Getting out of a lease

G-Money

I'm considering moving apartment but I have a question/query about taking out a lease on a new place. I've been looking on Daft and there are a few places that interest me but they all have a 1 year minimum lease.

My situation is that I'm an IT contractor so I don't have a permanent job. In the current market as well I'm not exactly confident of landing a new job quickly if I found myself out of work. I am trying to get a permanent job.

So basically while I'm thinking about moving to a new apartment, I'm worried that if I find myself out of work, I will be stuck in a lease. I don't have enough savings to live in Dublin if I am not working and as a follow on, I also don't have the money to pay out the rent for the remainder of a lease.

I'm somewhat lucky in my current place that when I moved in the owners agreed that if I gave at least a month's notice I could move out before the year was up and not have to pay the remainder of the rent due for the time left on the lease. I've been in this place a couple of years now and I like it but I want to save some money and pay less rent so I'm thinking of getting a smaller place.

As I say my job is not permanent and the contracts are getting shorter in duration, less than 6 months in duration now actually.

What are my options if I move and sign a 1 year lease and then a few months later find myself out of work? What is the likelyhood of getting a break clause in the lease? Has anyone else here been in the situation before where they're out of work and need to get out of a lease?

I think I was lucky landing this apartment as the owners are lovely people, but I'd be surprised if I was as lucky the next time.

I'm considering moving as I can save myself a few hundred euro's a month in rent if I do but the downside is that if I find myself out of work and didn't get something else within a couple of weeks, I'd be screwed and couldn't afford the rent. But I also can't afford to be locked into paying a load of rent to get out of a lease.

Moving is not an option at the moment, but it's something I'm thinking of doing in the next 2 or 3 months.

What are my options if I did find myself in a new lease somewhere else and out of work?

Sorry for the length of the mail, I didn't expect it to be this long.

Thanks!

Quicknote

Hi, I’m apartment hunting at the moment too and also have some similar questions, was looking through previous Board Topics to find an answer.

I’ve seen about 11 or so places and not one Agent was willing to include a 6 month breaking clause saying “Sure that’s a six month lease” then I spoke to 1 agent and he told me that I only needed to give a months notice as this was the LAW. So I decided to check this out for myself and so far I’ve gotten conflicting answers and the PRTB website was of no help.

Can anyone confirm for 100% that a tennat with a 1 year contract can break it and get full return of their deposit? Also I’ve read so far is this:

“Tenants may give notice at any time without giving a reason, subject to any fixed term lease or agreement contained in the contract; the periods of notice are indicated below. Regardless of why the termination is occurring, the periods of notice to be given by the landlord and tenant depend on the length of the tenancy, as follows:

Notice Period for Termination
Duration of Tenancy
Landlord/ Tenant Less than 6 months = 28 days
6 months - 1 year = 35 days
1 - 2 years = 42 days
2 - 3 years = 56 days
3 - 4 years = 84 days
More than 4 years = 112 days
112 days

Source: Global Property Guide http://www.globalpropertyguide.com/Europe/Ireland/Landlord-and-Tenant

mooguy

Yes, I am on a six month lease, and by law either party must give 28 days notice to vacate.

Hope that answer helped:)

quozl

Quicknote wrote: »

Can anyone confirm for 100% that a tennat with a 1 year contract can break it and get full return of their deposit?

Nope, you cannot. You are confusing part 4 leases and fixed term leases.
This http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056099064 explains some of the differences.

Basically if you signed a fixed term lease for 1 year and there is no break clause (and there almost certainly won't be!) then you cannot give notice before the end of the lease.

As I understand it, and I am not a lawyer, the land-lord would be entitled to keep as much of your deposit as covers the loses to them for you breaking your lease. They have to make a reasonable effort to minimise their loses by re-letting it promptly.

not even wrong

Quicknote wrote: »

Can anyone confirm for 100% that a tennat with a 1 year contract can break it and get full return of their deposit?

I can confirm that this is not true.

“Tenants may give notice at any time without giving a reason, subject to any fixed term lease or agreement contained in the contract; the periods of notice are indicated below. Regardless of why the termination is occurring, the periods of notice to be given by the landlord and tenant depend on the length of the tenancy, as follows:

Note the part I've bolded.

If I were you I'd just ask for a six month lease straight up, landlords are more likely to be flexible these days.

Quicknote

not even wrong wrote: »

I can confirm that this is not true. Note the part I've bolded.

If I were you I'd just ask for a six month lease straight up, landlords are more likely to be flexible these days.

Thanks For your posts guys - really helpful.

Surprisingly though I've yet to find a landlord willing to give me a 6 month lease, I've even had landlords unwilling to knock as little as €25 off monthly rent asking price. . . (these places are still on daft for rent meaning they've lost an entire Months rent @ €700 for the sake of €300 . . simple maths should of told them it was a win win offer).

My point being even during a recession some landlords are still as unreasonable as ever and 1yr leases are still pretty standard.

G-Money

Sounds like my options are either to try and get a break clause/6 month lease or stay in my current place until I get a longer term job that will allow me to take a 1 year lease without too much worry.