UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi All
My tenants are breaking their tenancy agreement and leaving after 7 months of a 12 month's tenancy.
What is the position with their deposit/bond which is protected in one of the deposit protection schemes?
Is this a completely separate issue?  Can the tenants ask for their bond/deposit back as soon as they vacate the premises even though they are in breach of their tenancy agreement?

Thank you

They owe you the rent for the notice period.
They move out, give you the keys, you inspect the property, then claim on the deposit the rent owed and any damage.
They agree it, you get it, they don't agree it, and it goes to arbitration where they may or may not give it to you.

Either way whilst you are in dispute no one is getting anything.

I have no personal experience, but that is my understanding.

If there is no break clause or they have given you insufficient notice then they should be liable for your loss of rent until the property is relet. You have a duty to mitigate your loss so just press ahead and find a replacement tenant. There could be an argument to be had over who should pay for a check-out or check-in of the new tenant but whether you go for every last penny may be a decision you take with your head rather than your heart as the arbitration procedure can be painfully long if an agreement cannot be reached. If you used one, don't forget to ask the agent for a refund of 5 months commission !

Thanks for your responses. There isn't a break clause they just decided they were going to move out and that was it. The agency wrote to them and explained in circumstances such as this they would remain liable for all utilities/council tax etc. and for cost of re-advertising etc. and their liabilities would end only when a new suitable tenant was in situ. They said they considered they weren't liable for any of this and that's that and they'll go to court on it. 
Because they didn't agree to the agency's terms - it hasn't been possible to advertise the property so it will only be advertised when they leave.  Hence my question that presumably they couldn't then expect to have their deposit back at this stage as they were still legally liable for the tenancy.  I presume I will need to pursue this via two routes. 1 - deposit protection scheme route - whereby I dispute the return of the deposit and use this towards the unpaid rent [am I able to do this?] and 2 - via the courts to reclaim any losses if I'm unable to relet the property.

Thanks

Sorry - should point out that they gave a month's notice but wouldn't agree to the agent's terms - regarding liabilities - so not sure whether the deposit can be used to put against any void months?

Thanks

How crazy, you are going through the same problems as us!  Our tenants left without our say so, breaking their contract.  Ours left in February!  We officially received our keys back on the 31st March, we done a check around the house, contacted them to say how much they owed us in damages, they are being really childish now so we have just told them to take us to arbitration, so a "grown up" can work out the deposit rather than us.
Let us know how u get on

Will do.
They seem quite intent on court action but not sure how much is bluff.

Why did it take so long to get the keys back on the 31.03.14 if they left in Feb? And did you manage to withhold monies from their deposit in respect of loss rent due to their leaving before the official end of their tenancy?  Or is this what you mean by going to arbitration? 

We didn't get the keys back as they left early and there was no way we were letting them out their contract, we had not broken it, so sod them! Their official contract end date was March 31st and that is what we stuck to, a contract is a contract at the end of the day.  We were advised by our solicitor not to use their deposit to cover the rent as it was £400 short of what they owed us.  We have taken them to the small claims court, that is still going thru as we speak.  If they haven't damaged your house, and the deposit will cover their rent then yes, you could use that.  So long as you believe you have not broken the contract and would be able to prove with evidence if needed. Once we looked at our property, their damage was actually more than their deposit anyway!  We have given them an itemized list, which obviously they don't agree to, hence going to arbitration!  If you are in doubt, a solicitor will have a chat to you over the phone, free of charge, about the ways you can go with this

Thanks for your response - appreciated.
I will keep you updated.
I have tried to be very fair with them so it's very disappointing.
I will post the outcome.

What is their reason for leaving? Ours was that they had found another house and they didn't want to lose it as the landlord wouldn't hold it till the end of our contract.........and I have an email proving this