Getting out of a housing contract

Former Member

Hi there, I need a little bit of advice from anyone who might be clued up on this.

In July, I tied myself to a year in a shared house in Sheffield, however in November I got offered an awesome job down in London. My housemates won't have a stranger in, so I can't let out my room in Sheffield meaning I'm paying two lots of rent, and it's getting expensive.

I've looked over the contract, and it seems the letting agency made a mistake drawing it up. They've put: The contract will run from a period between 18th July 2009 and 17th July 2009 (obviously meaning 2010). Would this be legally binding if I stopped paying rent?

Cheers!

Former Member

Hey DBS :wave: congrats on the job! Shame about the double-rent though I actually had an almost identicsal mistake made on my tenancy agreement, I guess letting agencies aren't always as meticulous as they should be.

If the document is signed by both parties then I'd suggest that it would indeed be legally binding. However, I'd also suggest submitting your question to askTheSite where our advisors in legal and housing issues will be able to give you a definitive answer. Or, you could make an appointment at your local Citizens Advice Bureau and take the documents along with you.

Hopefully you'll find someone soon that can take on the room - if you did stop paying the rent it may leave your friends in a tough situation and cause more trouble than it's worth but only you can make a decision on what to do there, just make sure you get some professional advice first