Tenancy eviction and deposit advice

FS20

Hi all, my uncle is being evicted as repossession of the property is being sought. The owners of the property are looking to renovate the property. He has not damaged and is in not rent arrears! He does want to vacate the property though. Let me give you a few details.

• He moved in to his flat late 98/early 99.
• He paid a deposit of roughly £500.
• He is dealt with by a LA.
• The LA has written to him asking to leave. A Section 21 has not been served.
• The chances are that his deposit will not be returned due to the fact that some of the plaster on the wall is coming off.

I have spoken to him and given him a bit of advice but I have some questions.

1. What sort of tenancy does my uncle hold? AST?
2. Does the eviction need to be served as a Section 21?
3. Is the plaster his responsibility or is this considered to be a repair that should be carried out by LA as such.
4. If a Section 21 is needed, could he possibly negotiate to give 1 months' notice himself and safeguard the return of the deposit so that the LA would not need to serve a Section 21 therefore, saving time and the cost of a Section 21?
5. Should his deposit have been entered in to a scheme despite ity being paid before the protection schemes came in to force?

Thanks for any and all advice. Chris.

Planner

1) Must likley an AST

2) Yes (or a s.8 but unlikley)

3) Depends as it fell off from eg damp or because he came in drunk one night and hit it with a hammer?

4) He can serve 1 months notice.

5) Not unless he signed a further tenancy agreement on or after 6th April 2007.

FS20

Planner wrote: »

3) Depends as it fell off from eg damp or because he came in drunk one night and hit it with a hammer?

I believe this happened when he was stripping wallpaper in the usual way, not with a hammer! He did have permission to decorate.

Does that help?

Thanks.

Annisele

Get your uncle to give Shelter a call; they should be able to explain things to him.

The guide you can download here might help (though it's not particularly comprehensive).

Regarding your specific questions, I can't add anything to what Planner said (I'm not sure I'd have been quite so blunt with the drunken hammer point, but I've have meant the same thing ).

Annisele

Just seen your response re: the plaster.

Plaster isn't supposed to fall off the walls when you strip wallpaper, so I suppose it depends on why it fell off.

If your uncle was in some way negligent while decorating, then your uncle will have to pay for it - though I can't quite see what your uncle could have done while stripping wallpaper to make it just fall off (you can probably tell I'm not a DIYer). If it fell off due to the poor condition of the plaster, then the LL might be responsible.

How long since it fell off, and has it been reported to the LL already? It's hard for your uncle to take the view that it's the LL's responsibility to fix it if it's been like that for five years already and he never mentioned it to the LL. And if the LL wants to renovate anyway, then he might be planning to replaster regardless of the slightly dodgy bit that already came off - in which case the LL can't really deduct anything from the deposit.