyld

After looking on the internet you might need a few more details. Actually we already gave our notice. I drew up a written lett with our nitice on it stating that we are leaving early and that on a set date he should come to exchange keys for deposit and both the tenants (my wife and I) and the landlord have signed this. However now, 1 month later the landlord is stating that the contract is fixed term and we need to pay to the end of our contract (ie, November).... Is this true. he agreed to end our tenancy and signed the notice we gave him?

Hi. We have a question we cant find a straight answer to anywhere on the internet. We have a rental contract with a private landlord which is titled "Assured Shorthold Tenancy". On the page where the contract term is it says Starting From 01 November 2008 for a period of 12 months. Does this mean we HAVE to stay for 12 months.? Can we give, say, 2 months notice now.? I cant see how this ties us to a fixed term as it does not say fixed term anywhere and our landlord never told us it was a fixed term, but before we move we need to know what to expect. Help please?