Termination of Contract by the Tenant.

[Guizas]

Hi there, I am in a bit of a situation and I was wondering if anyone in here could give me some help. heres the situation.

I live in a house with 2 rooms, i live there with my partner and a friend, recently me and my friend lost our jobs and will not be able to afford the rent, i contacted the Landlord about this and suggested he kept the deposit as a months rent and so we would move at the end of the month. Now the landlord refused and said we had to fill the house or we would be liable to pay the rent nevertheless (hes making it really hard).

Anyways our boiler has had serious problems and doesnt work most of the time and when it does it makes a really loud banging noise, the landlord has been warned about this more then a month ago he said he would take action and nothing has been done so far.
He has also came into the house got inside without any notice, to apparently show the house to possibly interested people.

So i was wondering if i could declare this as breach of contract and terminate the contract on the grounds that he has not made urgent repairs to the boiler and he has also invaded our privacy.

Thank You

[littlemisslettings]

when does you tenancy agreement actually end?

the repairs etc... are not grounds for terminating a tenancy early.

[Guizas]

the contract ends in the end of june, but as me and my friend are unemployed we wont be able to pay the rent, that why we want to move.

Regarding the boiler, the thing is its been broken for 1 month and a half the landlord has been made aware of it when it broke and he hasnt fixed it yet, i think i read somewhere that you can terminate the contract earlier if repairs need doing and havent been done, since you dont have the required conditions for living.

I just wanted to make sure if this was possible.

[Snorkerz]

the contract ends in the end of june, but as me and my friend are unemployed we wont be able to pay the rent, that why we want to move.

Regarding the boiler, the thing is its been broken for 1 month and a half the landlord has been made aware of it when it broke and he hasnt fixed it yet, i think i read somewhere that you can terminate the contract earlier if repairs need doing and havent been done, since you dont have the required conditions for living.

I just wanted to make sure if this was possible.As littlemisslettings says, this would not normally be sufficient grounds to breach your contract - 2 wrongs don't make a right ;)

You should be liaising with your local councils environmental health officer as they have the power to enforce certain repairs - this could be one of them as it falls within the remit of the 1985 Landlord and Tenant Act.

This advice may also be a route to a solution for your problem.
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/repairs_in_private_lets/tenants_doing_repairs

Of course, you final option - and some would say most effective - would be to vote with both your feet and your wallet and leave in June (no notice required).