Can you be tied to a house with a tenancy agreement?

If you sign a two year contract then yes you are bound to pay the rent for two years.

Really? I have never known anyone to be tied to a house though. All tenancy agreements I have signed, long and short term, have just said I have to give the appropriate amount of notice before I leave. This is a new thing to me.

A long term lease is exactly that. People need to be careful to read the lease they are signing and be aware of all the requirements.

They cannot be compelled to live there the entire lease, but they can be compelled to pay for the full term. Often a landlord will allow them to find another tenant to take over the lease, but the tenant has to be approved by the landlord.

Rarely, the landlord will allow them to stop paying before the end of the lease if, and only if, he can find a new tenant. I was allowed to get out of a lease that way. He advertised the house for rent, and when a new tenant signed a lease, he released me from my lease.

Ah right ok then, thanks for clearing that up. I will tell my friend to only go for places with a 6 month rolling lease. As I say I have had long term leases and have never had this problem before. I guess it’s down to the landlord. Thanks again.

A contract is a contract and fully binding in court. the landlord is correct. does not matter if people live in the house or not. all the landlord is looking for is a check every month. his contract is fully enforceable in civil court.

@Chrissi85 There are many kinds of rental contracts. Some, called rental agreements, are usually a month to month rental, with 30 days notice by either the tenant or the owner.

Others called Long Term Lease are for a given period of time as specified in the lease, with no notice necessary at the end of the lease. These can sometimes be renewed by signing a new lease, but both the owner and the tenant have to agree if any changes occur before the end of the lease. The rent is usually lower because the owner can count on a regular payment.

Some rental agreements include a partial payment toward a down payment and the tenant eventually buys the home.

Ah right ok! Nice one, I will advise my friend of all this. Thankyou for your help, like I say I have always had tenancy agreements that just ask me to give notice and that’s that. She is only young, and might not be at the property for long, so it’s best she looks for somewhere else. I’m glad I cleared this up so she doesn’t go getting herself stuck somewhere unsuitable.