Updating post from Reddit.
I am renting and my contract has a two month break clause. I am working toward buying a property which is chain-free and could move very quickly from now to exchange to completion. I’m looking for advice on how to approach this with my landlord. Base case scenario is I provide two month’s notice to terminate the lease immediately after I exchange contracts. This would mean up to 2 months overlap between buying my home and the end of my lease obligations. Ideally, I would like to have a friendly open discussion about being able to vacate and terminate early should they find a new tenant faster than the 2 month period. The lease is managed by a property manager, not the landlord themselves. Any advice?
You won’t know until you ask! The sooner you ask the sooner the landlord can look for a new tenant.
Good luck 🤞
thank you. I cannot quite articulate why, but I have been hesitant to say anything at all to them before exchange. Like in the case the sale falls through for some reason, the landlord would then see me as a less stable tenant as I am looking to buy, and then not want to renew my lease this summer. Or something else sub-optimal. May be over thinking it.
Do you intend to do any DIY or renovation jobs to the new place? While 2 months overlap might be a bit expensive, I did exactly the same thing, and used the 2 months to renovate the downstairs bathroom, decorate throughout, get many messy smaller jobs (eg installing 2 gang or extra sockets in most rooms). Doing it in a vacant house was SO much easier.
Good point to clarify! Unfortunately (and fortunately) the potential new home is basically move in ready. A little overlap will be nice to not stress about moving date and allow for small things, but I most certainly will not need two months for this particular property.
I had an almost identical scenario with there being a property manager and all.
I just approached it honestly but I had a flat no as an answer as they are well within their rights to say.
Had to pay the two months but just chalked it up the cost of buying my own place.