Is this legally binding?

bigifsh

GDB2222 wrote: »

You clearly have a binding verbal contract for an AST, and the post-it note you signed can be produced as evidence of that. None of that relieves the landlord of his obligation to repair the appliances. Have you checked out the Shelter website yet?

Yea this is what the accomodation office told me that all you need is a verbal agreement however i was advised that it is a grey area still and something may be able to be done about it because they were not happy atall with the way the landlord has done things and are very strict about who they let advertise through them, they were very shocked about the receipt he had given me and they have setup a meeting for me with a soliciters for free and also advised i can contact the University of london housing services or cirizens advice bureu also. I will discuss it with the landlord when he comes round and then take it from there.

bigifsh

The landlord has been round. Some of his concepts sound strange i will try and explain these scenarios which a couple of things are like hes dodging what he already knew, eg.

The idea of telling us to not the heating because well have a big bill. Relectuntly he did get the boiler working however theres nothing going to the heating so its making me think he knows the heating doesnt work even with the boiler on. (Although he does "claim" to have british gas coverage so im satisfied he will fix the problem and will give him a few days.

The oven he said the timer needed to be reset for it to go on. Which i knew already but didnt tell him (the timer is broke so thats not possible). He said hes forgot the combination of buttons to use but it does work as it happened before. Then said he will get an engineer out at the cost to himself of £70. If it was just a matter of a combination of buttons why would he instantly offer to get it serviced for 70 quid? I found the combination on google and it doesnt work as the buttons must be broke so i reckon he already knew.

Same case with the washing machine. its like its from the 80s and doesnt work but hes paying 70 quid to get that serviced for us too he said. The machines so old why not just buy a new one as its decades old and obviously hasnt worked in a long time with the amount of dirt stuck in it.

Alot of the things he says invole the sentance i dont know about that.
However he did fix some minor issues so im satisfied he will get the problems sorted in a few days and should be given time to do so but some of the things he tells me dont make sense so i will wait and see.

bigifsh

Also a question i have is by fitting locks on the bedroom does does that change the shorthold tennancy agreement to another agreement?
As i was told by him theres no fitting locks on the bedroom doors because it means it wont be a shorthold tennancy agreement.

Is this correct?

Basically i enquired about door locks and he said no because it wont be a shorthold tenancy agreement. I said well i dont think thats strictly correct because many estate agents round here are giving shorthold tenancies with locks, its pretty standard on a student house. He replied with he knows these things because hes a barrister but he doesnt know anything about it. (eg its not my problem now). Fair enough.

1 Of the bedrooms has a lock but no key, Is the landlord obliged under the shorthold tenancy agreement to provide a key for this or if not possible install a new lock with a key on this specific room? Or not.

bigifsh

I have been advised a number of things today by a soliciter. I was told i would have a very strong case for terminating tennancy if all the issues are not resolved within 2 weeks.

I also was advised that i can negotiate the terms of the tennancy with the landlord and was advised if he does not change certain things in the tennancy that were unacceptable to just put a line through it and refuse to sign.

I spoke to the landlord today when he came round about an issue, he told me hes got no time for it. Its non negotiable and told me to stop nit picking at things and i have already agreed to the tenancy so must sign and its non- negotiable. I told him ive been advised that thats not the case and i am entitled to a reasonable about of time to read the contract. He told me sign it or leave, i said well are u gonna release me from the agreement then, he said no you either sign it and stop nit picking or leave .

I was very calm and polite and he was very argumentative, agressively speaking, and told me i have a severe attitutde problem, he was clearly trying to intimidate me into signing and told me not take that attitude with him because im in the wrong house if i think i can get away with that( I can very much assure you i was calm and polite). He proceeded to not listen to me and kept saying sign or leave, i told him well im not signing it as ive been advised i dont have to until im happy with the terms. There were 2 witnessess to this also, one of them was actualy a prospective tennant looking at the house!!! Needless to say he didnt take the room.

After he realised i was not budging, he agreed to negotiate the agreement and apologised for "snapping" at me.

GDB2222

If the landlord wants you out and you want out, then there seems to be no problem as long as he refunds your deposit less a reasonable amount for rent. The real key question, though, is whether you'll find anything else at this late stage.

bigifsh

there is a problem with that.. the problem is he was telling me to leave but refused to let me out of the tenancy agreement.

"He told me sign it or leave, i said well are u gonna release me from the agreement then, he said no you either sign it and stop nit picking or leave"

I dont care about wether i find somewhere else or not i just dont want to be paying rent to this dispicable con artist.

The fact that he done all this infront of a prospective tennant i thought was disgusting. I purposely didnt bring it up why the person was viewing the house but he asked me where his signed agreement was so i had to bring it up.

GDB2222

If he is telling you to leave, he is trying to end the contract. I don't suppose that you need this in the middle of your studies, though.

bigifsh

he said sign it or leave various times. i said so i wont be liable to the tenancy agreement? he said we have an agreement if you leave its your problem.

He wanted me to leave and be liable for the room still. I would of gladly left that instance if he agreed to end my agreement.

GDB2222

Well, none of this is in writing. However, if he comes into your room telling you to leave, no court will uphold the contract if you do leave on the strength of it. Realistically, if you want to leave, you need to put something in writing.

Also, I gather you have paid him a deposit of £300. What about rent, have you paid that too? How long have you been there?

bigifsh

GDB2222 wrote: »

Well, none of this is in writing. However, if he comes into your room telling you to leave, no court will uphold the contract if you do leave on the strength of it. Realistically, if you want to leave, you need to put something in writing.

Also, I gather you have paid him a deposit of £300. What about rent, have you paid that too? How long have you been there?

ive been here 5 days. i have paid a deposit but no rent as of yet.
He did not come into my room, he was showing a prospective tenant around the house and asked me where my contract was. I told him i wanted to discuss it with him first if it was ok. Resulting in sign it or leave etc etc etc as i described, i enquired wether i would be liable he said yes its your problem if you leave etc.