Help--how do I break a lease in London?

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I have a problematic housing situation, and my landlord's office is shut until January 5th, so ILE, in my frustration I turn to thee for advice.

I have a six-month lease (pretty standard Assured Shorthold agreement from what I can tell) which is scheduled to end March 31st. I have to give my landlord 2 month's notice of renewal or departure, (so I'd have to make up my mind by the end of January anyway) but I'm thinking of leaving the place asap due to neighbor issues and a recent and possibly connected burglary of another flat in the building. I guess some background is necessary... I live on the top floor of a row house with four flats. My own door is actually on the floor below, next to that of flat 3, so I can hear the people there coming and going at all hours and I assume they can hear when I arrive or leave also. There's one person on the lease there--a girl I've met a few times who seemed alright--but she's gone away and supposedly given her keys to friends, who have, in the past two weeks, flooded both their flat and flat 2, been letting various people in who ring my buzzer as well as theirs in the middle of the night, and stinking up the hallway (and thus my apartment) with something awful--apparently from electric hobs they're using for heat since the gas was cut off there. It was flat 2 that was robbed--the whole doorframe (complete with lock mechanisms) having been shoved in. There was no sign of forced entry on the front door to the building, and for other reasons I suspect the people responsible are those living in, or let in by, people staying in flat 3. There's evidence that someone's also tried forcing my lock, though it held and still seemed to work alright, despite the wood and metal parts being pretty scraped up.

The point of all this is that I don't feel safe living there anymore--I've been staying with Mark but have got to go back tomorrow to check on things and I dread it--has anyone ever broken a lease like this without financial penalties? Do I have grounds to argue that my landlord should let me out earlier (like at the end of January)? Is there anything I could do in the meantime? I don't know how to approach this with my landlord at all. I really can't afford to lose my security deposit, and even though the apartment itself is really nice, I'd need to move into a shared place soon anyway since the US->UK exchange rate is increasingly worse and I'm rapidly being priced out of living alone.

Thanks for reading all this, especially those of you who don't know me.

― sgs, Monday, 29 December 2003 13:50 (twenty-two years ago)

I should add that the woman who lives in flat 2 tells me that she and the guy in flat 1 (both of whom own their places) have tried to get flat 3 evicted but that landlord refuses to do anything about it, despite being owed money. So I have no great hopes of the neighbor situation changing.

― sgs, Monday, 29 December 2003 13:56 (twenty-two years ago)

My tuppence'th - the people currently in flat 3 are almost certainly dealers, judging by the comings and goings etc. Would the police make any effort to get a search warrant for the property on current evidence, or will they not bother/need more proof?

Big love to muh honey in the meantime.

― Markelby (Mark C), Monday, 29 December 2003 13:59 (twenty-two years ago)

I have had to break a lease before, but the only thing you can do is give the notice it states in your contract. I am not sure if there is anything else you can do even if it is mitigating circumstances.

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Monday, 29 December 2003 14:02 (twenty-two years ago)

cripes sorry to hear that sarah. if you're pretty sure they're dealers and have gear in the flat i guess you can always do an anonymous tip-off to the police. (make it sound pretty big so they'd bother to search, and if they find anything they're still gonna be in shit and/or probably clean up their act or move away if police know of them?)

Nothing more practical than that I can think of at the moment i'm afraid.

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 29 December 2003 14:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Harsh deal btw, I hope it all sorts itself out. I would also call the police aswell.

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Monday, 29 December 2003 14:12 (twenty-two years ago)

If you want someone to do an anonymous tip-off, Sarah, I'd be happy to.

― Markelby (Mark C), Monday, 29 December 2003 14:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Um, I mean...

― anon e mous (Mark C), Monday, 29 December 2003 14:14 (twenty-two years ago)

your name is gary coombes and i claim my £5

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 29 December 2003 14:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Thanks for the support y'all...not sure that a call to the police would do anything much more than what's already happened: the deployment of a forensics guy who didn't find any fingerprints, which would've helped eviction matters. I may encourage my landlord to get on to the other landlord, as whoever rents the place after I leave will be dealing with the same problems and it's in their interest to sort it out also. But guh, the more I think about it the more likely it seems I am stuck with my lease.

― sgs (sgs), Monday, 29 December 2003 17:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Do you have somewhere you can store your valuables 'till march 1st? It might be worth doing that.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Monday, 29 December 2003 17:06 (twenty-two years ago)

I haven't the faintest idea, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it resolves itself soon, and in a satisfactory way.

(Failing that, call me and I'll come round and kick someone's ass).

― luna (luna.c), Monday, 29 December 2003 17:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Is there anything in the terms of your lease that mentions something along the lines of 'reasonable use and enjoyment of your property'?

― Alfie (Alfie), Monday, 29 December 2003 17:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Because what you describe sounds like it might possibly be enough to break the lease on those grounds.

A friend of mine works in housing, I'll ask his advice next time I see him (possibly NYE).

