Getting out of a Lease

2. Your Basic Choices

Your ability to get out of a lease depends on the terms of your lease (see 3), the state of the property market at the time (see 8), and other negotiating factors (see 9).

2.1 There are two ways out of a lease.

• You agree a termination of the lease, usually avoiding any ongoing liabilities to the landlord (see 4).
• You find a tenant to replace you, and assign the lease to this third party.This will probably leave you with some liabilities to the landlord (see 5).

2.2 An alternative is to sub-let the premises.

• You find a tenant to replace you, in order to generate your own rental income.All your liabilities to the landlord under the head-lease remain. The sub-tenant is liable to you under a separate sub-lease (see 6).