Ending a shared tenancy.
Discussion
I've bought a house and will more than likely be completing on it late next week.
I currently rent a house with a friend - we are both mentioned on the AST which is 12 months old (6 months initially so we're on a periodic monthly agreement) and we share the rent equally. He wants to stay on when I leave and is looking for someone to replace me.
So on 1st October I issued notice to the agents who manage our tenancy giving my months notice, stating my intention to leave the property on or before 31st October and that I wished the tenancy to be transferred to my co-tenant.
The agents acknowledged the letter but said that they could not transfer the tenancy to my friend as he doesn't pass the affordability checks for the rental value - I told him to get a guarantor and to keep looking for someone to replace me.
This is where it gets messy... He told the agents on that he would not be taking sole responsibility for the tenancy with a guarantor but instead is looking for additional tenant(s) and if he is able to do this they will start a new shared tenancy agreement for all of them. If not, the property will be vacated on or before 31st October 2012.
The agents have now come back and said that the earliest date the tenancy can be ended will be the 30th of November 2012 and up until that point both of us will be legally responsible for the rent as notice to end at the end of October would have to have been provided on the 30th of September at the latest. It should be noted that 30th September 2012 was a Sunday. The tenancy started on 30th September 2011.
So - what should we do? I have cancelled my standing order for the rent and do not intend paying any more. In my view, I have given the required notice but it seems that the agents don't think I have.
I currently rent a house with a friend - we are both mentioned on the AST which is 12 months old (6 months initially so we're on a periodic monthly agreement) and we share the rent equally. He wants to stay on when I leave and is looking for someone to replace me.
So on 1st October I issued notice to the agents who manage our tenancy giving my months notice, stating my intention to leave the property on or before 31st October and that I wished the tenancy to be transferred to my co-tenant.
The agents acknowledged the letter but said that they could not transfer the tenancy to my friend as he doesn't pass the affordability checks for the rental value - I told him to get a guarantor and to keep looking for someone to replace me.
This is where it gets messy... He told the agents on that he would not be taking sole responsibility for the tenancy with a guarantor but instead is looking for additional tenant(s) and if he is able to do this they will start a new shared tenancy agreement for all of them. If not, the property will be vacated on or before 31st October 2012.
The agents have now come back and said that the earliest date the tenancy can be ended will be the 30th of November 2012 and up until that point both of us will be legally responsible for the rent as notice to end at the end of October would have to have been provided on the 30th of September at the latest. It should be noted that 30th September 2012 was a Sunday. The tenancy started on 30th September 2011.
So - what should we do? I have cancelled my standing order for the rent and do not intend paying any more. In my view, I have given the required notice but it seems that the agents don't think I have.
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