What happens if i end my tenancy early

Please see further information in our blog about your overall responsibilities and obligations as a tenant. All rights reserved. Service Expertise Accountability. Home News Tenants Can I end my tenancy early? Determine the type of tenancy you have Firstly, you need to determine exactly what kind of tenancy you currently have. Ending a fixed term tenancy early Where you have a fixed term tenancy you are legally obligated to pay the rent for the entire period of the contractual period.

You and the landlord come to an agreement that you can end the tenancy ahead of the fixed term date. Your tenancy won't have ended and you'll still have to pay your rent until you end your tenancy in the right way. Your landlord can get a court order to make you pay the rent you owe. Leaving without giving the correct notice could also make it harder for you to find a new home because:.

You might not be able to get any help from your local council if you leave a home you could have stayed in. Find out more about getting housing help. Contact your nearest Citizens Advice before deciding to leave your tenancy early. You should make sure you clean the property and leave it in the same condition as when you moved in, apart from fair wear and tear.

You need to do this so you get your deposit back at the end of your tenancy. Find out more about getting your deposit back. Make sure you pay all your household bills before moving out - for example gas, electricity, broadband and your council tax.

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Karen asked us a simple, but very common question: I have a fixed term tenancy of 12 months, can I break it early and can my landlord charge me rent until he finds a new tenant? Fixed term tenancies The fixed term, regardless the type of tenancy has a single function — preserve the tenancy unchanged for the fixed period, usually 6 or 12 months.

Can you end a fixed term tenancy? Image Source Disclaimer This article is provided as a guide. Call us on or complete our online enquiry form. A landlord and tenant solicitor needs to know what type of tenancy agreement you have before being able to advise on whether and how you can end your tenancy agreement early. An AST can either be a fixed term tenancy or a periodic tenancy or a statutory periodic tenancy. If it is, then you have more protection than an AST or a licence.

This type of tenancy again gives more protection to a tenant than an assured shorthold tenancy. Some fixed term tenancy agreements say that at the end of the fixed term the tenancy agreement will become a periodic tenancy agreement unless you agree to another fixed term or notice is given.

If the fixed term tenancy agreement does not convert into a periodic tenancy agreement then it could become a statutory tenancy. If you want to end your tenancy agreement early then your first step should be to get legal advice on the nature of your tenancy and the contents of your tenancy agreement. Your tenancy agreement should not only cover the basics of how much rent is payable, when it is due, the amount of the deposit and whether you are responsible for repairs but should also cover matters such as:.

The best thing to do is to take legal advice on your tenancy agreement before you sign the document so you understand your options should you have to try to end the tenancy agreement early. Whether you can end your tenancy early depends on your tenancy agreement. 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.