My landlord said they updated my tenancy agreement to 6 months fixed term

[Andy-H]

Hi,

 

I moved into a property around five months ago, we viewed the property and originally agreed to a 12 months fixed term contract, we then changed our minds. I contacted my landlord before we moved in and they said we could move in as soon as the contract had been finalised - so I asked, since it has not been finalised; is there any chance you could update the term to six months? They said this wasn't a problem and they would do it, the guy who did the viewing also said this was fine, he would sort it when he got back to the office. We have now been here five months and have seen another property in the same building for £495 with underground parking, white goods 1 bed (we currently pay £475 for a bedsit and my girlfriends grandparents got a parking ticket for £30 for parking in the car park outside our apartment), we thought this was a great opportunity, since our landlord charges around £550 for the 1 bedroom apartments.

 

Today, my landlord rang me about the contractors coming to fix the washing machine (which they have already replaced with a broken one just before Christmas), so I asked them to confirm our agreement was for a six month fixed term, the said it wasn't, it was for a 12 month fixed term, I informed them that I had asked them to update it, but didn't mention that it was before it was finalised, they said that there's nothing we can do, if we decide to move out before July 2012, we will be liable to pay monthly rent of 475 until that date.

 

I feel they have done wrong by me as:

 

1. I asked them to change the contract to a 6 month contract before it was finalised

2. The have failed to repair the seal around the window to this date (they informed us about it before we moved in and said they would fix it)

3. They have failed to repair the extractor fan in the bathroom (we informed them of this about a month into our term)

4. They replaced our washing machine with a broken one, then the contractors took a week to fix it (well, they're supposed to be coming on Tuesday)

5. I know(think) that they own the land on which my gf's grandparents got a parking ticket and contract the parking attendant's to give out tickets there (they got the ticket on Christmas Eve)

6. The rent is extortion for a bedsit when we can get a one bedroom apartment w/ parking space for £495, and, if I was 21, we could get a 3 bedroom house with two reception rooms for £495.

 

This is from the tenancy agreement:

 

4. Ending this Agreement
4.1 The Tennant cannot end this Agreement before the end of the Term
4.2 If the Tenant stays on after the end of the Term, the Tenancy will continue but will run from month to month (a 'periodic tenancy'). This periodic tenancy can be ended by the Tenant giving at least one month's written notice to the Landlord, the notice to expire at the end of a rental period.
4.3 The Landlord has the right to recover possession of the Property if the Tenancy has come to an end and the Landlord has given 2 months' notice to the Tenant of the Landlord's intention to recover possession of the Property and at least 6 months have passed since the date of this Agreement.
4.4 If at any time
  4.4.1   any part of the Rent is outstanding for 21 days after becoming due (weather formally demanded or not) and/or
  4.4.2   there is any breach, non-observance or non-performance by the Tenant of any covenant or other term of this Agreement and/or
  4.4.3   any of the grounds set out as Grounds 2,8 or Grounds 10-15 (inclusive) and 17 contained in the Housing Act 1998 Schedule 2 apply and/or
  4.4.4   the Tenant is declared bankrupt under the Insolvency Act 1986]
the Landlord may recover possession of the Property and this Agreement shall come to an end. The Landlord retains all his other rights in respect of the Tenant's obligations under this Agreement. This clause does not affect the Tenant's rights under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977.

3. The Landlord's obligations:
3.2 To insure the Property and the Contents and use all reasonable efforts to arrange for any damage caused by an insured risk to be remedied as soon as possible and to provide a copy of the insurance policy to the Tenant.

6.7 Where the context so admits:
  6.7.1 The 'Landlord' includes the persons from time to time entitled to receive the Rent.
  6.7.2 The 'Tenant' includes any persons deriving title under the Tenant.
  6.7.3 The 'Property' includes any part or parts of the Property and all of the Landlord's fixtures and fittings at or upon the Property.
  6.7.4 All reference to the singular shall include the plural and vice versa and any obligations or liabilities of more than one person shall be joint and several (this means that they will each be liable for all sums due under this Agreement, not just liable for a proportionate part) and an obligation on the part of a party shall include an obligation to allow or permit the breach of that obligation.
  6.7.5 All references to 'he', 'him' and 'his' shall be taken to include 'she', 'her' and 'hers'
  6.7.6 The Tenant may use the Car Park Bay[s] (if any) for parking one private motor car in each bay.

All copied word for word (capitals and all) from my tenancy agreement.

 

Is there anything I can do?

[The Carpet Cleaners]

Is the AST you signed 6 or 12 months?

[Andy-H]

12 months, it had a box where you could "pen it in" and we agreed to a 12 month contract, however, they agreed to change it to a 6 month contract before it was finalised, but never did it.

[The Carpet Cleaners]

Then on the face of it you are stuck there for the 12 months. Sorry.

 

If you leave before the 12 months then you will be liable for the rent until either the end of the 12 months, or LL

rents out to someone else.

[Andy-H]

Damn, gutted lol

 

Thanks for helping

[R J Dearden]

I doubt there is one but read the agreement thoroughly to see if there is a break clause in your (the tenant's) favour enabling you to serve one month's notice anytime after the expiry of 5 or 6 months.

 

Otherwise as above you are contracted to pay the rent and fulfill the terms of the agreement until the end of the written tenancy.

 

One other option is to speak to your landlord and state that if you find a suitable replacement tenant to take on your obligations under a new contract that you be released from your tenancy.

The landlord should not unreasonably refuse this although the new tenant should be acceptable to the landlord.

[Aequitas]

Your position is not good, but not completely hopeless.

 

The starting point is that if there is a written contract it is assumed that it correctly records the intentions of the parties. It is often the case that the parties do not end up where they started when they began negotiating. The courts are reluctant to be taken through the negotiations that led to the contract as it would open the floodgates for all contracts to be challenged. Accordingly, if a contract states something clearly, anyone who asserts that it was not what was intended needs to show the court beyond reasonable doubt that the intentions of the parties immediately before the contract was signed were not correctly recorded.

 

Since you signed a contract with a 12 month term you are are obviously going to have an uphill task persuading a court that it is really a 6 moth term. Do you have anything in writing confirming that 6 months was agreed?