Ending fixed term rental agreement prior to agreed date

[Younginvester]

G'day,

Quick one regarding 12 month lease agreements,
Say for example you signed a 12 month lease agreement for a property, and then 6 months into said lease you purchased your own home or intended to move state due to new work opportunities, would there be any financial or legal implications providing the landlord was given sufficient notice 28 days and all paper work was completed. See info below

http://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/hous...y/tenant-giving-notice-of-intention-to-vacate

Any clarification or experiances would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[DaveM]

Generally you would need to give 28 days notice and are liable for rent until the property is re-tenanted as well as any re-letting fees the owner incurs.

Paging Lil Skater to the thread!

 

[Scott No Mates]

In NSW there is provision for a break clause which will limit your liability to 6 weeks rent or in its absence payment of rent until it is leased + all costs involved in leasing the property.

Not sure if the same applies in Victoria.

Why would you think you can simply walk out of a lease with little or no recourse?

 

[Curlytops]

In victoria you must give 28 days notice you are then liable to pay rent till the property is leased as long as it is a reasonable amount of time. the agent or landlord cant make you pay till the end of the lease if you still have 6 months to go. You are also liable to pay half of all costs associated with releasing the property. Depending on where you are in vic you would hope you would not be paying more than a month.

cheers

 

[Lil Skater]

Lil Skater here

You're breaking your lease so will be liable for costs associated for leasing the property, these are pro-rata and include advertising and leasing fee.

As you are breaking lease you technically are already in breach so you can give less than the usual 28 days, but it is in your best interest to give as much notice as possible and cooperate with the agent/landlord.

As a general rule of thumb expect to be out of pocket up to 6 weeks rent (as this is usually deemed the maximum reasonable amount of time to lease a property, from experience in VCAT, including your notice period)

 

[BeYourOwnAgent]

Lil Skater here

You're breaking your lease so will be liable for costs associated for leasing the property, these are pro-rata and include advertising and leasing fee.

As you are breaking lease you technically are already in breach so you can give less than the usual 28 days, but it is in your best interest to give as much notice as possible and cooperate with the agent/landlord.

As a general rule of thumb expect to be out of pocket up to 6 weeks rent (as this is usually deemed the maximum reasonable amount of time to lease a property, from experience in VCAT, including your notice period)

^^^ Everything Lil Skater said

And whilst 6 weeks may be a general rule of thumb, if it proceeds to tribunal it will be the magistrate, on the day, who will make their own interpretation as to what is "fair and reasonable".

 

[marks]

Are you a tenant or a landlord?

 

[Younginvester]

Thanks for the responses.

I was not expecting to get away scot free with a early lease termination, just wanted to know what the exact implications would be as the Vic consumer website isn't entirely explicit. The reason for my enquiry is that we are looking at a short rental period in the near future, but circumstances may change where we may have to relocate interstate for work. We are trying for short term leases I.e 3 or 6 months but little success so far.

Thanks for the clarity.