It's a good idea to stash your valuables, but I'm not sure getting the police involved is a good call - it could backfire, and if you are forced to spend two months with neighbours who suspect you might have tried to shop them, then your situation could get a lot worse.

― Alfie (Alfie), Monday, 29 December 2003 17:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Have you tried taking your lease to a Citizen's Advice Bureau / lawyer to see if you have a get-out clause along the lines of what Alfie said? I would so not get the police involved though, especially since someone has tried that and nothing came of it. Best not make a bad situation worse.

― ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 29 December 2003 17:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Best way is to not pay the next rent and move out without telling your landlord. You will lose your deposit but if you cover that as one month rent then fuck 'em (seeing as you probably won't move out for a couple of weeks).

Tennancy agreements are actually pretty easy to break by both sides (hence the shortness of them). Most privat landlords will not be arsed to follow it up in the courts,and if they do you have an excuse (make sure you put in the calls to the police first).

― Pete (Pete), Monday, 29 December 2003 19:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah Pashmina I'm stashing valuables elsewhere--had to leave behind a few immovable sacrificial lambs in the form of cheap stereo and knackered TV (and borrowed printer oh no!) at my place though. I don't have many valuable things, but doing my work (on my laptop--have a big portion of my PhD project to get ready by mid-February) could be annoying if I can't have my computer at home.

Thanks for the suggestions Alfie--hadn't considered that possibility. The U of L housing office retains a law firm to deal with student housing problems, and I'm going to see them on Monday as per Ailsa's suggestion.

Haha Pete if only my deposit were just a month's rent. And if only my conscience were nonexistent. My landlord has so far been really good about fixing things up, understanding last month when I was late with my rent for reasons beyond my control, etc. and I'd like to keep hoping I get a good reference out of this.

Thanks for the offer of muscle, Luna. I'm gonna adopt a warrior mentality for my trip home tomorrow. *steels self*

― sgs (sgs), Monday, 29 December 2003 23:29 (twenty-two years ago)

You don't need a reference. Say you were living at Marks, get him to give the reference

― Sphere, Tuesday, 30 December 2003 00:29 (twenty-two years ago)

That's complicated by the fact that he's my guarantor. Which I need because I'm a foreigner and a student, even though I have a spotless rental history. Hence wanting to have a separate reference.

― sgs (sgs), Tuesday, 30 December 2003 09:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Check to see if you need to give a month or 2 months notice to move out firstly & go from there.

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Tuesday, 30 December 2003 10:20 (twenty-two years ago)

guarentor and reference can be the same person though - e.g. the 32983 people each day who move out of their parents place for the first time.

most estate agents don't really care they just need a piece of paper saying "blah blah she's trustworthy and great and good at cooking etc".

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 30 December 2003 11:26 (twenty-two years ago)

i meant "guarantor" and "referee"

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 30 December 2003 11:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Not just cooking.

(annoying x-post)

― Markelby (Mark C), Tuesday, 30 December 2003 11:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Here's a new year's update for those that have had to listen to me complain (here and elsewhere). Wednesday night the actual tenant of #3 showed up with the landlord, who changed the locks and put outside all the stuff belonging to whoever was staying there. People had been coming and going all day, but the landlord managed to show up when no one was in, and the girl who is actually on the contract was apologetic--which I appreciated, although this makes her no less lame for giving her keys to assholes. The guy in flat 1 arranged for the main door locks to be changed also, and that's been done. My landlords installed a 'london bar' on my door earlier this week also--they've been very nice to me and I'm hoping that the trouble is now over. Flat 3 is going to have to be completely refurbished now, and will probably have new tenants after that's done. I feel like I have my house back! I will still have to move when my lease is up though, due to the suckass exchange rate, but Woo! I am very relieved.

― sgs (sgs), Friday, 9 January 2004 11:17 (twenty-two years ago)

oh and also I was told that in fact I have no legal way out of my lease since it doesn't include a break clause. So I'm doubly relieved that things are resolved as there's no way I could get out of paying for the rent through March.
(n.b. the U of L accommodation office was really helpful.)

― sgs (sgs), Friday, 9 January 2004 11:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Yay sarah, I'm glad that everything is working out now.

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 9 January 2004 11:40 (twenty-two years ago)

This is good news Sarah! I wasn't around for this thread originally, but you have my belated good wishes (though I would have had little useful advice I fear). xx

― Archel (Archel), Friday, 9 January 2004 11:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Cheers :)

― sgs (sgs), Friday, 9 January 2004 14:07 (twenty-two years ago)

gosh, i missed this thread the first time, sounds like a crappy situation!

glad to hear that it's sorted out for the time being. drop me a line when it gets closer to moving-out time if you're looking for flatmates. i know a few people that will be looking for flatmates in a couple months.

good luck! (and i'll second luna's promise of some ass kicking if you ever need it)

― colette (a2lette), Friday, 9 January 2004 14:57 (twenty-two years ago)

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