Is it possible to get out of a tenancy agreement early

Your tenancy agreement should say how much notice you need to give your landlord before you leave the property. If you are renting a property on a fixed term AST then you are liable to pay your rent for the duration of the tenancy agreement.

You can normally only stop paying the rent and end your tenancy agreement early if:. You should ask your landlord to confirm their agreement in writing. If you want to leave your rented property and you are on a fixed term AST then you may think that you that it is best to continue to pay the rent to the end of the tenancy agreement because the agreement does not have long left to run and that you can then leave without giving any notice.

That is why it is best to check the terms of your tenancy agreement even if you think that you have a fixed term assured shorthold tenancy. Tenants can easily be caught out by a fixed term tenancy becoming a periodic tenancy unless you check your paperwork. If your tenancy agreement says your tenancy will convert to a periodic tenancy if you do nothing about it then you will need to serve notice on your landlord.

If you think that you want to leave your property, because you are anticipating a move to a different employer in a new location or planning to buy your own home but you are not certain about when you will be able to complete your purchase, then converting your fixed term AST to a periodic tenancy may be a good option.

You may not need to do anything to make this happen as your fixed term tenancy can automatically convert to a periodic assured shorthold tenancy if:.

A periodic tenancy will be a periodic monthly or weekly tenancy depending on how frequently you pay your rent to your landlord. Your landlord can only increase the rent when your fixed term tenancy is converted to a periodic tenancy if:.

That is why it is best to look at your plans before the expiry of your fixed term tenancy agreement. If you want to end your fixed term tenancy agreement early it is best to be prepared and organised and to try to maintain a good relationship with your landlord during your tenancy.

That is because ending the tenancy early with involve negotiation with your landlord or their letting agent. You can only end a fixed term tenancy early if you have a break clause or you can reach an agreement with your landlord.

If you can't reach an agreement, your landlord is entitled to ask you to pay rent until the end of the tenancy. If you can't get their agreement you remain responsible for the rent and any other bills you agreed to pay in the tenancy agreement.

If you do need to leave your tenancy early, then it is best to explain why to your landlord. Sometimes explaining that you have been made redundant, separated from your partner, or can no longer physically climb the stairs to the flat, will result in your landlord being sympathetic to your situation. They are more likely to be understanding if they think that they can easily rent the property out, potentially at a higher rent.

Many landlords will want to find a new tenant before they will agree to end your fixed term AST early. You can help your landlord and yourself by:. That is because these costs are likely to be cheaper than continuing to pay rent until the end of your fixed term AST. You should take legal advice from a landlord and tenant solicitor as you will still need to reach a written agreement on the surrender of your tenancy. It is far easier to end a periodic AST than a fixed term assured shorthold tenancy.

However, you must give the right notice to your landlord to end your periodic tenancy. A periodic tenancy is a tenancy agreement that continues, without fixed time limit, on a weekly or monthly basis with no end date.

Your tenancy agreement could have started out as a fixed term tenancy but become a periodic tenancy at the end of the fixed term. Giving correct notice to end a periodic tenancy can be quite complicated as the notice has to be in writing and must:. If you do not serve notice properly then your landlord can insist that you pay rent until notice is served correctly. Your notice period will depend on whether your tenancy is a statutory periodic tenancy or a contractual periodic tenancy.

A contractual periodic tenancy occurs if you signed a periodic AST tenancy agreement. To give notice to end a contractual periodic tenancy agreement you will need to check the terms of the agreement. At Housing Rights, we hear from lots of tenants who have all kinds of understandable reasons for leaving a property before the contract ends.

The majority of disputes over the return of deposits in Northern Ireland are not about cleaning, damage or rent arrears, as they are in other parts of the UK.

Rather, they are about other issues. A tenant can, of course, leave the property if they wish, by writing to the landlord and giving appropriate notice of their intention to leave. However, as the tenant entered into a legally binding contract to pay rent for the property he will remain committed to paying this rent until:. Tenants who wish to leave a tenancy early should be advised of the risks associated with doing this. There is a strong chance that they will lose their security deposit and there is a likelihood that the landlord may take legal action against them or against any guarantor provided by the tenant to ensure that the tenant is ordered to pay the rent for the period the property was vacant.

Once new tenants move into the property, the old tenant's obligation to pay rent ends. Tenants should never just walk away from a tenancy and assume that there will not be any consequences. Tenants who are tempted to leave early have three options. They can:. Some, but not all, tenancy agreements will include a break clause. During that time neither the landlord nor the tenant can alter any terms of the agreement. The tenant has a right AND a responsibility to stay in the property for the entire fixed period.

A right because the landlord cannot evict you freely until the fixed period ends, a responsibility because you are responsible for paying rent during the fixed term. When the fixed term expires, each party has the right to end the contract with a prior notice. Fixed term tenancies can be altered with the agreement between both parties.

If you want to surrender the property, you must speak with your landlord and ask them if you can move out early. But the landlord may want to make deductions from your deposit, so you need to follow the procedures at the tenancy deposit protection scheme.

This clause allows for both parties to review the tenancy at a certain point in the tenancy, usually at the half of the fixed period. If you have a break clause in the tenancy agreement, you can terminate the tenancy early and so can your landlord. The break clause will have additional information about how much notice you must give and any additional details about ending the tenancy.

For example, if the landlord made you sign a tenancy agreement that reduces your statutory rights or assigns you responsibilities that the landlord is legally responsible for looking after.