Landlords Personal Belongings in Our Flat - Our Rights?!?!

[Deleted User]

I have moved into what was advertised as a part furnished (only 3 actual beds) 4 bedroom house by SarahMains lettings agency.

The property was full of personal belonings, a large amount, which when requested to have moved the lanlords response was he was out of the country and could not move these anywhere. It appears previous tenants have requested the belongins to be moved also but without success.

We have moved some of the items into one of the smaller rooms which was classes as one of the 4 bedrooms in the original advertisment by SarahMains and the landlord.

We are now faced with not being able to use this room, in fact we can only just walk into it and not even move due to the amount of personal belongings which belong to the landlord taking up the entire room.

Do we have any legal rights to have this property removed/stored elsewhere by a) the landlord or b) the agents as we did take the property as a 4 bed room with the idea to find 2 further tenants to live with us?

Any help appreciated, obviously we don't want to antagonise our new landlord as we have only signed a 6 month contract but it seems unfair we pretty much don't have any use for one of the 4 bedrooms due to all his belongings.

andrew09

Hi there,

Were the belongings in the property when you viewed it? Did you check with the agent what was going to be left in the property? Were the things on the inventory, which you should have been asked to sign? If so, I don't think you have any rights.

Practically, is there anywhere else that you could leave the items, after checking with the landlord, for example a garage or a loft? I'm sure if they're replaced at the end of your tenancy in the same condition as left, this wouldn't be a problem.

Good Luck

poppysarah

Unfair? You're paying 4 bed rent on a 3 bed flat.

I'd be tempted to take it all to the letting agents office and dump in it there.

It's not insured by your insurance is it? I'd ring them agent and tell them you're unhappy that this stuff hasn't been reemoved and if it isn't gone in a week then you will be seeking a reduction in rent.

If they refuse then go to the press about how nasty and mean they are.

You could ring shelter for some more sensible suggestions maybe.

oldone_2

Contact the landlord and his agents and say you will be hiring space in a self-storage unit, and the cost will be deducted from his rent; for this is what he is saving by having you store his possesions

princeofpounds

I could give you a lot of advice if you were the LL and it was the tenant's stuff. But I'm not entirely sure what happens this way round! There is a very specific area of law relating to this sort of stuff, with funny terms like bailor and bailee etc.

Try going over and posting on the landlordzone forums. They have a couple of solicitors there who might be able to help.

I suspect that you are charged with making all reasonable efforts to contact the LL and get his stuff back to him. You have, and he's obviously not interested so I suspect you are allowed to warn him you will move it into storage and send him the bill. I'm not sure if you can technically offset that against rent though, but you might be able to sell his possessions at some point to recoup costs.

Pull together all the evidence you have, including any marketing material that points out you are meant to have use of the room, but given they have let the whole property and the room is surely on the same deeds as the rest of the house you probably don't need to rely on misrepresentation.

You could contact ARLA (if LA is a member) and make a complaint of misrepresentation. The OFT might also be worth contacting re agent's misrepresentation.

He's a selfish idiot that LL by the sounds of it.

To be honest, I'm not optimistic for how this is going to go. You can probably force the LL to get rid of his stuff or claim compensation somehow, but he'll only turn round and issue you with a section 21 anyway.

withabix

[Deleted User] wrote:

as we did take the property as a 4 bed room with the idea to find 2 further tenants to live with us?

Just an aside - does your tenancy agreement allow you to sub-let? Most don't.

[Deleted User]

andrew09 wrote: »

Hi there,

Were the belongings in the property when you viewed it? Did you check with the agent what was going to be left in the property? Were the things on the inventory, which you should have been asked to sign? If so, I don't think you have any rights.

Practically, is there anywhere else that you could leave the items, after checking with the landlord, for example a garage or a loft? I'm sure if they're replaced at the end of your tenancy in the same condition as left, this wouldn't be a problem.

Good Luck

The inventory doesn't list specific items as there is simply so many its unbelievable. We took the place thinking it would just be furnishings not all personal items as our viewing was almost immeadietly after someone else moved out (we thought it was actually the belongings they had left)

There is no space in the house for these items other than taking up one of our bedrooms.

[Deleted User]

withabix wrote: »

Just an aside - does your tenancy agreement allow you to sub-let? Most don't.

We won't be subletting... we discussed with the agents at the time and contracts will be amended to include future 2 tenants.

Soot2006

I'm in a rotten mood today, so ....

Move the boxes of stuff into the bathroom for a week ... Let it all start getting damp. Call the agent and say you're worried about the landlord possessions that are going moldy.

Sell anything of value. If it's not on the inventory, it doesn't exist ...

andrew09

I was thinking the same as Soot2006 - if it's not on the inventory the, it doesn't exist....

Have you spoken to the agent about it and explained that as they are personal belongings you assumed (quite reasonably) that they belonged to the previous tenant? I'd get them to tell the landlord that you are not happy and see what he can suggest.
The landlord won't want to antagonise you at the start of the tenancy any more than you want to antagonise him - and you've got of all his things at the minute too!

[Deleted User]

Soot2006 wrote: »

I'm in a rotten mood today, so ....

Move the boxes of stuff into the bathroom for a week ... Let it all start getting damp. Call the agent and say you're worried about the landlord possessions that are going moldy.

Sell anything of value. If it's not on the inventory, it doesn't exist ...

Does each item need to exist by exact name or description or can the inventory include the phrase 'landlords personal belongings' and cover everything. I think thats too vague a description and surely can't be legally correct.