# What exactly is a "Break clause option" in a lease?



## Dinarius

Is it the standard one month's notice?

Or is it something else?

In other words, what should we be putting in that space on the lease, or can we leave it blank?

Thanks.

D.


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## Guest128

I believe its a definition of what is an allowable "non-standard break" in a fixed term lease. 

Normally, in a fixed term lease you can leave:1) At the end of the lease, giving a months notice without penalty. ​2) Mid lease, by​a) Leaving immediately (losing deposit)
     b) Giving appropriate notice and agreeing with the landlord to reassign or sublet the lease (receive deposit back). ​You *cannot *just give a months notice (as appears to be a common misconception), move out and expect to get back a deposit. This is basically ignoring the lease agreement. 

A "Break clause option" is something tenant and landlord agree on to allow *either *party to terminate the lease early without penalty, as long as the specified notice period is given.

Thats my take on it anyway....


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## Dinarius

FLANDERS` said:


> You *cannot *just give a months notice (as appears to be a common misconception), move out and expect to get back a deposit. This is basically ignoring the lease agreement.
> 
> A "Break clause option" is something tenant and landlord agree on to allow *either *party to terminate the lease early without penalty, as long as the specified notice period is given.



So, are you saying that.....

a. A break clause option is nothing to do with the stardard one month's notice and....

b. That the one month's notice clause must be indicated elsewhere in the lease?

I am a landlord and I want the tenant's to sign a one year lease with a one month's notice clause - nothing else. e.g. I don't want them telling me after 7 months that they're giving me one month's notice then.

Thanks.

D.


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## Guest128

Dinarius said:


> I am a landlord and I want the tenant's to sign a one year lease with a one month's notice clause - nothing else. e.g. I don't want them telling me after 7 months that they're giving me one month's notice then.
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> D.



Then thats just a bog standard lease, you dont need any specific clause. Have a look at www.topfloor.ie for a sample fixed term lease that you can download....

My understanding is that if you put in a "one month notice clause" then they can do exactly what you *dont *want i.e. give you a month's notice at any time


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## shesells

A 12 month lease does not have to have a break clause. You can state the period of the lease and not offer an option to break. In this case your tenant is bound to the 12 months and if they want to move out early they can either agree with you to sublet or else they must pay the rent for the rest of the lease period even though they're not living there. Don't think you can re-rent during the lease period if that;s the case.


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## KFB123

To be honest the way things are going at present leases are not worth the paper they are written on. Tenants are now breaking leases, or looking for a reduction in rent, therefore the current lease is no longer in force. 
Granted you can keep deposit but for residential leases this rarely happens unless the place is left in total disrepair


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## Guest128

KFB123 said:


> To be honest the way things are going at present leases are not worth the paper they are written on. Tenants are now breaking leases, or looking for a reduction in rent, therefore the current lease is no longer in force.
> Granted you can keep deposit but for residential leases this rarely happens unless the place is left in total disrepair



Eh no....they are legally binding documents. If the tenant just ups and leaves without offering to sublet, then the LL is entitled to keep their deposit, irrespective of the state of the place.

I would _assume _on a rent reduction the existing lease would be amended to change the amount, but the lease period would remain


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## 603304529

I need to clarify a few things regarding "breaking a lease".

My wife and I are tenants. We signed a 12 month lease, ending in August 09. There is no break clause in the lease.

We would like a rent reduction, down from 1400 to 1200 - it would be more in line with what is the going rate in our area.

But, the landlord doesn't want to reduce our rent to market levels. The latest idea from him is to work out how much he'd be out of pocket (say 1400 - 1200 x 4 = 800 quid). But there is a repair that needs doing to the house - a pipe under the floor is leaking. So he wants to take the cost of repairing the pipe off the 800 quid, and then apply that to the reduction!

So what if we just want to leave?

I asked the PRTB board, and this is the response: "... if a lease does not contain a "get out" clause, tenants must seek written permission to assign a lease from their landlord. If the landlord refuses to give the written permission, the tenant may then serve the landlord with a written notice of termination, providing the amount of notice necessary for the time spent in the dwelling."

"tenants must seek written permission to assign a lease from their landlord. " means offering to sublet the property, I think.

