Surrendering Fixed Term tenancy

[frankybird]

Hi Everyone

 

I know there are a few posts about this but I am bit confused. We have a 6 month fixed term tenancy agreement due to end on 26/06/2010. We have found another house we'd like to move to and we have told them we have to give notice here, however ideally we'd like to end the contract here early. There are no dates set yet. I have spoken to the agents today, and they have said they can ask the landlord if he will let us surrender the tenancy early, but if he agrees we will have to pay £300 +VAT 'finders fee' (which I expected).

 

However I am a bit confused as the agents have told me that should they not find anyone after the landlord has agreed to the surrender, we will continue to be liable for rent until the end of the contact. Our agreement states three points regarding ending the tenancy:

 

"i) The tenant agrees to provide the landlord with a minimum of one months written notice to end the tenancy, but is legally bound by the term stated on the front page of the tenancy (please not notice is required if you want to vacate on the last day of this tenancy)

 

ii) The tenant agrees to provide the agent with a minimum of one months written notice prior to vacating the property

 

'iii) Except where there is an agreed surrender of the tenancy, if the Tenant vacates the property during the tenancy term the Tenant shall pay to the Agents a finders fee equivalent to half a months rent plus VAT"

 

My question is - if the landlord agrees to a date to surrender the tenancy, and we pay the fees, can we still be held liable for rent if he doesn't find new tenants before our 'fixed term' ends? I am looking on clarification of what the surrender actually means, I assumed it was an agreement to end our liability which would effectively overwrite the fixed term period, hence the finders fees.

 

I think I might be getting it totally wrong, apologies if I am seeming very thick!

 

Thanks

[Steve__M]

Essentially, the terms guarantee the landlord's right to have a full 6 months of rent, and guarantee that he does not have to pay another finder's fee if you vacate early.

 

I think (i) says you are liable for the rent for the whole term and (iii) says you are also liable for the fees if you leave early. Your liability for (iii) does not absolve you from your liability for (i) if you leave early.

 

Technically, this is probably no different to what you'd be asked to pay if these clauses were not included. Without these clauses, moving out would be a breach of the tenancy, and you would be liable for the LL losses which amount to roughly what is being asked for.

 

Given that there is not much more than a month to the end of your fixed term, asking for the full finders fee sounds steep to me, as LL would have to pay it in June anyway. If LL still didn't find a tenant till end of June, then getting you to pay the finder's fee would be unfair.

 

You could try to negotiate a fixed amount. You should absolutely insist that whatever you pay it should not be more than the rent you would have paid anyway.

[frankybird]

Thanks for your advice, I can see why the landlord is entitled to the full rent for the fixed term, it makes sense to me. But as we only have two more months rent left (May and June) and we only pay £450 a month as it is, I don't think the full finder fees are reasonable given that the landlord would be paying it in June anyway.

 

I think we have decided to see our term out to the end, and delay our new property as long as possible (we have paid the application fee to reserve it and put the applications in but have told them we would need to give notice so hopefully they will wait until we can move in).

 

It makes sense to me that the agents start advertising as soon as possible though (given that they will be looking in two months anyway) and I am thinking of having a chat with them and saying that we are giving notice to leave at the end of our fixed term, however if they start looking for someone before that, and they find someone who wants to move in before the end then we may be able to move earlier. This way financially we won't be worse off (no finders fee), and it gives the landlord more time to find someone.

 

Thanks again for your advice!

[Snorkerz]

Sounds like a practical plan ;-)