Premature Termination of a fixed term tenancy agreement

[jasonwolff]

Hi,

 

My girlfriend and I are tied into a tennancy agreement of 18 months though our letting agency. The agreement has no early termination clause.

We are willing to do all the advertising and to source the new tennants for the landlord and letting agency. The provision in our contract is listed below

 

This is a fixed term tenancy agreement for the period specified. There is no provision for the Tenant/s or the Landlord/s to terminate the agreement before the expiration of the fixed period. In the event that both parties agree to vary this clause rent will be due up until the end of this agreement or when the landlord or a new tenant takes possession of the said property. In addition the Tenant will reimburse the Landlord the letting commission (10% of the rent + vat) from the date of early termination until the date that this contract was originally to expire.

 

The letting agent has indicated that we will have to pay the 10% of the remaining rent + VAT. I could understand this if we were just terminating the agreement but in this situation we will source the new tennants. The new tennants will still be required to pay the charges for setting up a new lease and we will expect our deposits back.

Is there anyway that we can get out of the contract without paying this 10% fee?

 

[raydetinu]

I would not have thought so as it was in the contract terms that you signed! You could claim that is an unfair term and condition as it would appear they would getting paid twice, however you may have to go to court for this. However you would be expected to pay something to administer the change.

[jasonwolff]

I thought as much however the clause hints at reimbursing the landlord. If the landlord is not out of pocket then that specific section of the clause falls away. However the rest of the clause concerns me as it is quiet clear.

 

On an aside we had a verbal discussion with the letting agent regarding the fact that there was no break clause and he mentioned that as long as we found replacement tennants then we would only have to pay a small fee. He now seems to be back tracking on this. Anyway thanks for you comments.

[Sali]

There can be start up costs for the LL too. They pay a fee to the agent at the start of a new AST which is usually a month's rent, which covers the credit and reference check on the prospective tenants, plus the check-in costs (possibly around £100 for the inventory). I'm not sure if there is a fee for securing the tenant's deposit. I don't know how far you are in to your tenancy, but you could try contacting the LL directly to discuss. If you pick up all of the above costs he may be amenable.