Housing Woes

Miss_Ratty

I’m confused by what to do at the moment. I am now officially bankrupt, and my partner has asked me to move in with him. This will save me £150 a month in accommodation, but my current flatmate doesn’t seem to keen on having someone else live with her. She has a few problems, and is a bit emotionally vulnerable at the moment, but she currently owes me £800 for the bond and bills, and when I try to talk to her about it, she cries and says she is lonely because I spend most of my time at my fella’s. That is right, and I feel really bad about that, but I need to move on with my life (as the last year and a bit have been awful!!!). Well, she has rejected a few potential flatmates – without seeing them, which is fair enough as I would have wanted to live with someone I would get on with. She has moved into my old room, so I’ve had to change the advert I have put out, and am now seeking someone to live there. I didn’t even know her before I lived with her, but we did get on very well, but now the money and not wanting anyone to move in with her is becoming an issue. I would love to get out of the flat as soon as I can – as it also has a lot of bad memories for me, and don’t know if I should just tell the LL I’m bankrupt (and potentially lose my bond) or tell them I’m moving away. The contract is for another 10 months. L

Purplekylie22

TBH I would move out ASAP whether you tell the LL your BR or not is up to you, but you cant let this so-called friend drag you down, it is her problem and you can not live your life to please her.

Dithering_Dad

What sort of contract did you sign? Usually the contract length is 6 months guaranteed let with a 1 month notice period.

I don't think anything longer than this is actually enforceable in court. If I were you, I'd post on the Renting board with details of your contract and see if there are ways to get out of it easily.

As far as your 'friend' is concerned, I'd tell her that she owes you the £800 and that you need the money ASAP, otherwise you will have to take her to the small claims court. Make sure that you have the debt well documented before you make your ultimatum. If you don't have it documented then document it yourself and encourage your flatmate to sign the document.

I don;t wish to be rude, but no wonder you're bankrupt if you let people owe you money and then manipulate you so much you're afraid to ask for your money back. I think that as far as your flat mate is concerned, the words 'I don't want a new flatmate' can be replaced 'I don't want to pay the £800 I owe you'.

Toughen up and get what's owed you.

poppysarah

She's got the bigger room now?

I'd sort her out sharpish. She can either pay all the rent or get involved in finding her new flatmate.

You need to take some control of the situation. Best of luck.

StuntmanBob

You MUST look after number one! Move out sharpish.

LilyBart

Miss Ratty,
Does she know about your bankruptcy? If so, she really has absolutely no excuse for holding back on the funds. As to the crying stuff, perhaps you have to fight fire with fire? You could say that you'd love to spend more time at the flat but that the situation with the money is simply making you too uncomfortable and that it is affecting your relationship with her, that it's ruining your friendship. It's an outside chance, but it might make her cough up. Either way, it can't be much fun to live with and you need to get out, preferably with your money. You work with the police, don't you? Couldn't you get a tough-looking detective to have a quiet word?
Lily

jimcon

Hi - just going to throw in my tuppence worth.


You've taken huge steps in sorting out your life. Steps which you probably didn't think you could have taken. But you did because you had to.


it's time for another step.

pack up your things


and leave



close the door to this part of your life forever. Walk away. leave it.

you are not responsible for your flatmate


you are not responsible for your flatmate


you are not responsible for your flatmate



You are responsible for you.



go on - make yourself happy and walk away.

nomis131276

Tell your offical receiver she owes you money and he'll chase her for you, it's a question on the 6-28 bankruptcy form you should have declared someone owed you money. The OR would expect this money to be paid ino the bankruptcy unless you tried to argue it was needed for a basic domestic need.

MissMuppet

Agree with the others, I've had so called friends like this and they just end up dragging you down with them... Move out, find somewhere new with your bloke and remove yourself from her life. Good luck!

Miss_Ratty

Thanks everyone, I've taken this all on board. She actually had the cheek to ask me if I had the money for council tax this month, and I said, well, seeingas we've paid for the whole year now, we need to sit down and agree a payment plan. She wants to move out now too, as we've had troble with the landlord anyway, but I'm worried that if the bond is docked, it will all come from me, as I paid both bonds. She's going away for a week now, and I'm just going to try a softly softly approach at first, and if I get no results that way, then I'll start being very formal about it.

Money eh? What a nuisance.

Thanks everyone, and you are right, I've got to look after number one here. xxx

LilyBart

Dear Miss Ratty,
Just one word of caution, please be very sure you're moving in with Mr Ratty because you really want to, not just because you're anxious to get away from the feeble flatmate. Very important to feel secure and happy in your own home, especially after going br. Apologies for being an univited mother-hen!
Lily