Voting for TSRs Ultimate Study Playlist is NOW OPEN >>

Breaking up with someone I live with

I have just broken up with my current boyfriend and we live in private student accommodation together with two other flatmates. He has said he wants to leave and go to his parents but we cannot break the lease. He doesn't want to continue to pay rent and council tax if he doesn't live there. I don't know what to do. I have thought about finding someone to sublet and pay him rent but I don't know if thats entirely legal. Not only that but as he is the only person who isn't a student in the house he is also responsible for paying council tax. The rent is already a bit over what he can afford. Please help!

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by ml342

You would need to check with the landlord.

It should be a win for all parties because:

•

The landlord doesn't need to worry about council taxes and can claim the place to be exempt from this

•

Subletting would allow more flexibility for renting the place out so long the landlord is compliant with the local council's HMO laws

•

If subletting is not possible, the landlord can push in for a renewed lease which can make things easier for all parties concerned.

•

If one of the tenants wants to leave and refuses to pay rent, allowing subletting or changing the lease would ensure the landlord gets a new tenant quickly and would be able to have peace of mind that he/she will get the rent due instead of pushing on legal fees and lengthy lawsuits on tenants who no longer lives there (and I presume there still at least 7 months left on the lease, which isn't a small sum)

•

If you are uni students, then it's likely that you're based somewhere near a uni. It shouldn't take long for you to find a replacement for the tenant

•

If you need to, you can offer to find someone to replace him or you can contribute towards the marketing costs of finding the new tenant (possibly contribute to the legal fees for a new tenant if necessary, but I don't see this being required since the landlord is likely using a templated legal document). If you can't find anyone in your uni/college, social circle, or friends of friends, consider looking into spareroom.com, which is pretty good for finding extra tenants.

Do note: I am not a legal professional and none of the above should constitute legal advice - they're just ideas of the things you should be able to do when you speak to the landlord (but do check whether you can in your circumstances). If you need legal advice, seek advice from a qualified legal professional (the people at your uni's legal clinic should be qualified legal professionals, otherwise consider going to Citizen's Advice Bureau who hopefully should be able to refer you to a suitable professional). In the worst case scenario, you could speak to a qualified solicitor.
Where possible, it's a good idea to get things in writing, even if it's via email or text messages.