Leaving rented accomodation

G_M

G_M, When my landlord/letting agency grows either a moral or legal conscience I'll start worrying about the rights and wrongs of my situation

Well, you asked for comments on the morals....

Humour me on what's morally right or wrong if you like too!

to lie to us about puting up a satalite dish , leave us without hot water for a month last winter, a malfunctioning heating system and leaking windows.

a) these are unrelated issues to the rent/deposit issue b) what makes you think the deposit will be witheld and
c) Without knowing the detail it's hard to commenty on the LL's shortcomings but as Firefox says: did you write ref your complaints? What did LL do about the heating/water? Cause and degree of leak on windows?

Often tenants expect LLs to fix things like heating instantly. As a home-owner as well as a LL, I know it can take time to get a plumber/engineer out, esp in winter;they may not have parts etc etc - sometimes it takes time and we all have to suffer whether tenant or owner-occupier. What matters is whether the LL is trying to resolve the problem or ignoring it.

theartfullodger

At this rate, it's likely there will be a bag of frozen prawns left behind the kitchen units.

It would be reprehensible of me to expound the tale of what eldest son did after his Landlord was really really unhelpful..

Fish (various sizes) sewn into curtain linings, behind skirting boards, inside curtain rods(!), under floor-boards, behind cupboards, on not of the motor back of the 'fridge, inside electrical fittings... mind you he is very imaginative & creative...

Naturally I admonished him, and he would never do it again: Oh no...

Cheers!

Lodger

chappers

Is your new house going to be rented or are you buying, exchange/completion can be notoriously drawn out.
You obviously have no idea of your legal obligations, you have not been stiched up, a periodic tenancy which requires you to give one months notice is to prevent you doing exactly what you propose, doing a runner leaving your LL with no rental income.
If you have an inventory and have caused no damage then you have nothing to fear, likewise if no inventory exists.
Why is it that LLs get all the bad press when there are tentants like yourself who think they can just do what they want.
Your previous grievences should have been taken up at the time.

G_M

No point adding posts now - I think the OP has done a runner.....:rotfl:

PayDay

As you aren't covered by the deposit scheme and you think you have a bad landlord and may have trouble getting your deposit back, you could give your 1 months notice (make sure it is the correct contract date) and then not pay the last months rent. When they notice the missing rent, tell them the deposit is the last months rent. That use to be a fairly common practice before the deposit schemes came in as too many landlords saw the deposit as their right to keep.

Don't forget that you have the benefit of quiet enjoyment and don't have to allow anyone to view the property while you are renting it.

PayDay

G_M wrote: »

It is both legally and morally wrong to withold rent that you owe.

The tenant can withhold rent if they follow a set procedure, if the landlord has failed to carry out his repairs in a reasonable time. Lee-Parker V Izzet (1971). More details on this procedure is on Shelters website.

G_M wrote: »

The LL provides a property and you pay rent.

The landlord provides the property and must carry out their repairs in a reasonable time. Something some landlords seem to forget.

G_M

The tenant can withhold rent if they follow a set procedure, if the landlord has failed to carry out his repairs in a reasonable time. Lee-Parker V Izzet (1971). More details on this procedure is on Shelters website.

True but irrelevant here. The tenant did not (so far as we know) follow the set procedure. So cannot withold rent.

Snakeeyes21

why not just do the sensible thing, invite the landlord around on your moving out day, get them to check things over, agree a price for breakages / cleaning etc then pay them whats not covered by your deposit once the last months rent is taken out, this method has worked very well for me in the past, after all, all the landlord is going to do is recieve the last months rent and turn around and give it back to you as your deposit.
But then ive had some laidback landlords.

jon9801

Update:
Would anyone be surprised to learn that the landlord is not returning the letting agencies calls regarding the return of our deposit?
Despite returning the flat after a thorough weekend clean and the landlord making a weekend inspection (after i dropped they in at a different branch office) I was advised my deposit would be returned within 7 days.
One week after this period elapsed i called up and got the above reason.
I have therefore been asked by the letting agent to give them 1 week to sort it out or the letting agent will pay.
I have formalised this in the form of a letter to them and said I will take further (probably court) action.
Any further advice?
Anymore want to further humour me with doing the right thing because landlords are so great??
Any views, positve or negative welcome

BitterAndTwisted

That your letting agents have agreed to return your deposit suggests to me that they are currently holding their client's funds. No letting agent would ever refund monies out of their own pockets.

Perhaps your ex-landlord has a reason for not retuning calls, who knows the poor b*gger could be in hospital or anything.

To issue a Summons in the small claims court is quite straightforward and not expensive but none of this justifies you not paying your last month's rent, however you might feel about it. Have you seen and signed the check-out inventory?