Ending a lease early

swarmberg

I've been living in a property since 2015. Every year we have had the rent increased by the allowed 4% and a new 1 year lease signed. Originally there were 3 friends living in the property and also included on the lease. Last year 2 of my friends moved out and we moved 2 other people who are not on the lease in their place. The landlord does not know about these people. These two people haven't signed anything.

The landlord sent out a new lease at the start of this year but I haven't signed it but have paid the increased rent. The problem I have now is that I'm buying my own house so will be leaving the property in the next few months. I know I'm in breach of the lease having these two people in the house.

Whats my best course of action? I could give the landlord 84 days notice per threshold? (obviously the other two people would be moving out aswell) Would I have to give this long if I don't have a lease? Don't think subletting is an option as would have to put 3 people on the lease and they could probably re let the place at a higher rent (house is in Dublin 6). Not too worried about getting a deposit back.

Claw Hammer

You should just tell the Landlord what has happened. The Landlord may take the opportunity of ending the tenancy may be willing to continue with the existing occupants minus yourself. If not, the landlord may move to terminate interior wall out. It is no skin off your nose either way.

dennyk

Exactly when did your tenancy begin? If it was before July 2015, then you are already into a Further Part 4 tenancy which lasts for six years, so you have no need to sign a new lease in order to remain in the property from this point.

You will need to give your landlord the required notice of 84 days to terminate your tenancy. You will be responsible for paying your rent through the end of that notice period unless the landlord agrees to let you give a shorter notice. You should give notice as soon as your house purchase has closed and you're certain you'll be able to move in, so you can minimize the time you'll have to pay both rent and a mortgage. If you leave and stop paying rent, the landlord could bring you to the RTB or pursue a judgement against you in court, and you probably don't want that.

Your other two occupants aren't really your issue as far as giving notice goes. Since they don't have a tenancy agreement with the landlord, they would technically be your subletters right now and as such would be licensees; you could kick them out at any time, in theory. If they have been there for at least six months, however, they can request to be added to the existing tenancy as tenants, which will give them Part 4 rights, and the landlord cannot refuse such a request "unreasonably". (Whether a refusal would be "reasonable" under these circumstances is up for debate; on the one hand, they are unauthorised subletters, which is not in their favour, but on the other hand they have been living there for many months presumably without causing any issues for the landlord...) Either way, your right to give notice and end your own tenancy isn't affected; that matter would be between them, the landlord, and the other tenant who is remaining in the property.

Now, your other friend who is the remaining tenant might be screwed; they could very easily find their tenancy terminated for breach of the lease due to unauthorised subletting once the landlord catches on. The only way to correct would be to boot the subletters, which of course would leave them solely responsible for the entire rent on the place. Again, that doesn't affect your own ability to give notice. However, the landlord could potentially have you out yourself sooner than planned if he catches wind of your unauthorised subletters before your notice period is up; the required notice period for breach of lease terms is a warning followed by a "reasonable" amount of time to correct the breach (for non-payment of rent it's 14 days, so that's a handy guideline) followed by a 28 day notice of termination.

geniejews

dennyk wrote: »

Exactly when did your tenancy begin? If it was before July 2015, then you are already into a Further Part 4 tenancy which lasts for six years, so you have no need to sign a new lease in order to remain in the property from this point.

You will need to give your landlord the required notice of 84 days to terminate your tenancy. You will be responsible for paying your rent through the end of that notice period unless the landlord agrees to let you give a shorter notice. You should give notice as soon as your house purchase has closed and you're certain you'll be able to move in, so you can minimize the time you'll have to pay both rent and a mortgage. If you leave and stop paying rent, the landlord could bring you to the RTB or pursue a judgement against you in court, and you probably don't want that.

Your other two occupants aren't really your issue as far as giving notice goes. Since they don't have a tenancy agreement with the landlord, they would technically be your subletters right now and as such would be licensees; you could kick them out at any time, in theory. If they have been there for at least six months, however, they can request to be added to the existing tenancy as tenants, which will give them Part 4 rights, and the landlord cannot refuse such a request "unreasonably". (Whether a refusal would be "reasonable" under these circumstances is up for debate; on the one hand, they are unauthorised subletters, which is not in their favour, but on the other hand they have been living there for many months presumably without causing any issues for the landlord...) Either way, your right to give notice and end your own tenancy isn't affected; that matter would be between them, the landlord, and the other tenant who is remaining in the property.

Now, your other friend who is the remaining tenant might be screwed; they could very easily find their tenancy terminated for breach of the lease due to unauthorised subletting once the landlord catches on. The only way to correct would be to boot the subletters, which of course would leave them solely responsible for the entire rent on the place. Again, that doesn't affect your own ability to give notice. However, the landlord could potentially have you out yourself sooner than planned if he catches wind of your unauthorised subletters before your notice period is up; the required notice period for breach of lease terms is a warning followed by a "reasonable" amount of time to correct the breach (for non-payment of rent it's 14 days, so that's a handy guideline) followed by a 28 day notice of termination.

You are incorrect there dennyk, It was from the 24th December 2016 all new Part 4 and further Part 4 tenancies have been extended from 4 to 6-year cycles. Therefore if his tenancy commenced say, January 2015, his further Part 4, (for 6 years), would only begin in July 2019

dennyk

geniejews wrote: »

You are incorrect there dennyk, It was from the 24th December 2016 all new Part 4 and further Part 4 tenancies have been extended from 4 to 6-year cycles. Therefore if his tenancy commenced say, January 2015, his further Part 4, (for 6 years), would only begin in July 2019

A Further Part 4 tenancy commences as soon as the first Part 4 tenancy ends; for a tenancy which began in January 2015, that would be January 2019, four years after commencement of the tenancy (not four years after the commencement of the Part 4 security of tenure). If the OP's tenancy began before July 2015 then they would be over the four year mark and therefore would be into their Further Part 4 tenancy now.

4ensic15

geniejews wrote: »

You are incorrect there dennyk, It was from the 24th December 2016 all new Part 4 and further Part 4 tenancies have been extended from 4 to 6-year cycles. Therefore if his tenancy commenced say, January 2015, his further Part 4, (for 6 years), would only begin in July 2019

The further part 4s for tenancies commenced before 24 Dec 2016 are 4 years. This is confirmed in the 2019 Act which defines the tenancy as beginning on the original date.