Ending your Tenancy
Ending your tenancy can be done in a few different ways and involves different procedures such as returning your deposit and moving out.
If you want to read more about different ways your tenancy can be ended please keep reading. However, if you want more information about returning your deposit or moving out you can find it by having a look at the webpages linked below.
By the Tenant
At the end of the fixed term:
At the end of the academic year is usually when the end of your tenancy will be as well, expect this to be around the end of June. If you are planning to move out at the end of the fixed term you should check your contract to see if you must give any formal notice to end your tenancy. If you do not need to give formal notice, you can move out without at the end of your fixed term. If you need to give notice, you should follow the procedure which is outlined in your contract. If you should stay beyond the end of the fixed term, even for a day, your tenancy will automatically roll over. This means that your tenancy will continue to run from month to month or week to week, and you will still be liable to pay rent. You will then need to give notice to end your tenancy.
If you want to leave early:
In most cases, once you have signed a fixed term contract, you will be liable for rent until the end of the agreed tenancy period. Your right to end your tenancy early is limited:
- If your contract includes a ‘break clause’ you are allowed to terminate the tenancy and your obligations under it, by giving notice (for example 4 weeks or 1 month).
- It might be possible for you to end your tenancy if you can prove that your landlord has committed a ‘fundamental breach’ of contract, for example by failing to deal with serious disrepair. This is a complex legal area, and it is suggested that you get advice which you can get from the Student Advice and Support Services.
- Your landlord/letting agent might voluntarily release you from your contract. This might involve you paying an agreed sum of money (less that what you owe) to your landlord as a final settlement.
- Finding a replacement. If you have a joint tenancy and you want to leave before the end of the fixed term, you will need to get the consent of the other joint tenants and the landlord to end the contract. The landlord, the other joint tenants, and any replacement tenant(s), should then agree on a new joint tenancy.
If you have signed a separate tenancy if a room in a shared property and you find a reasonable replacement you should be able to leave the property free of any further obligations. In this case you should ask the landlord to agree to 'surrender’ the tenancy. The Student Advice and Support Service has a ‘Deed of surrender’ form that can be used for this purpose, contract the Student Advice and Support Service for more advice on this.
If you should leave the property before finding a replacement you will remain liable for the rent until a replacement is found, but the landlord does have a responsibility to make reasonable efforts to find another tenant.
By the Landlord
As a tenant you have ‘security of tenure’ this meant that during the first six months of the tenancy, or during the initial fixed term (should there be one), whichever is the longer, you cannot be evicted or forced to leave by the landlord, unless:
- The landlord has specific legal ‘grounds’ for example if you break one or more of the terms of the tenancy agreement, and;
- You are given the correct notice, and;
- The landlord obtains a court order.
At the end of the fixed term, your landlord can obtain a court order to have you evicted, without needing any ‘grounds’. However, your landlord still must give you proper notice – a section 21 notice.
If you should receive any type of notice, please seek advice from the Student Advice and Support Service.
By a Mortgage Lender
If your landlord has fallen behind with mortgage payments on your tenanted property, the mortgage lender (usually a bank or building society) may repossess the property.
In this case you might be able to remain in the property if the lender has permitted the landlord to grant the tenancy or if your tenancy pre-dated the mortgage agreement. Normally, the tenancy is not binding on the lender and the tenant must leave, but you can ask the court to delay any eviction for up to 2 months.
If you should receive any type of notice, please seek advice from the Student Advice and Support Service.
How can the University Support you?
Please always use the University webpages as a first point of reference. If you require more guidance or information that is not covered in the webpages contact the Student Advice and Support Services.
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Last Updated: 8th September 2022