Comments on: Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement

By: chrissie69

chrissie69 — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:09:18 +0000

hi,im just making an enquiry,
i am renting a house with my 2 children and my lease is 12 month contract which ends in october ,but I am thinking of moving county and taking my children with me .I have found someone who is willing to take over my lease and is ready to move in shortly ,but i am concerned that if i go and speak to the estate agents that are looking after the property ,that they will say i cant do this .Is there a responsible ,civil way to sort this problem out please ?

By: Jools

Jools — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:15:30 +0000

Hey Kerry,

your friends are talking a load of bollocks!!

When you sign the AST and give the deposit to the Landlord he has by Law 14 days to submit it to a deposit protection scheme who will then contact you to say they have received it. He is not allowed to keep it himself.

Not sure what you understand by when a cheque is legally allowed to be cashed. You write the cheque and you are authorising payment from you account the moment you sign it subject to there being sufficient funds!

Hope this helps – get some professional advice before signing the AST and don’t listen to your friends. Don’t sign anything unless YOU are fully aware of what you are signing and your responsibilities under the contract terms.

Jools

By: Kerry Hart

Kerry Hart — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:01:05 +0000

If I give the deposit to my landlord in cheque form when are the legally allowed to cash it? I have been told by a friend that they are not allowed to cash the cheque until i move out and only then if there are damages. Is this true? I am signing a shorthold tenancy agreement for this property. x

By: clarky

clarky — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 23:01:36 +0000

the tenancy agreement has no intinary page,and letting agency had it advertised as part furnished, we went private though a friend of a friend,settee washer and tv been removed, so we now have to replace. aeriel not working told its our responcibility.. if i had not moaned about the safety checks she would still be there with furniture. my daughter blames me for interfering but it was in there interest,,many thanks for any help on ths as dont know when she returns to flat.

By: clarky

clarky — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 22:44:18 +0000

hi my daughter paid bond and months rent on her first HOME she moved in the flat alone and her son aged 3 was to move in 24hrs later as its heated with storage heaters,i found out that no safety checks had been done and was not to happy, the landlord asked my daughter for her key and asked her to leave whilst work carried out.she was litteraly there 1 day.we have filled in all paper work for housng benefit but not sure about how to proceed. is it her flat[home]even though shes not there.tenancy agreement states that next rent due 1 month, told if rent not paid landlord will sought out bailif. we have had quite a few words, and furniture that was n the flat have since been removed. told flat classed as unfurnished..even tough showed round flat with items in it that had been left by previous tenant.thanks for any feedback,they state that as she was only there 1 day there solicitor says its withn the law.

By: Tamara Kauffman

Tamara Kauffman — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 21:00:05 +0000

Query: Myself and a friend have recently rented a property on an assured shorthold tenancy. We have disputed elements of the contract and in particular a clause that states we are liable to pay a move out fee at the end of the tenancy which would basically cover the cost of a third party coming in to inspect the property (although the clause also states that this fee is payable to the agent). The clause does not give any indication of how much this is. We are extrememly unhappy with this as we have no idea or contol over what we may be charged. Is this clause legal? Are we within our rights to ask for an amount to be specified for clarity or have the clause voided from the contract? We feel we have been misled by the agent who has avoided answering any questions about this, and has made us sign the contract under duress or not be able to move into the property when we required to.

By: Jools

Jools — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:26:36 +0000

Andrea,

the worst that can happen is that you will have to pay the entire 12 month contract unless a suiatable replacement can be found. You will have to continue to pay untill that replacement is found.

The landlord may offer you a cash price to get out of the contract but that is upto them. You can find a tenant but it has to be acceptable to the landlord. You cannot hand the keys back (or surrender as is the legal term). 2 months notice does not apply – you are contracted till September – again you should not have signed the AST without first ascertaining the legal implications of doing so.

If the agent accepted your surrender you would not be liable however that is highly unlikely as they will be ready for this!

For the avoidance of doubt – YOU are completely liable for the AST until and if a replacement tenant is found. If you do anything else be prepared to defend yourself in court!

Jools

By: Jools

Jools — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:19:33 +0000

Hey Jay – Congratulations!

OK – I don’t think that altering the price makes any difference but I stand to be corrected.

However – you did not need to sign a new contract as after the 6 months – if you stayed in the property you would have gone onto a periodic tenancy which meant YOU would only have to have given 1 months notice and the landlord 2 months notice. Your mistake was not to have taken proper legal advice BEFORE signing the new agreement.

They are entitled to keep your deposit and charge you for any costs involved in the re-letting. Don’t blame the government in the UK – these laws were introduced to assist the tenant and prevent unlawful eviction by the landlord, and it’s not the landlords fault your partner got pregnant. That is down to you – you have to take these things into account when you sign legal documents.

Letting agents are keen to renew contracts because they can charge for the service and thats how they make money. You may have a slight case against the agents in that they failed to advise you of your options but there again – YOU should have got proper legal advice. You should take some proper advice but don’t hold your breath!

Jools

By: Jay

Jay — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:47:54 +0000

Hello,

I lived in property from July 09 for 6months AST. In Jan agency started chasing me to sign the new AST – so i did in Jan 10. Now my wife is pregnant and i cant stay in this flat so i have to move to reading. I told agency i am moving out and they said – i will loose deposit and i will have to keep paying until they find the new tenant.

Luckily they found the new tenant who is moving on 1st March – and i have already paid the rent till 3rd March.

Agency has advertised the property in Higher rent than what i was paying – i am just wondering did they broke any legal clause here – on that ground cant i claim my deposit back?

I thought they need to keep same everything – even rent to get new tenant for me as i am breaking the contract?

Why Govt in UK dont allow some “Exception” to AST for my kind of situation which can be proved easily by showing Doctor’s letter?

UK is fully developed country and still people like me loose the money when i am already going through tough time – as i have to quite the job for taking care of my wife.

Advice
Thanks

By: Andrea

Andrea — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:05:47 +0000

Hi, I am a tenant and i have just signed up an AST contract with an agency. The contract is 12 months contract with an agency and the contract will be finishing the 18th september 2010. Since I no longer want this flat how can I get of the contract ? I am not interested in keeping the deposit i just want to know if I am able of breaking the contract giving a two months notice and what could be the consequences of this action in terms of charges due to cost of the agency to find out a new tenant?
please help me