But, there is a place next door to us that is identical - and its on the market for months now, at 1150 - so if we offer to sublet, do we have to make up the difference between what we signed the lease for, and what the sub lease amount is?

And if we offer to sublet, and the landlord agrees, and then we can't sublet it, where does that leave us?

I can totally understand where the landlord is coming from - we signed a lease, so "what is our problem?". But the bottom has dropped out of the market, and money is tight with us.


Thanks for any tips/insight.


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## sportster5

I have a 5 year lease for a retail premises. We were hopeful when taking on the lease that we would prosper and uphold the lease to the end of the 5th year. When taking the lease we were offered a "break clause" at the end of the 3rd year. We paid a 6 month rental deposit which was to be held in a solicitors escrow account accruing interest. This deposit will be paid back to us, providing the covenants of the lease have been upheld, at the end of the 3rd year of tenancy. We wish to take up the break clause, but on reading our Lease and Rent Deposit Deed, cannot find the wording for the break clause. 

Does anyone know what form of wording the break clause takes? I am familiar with legal documents and where usually to look, but because I have no real knowledge of break clauses cannot locate anything within our lease. 

My solicitor has our original signed documents which I believe include the Deed of Covenants. Could the break clause literature be in there? 

Thanks for any assistance.


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## gazza1

See below from the Threshold.ie Website Re breaking a lease /Ending a tenancy etc
If you want to terminate your tenancy and move out of your property, you must give the landlord notice in writing. A phone call, text message or even an email will not do. Even if the landlord is agreeable to a tenant's oral notice to leave, Threshold recommends that the tenant follows up the oral notice with formal written one. 
A tenant who does not serve the landlord with formal written notice endangers their deposit. If a written lease is in place, the tenant could also be held liable for the remainder of the rent owed for the rest of the lease period.
The Residential Tenancies Act provides how a tenant should terminate a tenancy. The notice must be in writing and signed by the tenant. It should specify the date of service and the date the notice will expire. The notice must state the following: "Any issue as to the validity of the notice or the right of the tenant to serve it, must be referred to the Private Residential Tenancies Board under Part 6 within 28 days from the date of receipt of it."
For a draft Notice of Termination, please click here>>
The length of notice given by a tenant depends on how long the tenant has lived in the property. The longer the tenancy, the longer the notice period. Please note the notice periods provided in the Residential Tenancies Act as laid out in the Table below.
Duration of tenancy Notice by tenant
Less than 6 months 28 days
6 or more months but less than 1 year 35 days
1 year or more but less than 2 years 42 days
2 or more years 56 days​A tenant can give 28 days notice at any time if the landlord is in breach of his or her obligations under the Residential Tenancies Act or the tenancy agreement. If a tenant wishes to avail of the shorter period, the tenant must notify the landlord in writing of the breach and to give the landlord a reasonable opportunity to rectify the position.
What happens if there is a fixed term lease in place?
A tenant cannot avail of the notice periods where they are bound by a fixed term lease which they signed. They can, however, end the tenancy where the landlord is in breach of an obligation and where they have written to the landlord regarding the breach and giving the landlord an opportunity to rectify the position.
*A tenant can also avail of section 186 of the Residential Tenancies Act to end a fixed term lease where the landlord refuses their wish to assign the lease to somebody else. *
*If a tenant wants to end of fixed-term tenancy early, they should inform the landlord in writing of their wish to assign or sublet the lease. Where the landlord refuses to give his or her consent, the tenant is entitled to serve a Notice of Termination.*
The length of notice is determined by duration of the tenancy (see the Table above) and the Notice should correspond to the example Notice of Termination provided above.
*The tenant is entitled to the return of their deposit if they take these steps.*


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## ajapale

Thread moved. Landlord/Tenant Issues are discussed in  Property Investment and not Management Companies, Apartments, etc which is a specialist forum dealing with management of common areas, multi unit developments etc.


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## minion

603304529 said:


> "tenants must seek written permission to assign a lease from their landlord. "



I think that one is just silly.  Sure the landlord could take a month to return an answer to you.  And then they could stipulate that the new person to take over the lease be in the same position as the original lesee.  eg, working with references which check out, for bank, previous landlords and jobs etc.

Then they could request all this in writing and take another month to write back again.  And then request you to submit written proof from all utility providers that the bills are settled.  It could go on forever.


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