Is it easy to get out of a Letting Agency Agreement?

[foxxyloxxy]

Not sure if I should be posting here as I am the tenant not the landlord.
My landlord lives in Sri Lanka, and has asked me to check out what his rights are with regards to the letting agency he uses.

We moved in here nearly 2 years ago. In my opinion the letting agents are useless. They do 4 visits per year, which entails of checking all rooms, and thats about it. Everytime Ive mentioned something needs doing, they have not once got back to me, and I end up emailing the landlord directly.

Last Boxing day our central heating went, we called their emergency number, we got someone out with their family, who basically told us we had to wait until the office was open! We has my small nieces here and the house was freezing. I contacted the landlord who gave me his British Gas cover plan number for the property (they should have done this!) and I called them myself and got it fixed.

We live near the Buncefield depot and as a consequence we had a bit of damage to the property, and I have been working with the landlord closely, in regular contact getting all the work done.

I told him we intended to stay here for at least 2 years or more, and he asked if we wanted to go private, that way he gets more money and we can pay slightly less.

He is worried as they have written to me asking if we want to extend for another year, they have of course put the rent up (he never asked them to).
If we tell them we dont want to continue with the tenancy with them, and he tells them he wants to go private with us as tenants, is he breaking any kind laws or contracts?

They hold our deposit, which we only get back once we have vacated the property after they have done a final inspection. He doesnt want us to lose our deposit, and doesnt know if they will pay the deposit directly to him.

Or if there is some kind of loophole that as we were their tenants we cant go private with him?

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

[Caburn5]

It depends on what he signed for when he went with them, although I doubt if there is really anything that the agents could do to stop him leaving them. It would seem the obvious solution to go private as the agents appear so useless. With regards to the deposit, the agents would need your permission in writing to release it to a third party, which I assume you are more than happy to give.

If the landlord is not happy with the agents he is right to drop them.

[MrShed]

Basically, it entirely depends upon the contract the landlord signed with the agent to start with.. Generally speaking, the only way he will get around it is by evicting you, and inviting you to reapply for the tenancy(NOT offering you a new tenancy!). I believe it is enough to evict you "on paper" though, don't think he has to physically remove you.

However, he may have a problem in doing this anyway, if he lives abroad. He MUST have a contact address in England or Wales(assuming this is where the property is), and the agent currently acts as such. If he no longer has the agent, he no longer has the contact address. This MAY(I await clarification) mean that legally he cannot ask for rent, or evict you at any point in the future, until such contact details are supplied in a Section 20 form.

[Paul_f]

Basically, it entirely depends upon the contract the landlord signed with the agent to start with.. Generally speaking, the only way he will get around it is by evicting you, and inviting you to reapply for the tenancy(NOT offering you a new tenancy!). I believe it is enough to evict you "on paper" though, don't think he has to physically remove you.
No! ending the tenancy has nothing to do with the landlord/agent relationship, and "eviction" doesn't come into it. Just have the landlord draw up a new AST with you, after he ends his relationship with the agent. After all the agent appears to be in breach!
However, he may have a problem in doing this anyway, if he lives abroad. He MUST have a contact address in England or Wales(assuming this is where the property is), and the agent currently acts as such. If he no longer has the agent, he no longer has the contact address. This MAY(I await clarification) mean that legally he cannot ask for rent, or evict you at any point in the future, until such contact details are supplied in a Section 20 form. A S.20 form? And what would one use this for?
I take no pleasure in saying this but this advice is not only confusing and unclear but basically wrong and would take me far too much time to explain!

[MrShed]

Paul:

- What if the terms of business state that the agent will have to receive a fee whilst the tenancy exists? As I'm sure a lot of them do. This was my reasoning behind the eviction thing.

- I take it then that you do not have to give a form to give the tenant your correct/new address details, just merely put it in writing? Wasn't sure...