Tenancy break

[Jendon2012]

Hi all I have lived in my landlords property for 8 months and had completed the AST peroid. We gained consent of the landlord to get a tenant in our spare room of which he asked that we all sign some paper work for insurance reasons. We went up and at time had the kids(no choice) ad signed the paper work quickly as he had other appointments. Upon getting back we found out that he locked us into another 6 months without telling us. None of us are happy about this as we were not told this at the time as we would not have signed if so. Do we have the right to break this within a certain amount. We also have an ant infestation in the kitchen which we informed him of and he said its our responsibility. I have been cleaning and scrubbing every day and bleaching only to discover the wooden door that leads onto the terrace has severe wood rot and that's how they are Getting in. And I can't spend 24/7 cleaning and scrubbing etc. I even bleached the area where they were coming in etc. I'm so upset at this as very unhappy here due to the noise from outside and the infestation means I can't sleep as I'm constantly worried about it. This in turn is affecting my health big time and at a loose end. I hope you can help.

[i hate bailiffs]

http://www.essortment.com/indoor-ant-control-11548.html

 

may help with the ant problem

[Jendon2012]

Thank you for the ant tips just done what was on the page so fingers crossed.now just to resolve the tenancy issue

[i hate bailiffs]

with regards to tenancy issue i will ave to leave that to others

they will be along to advise soon

 

welcome to GAC:-)

[seanamarts]

If you have been there for 8 months the agreement you had signed should of followed on from the previous 6 months so in hindsight you would only have another 4 months left, you can give 2 months notice on month 10.

 

If the ant infestation is over whelming you can ask your council to come out and deal with it, if you are on benefits or a low wage owner this should be done for free.

[Jendon2012]

My main concern was that we were tricked into signing an agreement not at any point did he say it's a new tenancy for 6 months. Else I would not have signed it. It starts from may 1st so wondering if their is like a cooling off peroid were I can break it and resort to the rolling month to month basis?

[seanamarts]

I would query this.

[mariner51]

"If you have been there for 8 months the agreement you had signed should of followed on from the previous 6 months so in hindsight you would only have another 4 months left, "

I thought any new AST could be agreed at any time after expiry of fixed term.

Only if new T was replacing outgoing T could he inherit prev Ts contract.

In this case an additional (new) joint? T applied for prev vacant room, in which circum it would be reasonable for LL to expect all Ts to sign a new fixed term AST. IMO the OP was not 'tricked' into signing, but failed to read & understand the implications of the legally-binding document presented.

[Jendon2012]

"If you have been there for 8 months the agreement you had signed should of followed on from the previous 6 months so in hindsight you would only have another 4 months left, "

I thought any new AST could be agreed at any time after expiry of fixed term.

Only if new T was replacing outgoing T could he inherit prev Ts contract.

In this case an additional (new) joint? T applied for prev vacant room, in which circum it would be reasonable for LL to expect all Ts to sign a new fixed term AST. IMO the OP was not 'tricked' into signing, but failed to read & understand the implications of the legally-binding document presented.

 

We were tricked as when were in the office he spoke to us never once mentioned a new tenancy. And when I was about to read he said he had another appointment and we need to leave. Knowing at the time we had kids with us had no choice but to leave. So it was a trick as he said it was for "insurance reasons". So YES we were tricked! And I'm not happy one bit as the place is not the greatest to live in the noise levels are to high so were not in a peaceful and quiet environment which the tenancy states they are providing.

[The Carpet Cleaners]

You may feel that you have been "tricked" into signing a new AST by your LL, and it does not matter how rushed you feel by either the children or the LL, perhaps you have now learned that you should read what you are signing.... Did you read any of the document, or just sign it to get out of there quickly... Whichever it was, you have signed a legal and binding document, and are bound by the terms in it, as is your LL, so now I would suggest that you read it carefully, and see if what exactly it is that you signed, and try to work out how soon it ends, and if you are going to move out on the last day without the need to inform the LL etc....

[Aequitas]

If you sign something thinking it is something else you can plead non est factum (it is not my deed). It has to involve more than simply failing to read the document properly. It has to be a case of signing something that is held out to be different from what it in fact is. The facts here would seem to allow such a claim, but the difficulty is proving them. The standard of proof is high because it would otherwise be all too easy for everyone to plead they were misled or totally misunderstood what they were doing. It helps if you are illiterate.