Deposit back from Landlord

Second-Time-Around

Hello, I am new here, guided by a lady at work.

I am moving out and put a deposit down on a flat, the flat is 750 a month and as there was going to be a delay the landlord asked me to give him all the rent to hold the flat for me. Nothing was signed at all, and he wrote me out a receipt for the money. But now my job is looking really dodgy and I am not going to be in a position to pay any rent if I loose it. I wont know for sure for a couple of weeks, possibly January. Obviously the landlord wont wait and thats fair, but he wont give me the money back either. He said he'd think about giving me half back but its only been two weeks and I didn't sign a contract. What can I do?

BitterAndTwisted

What was the agreed move-in date and what was the reason for the delay?

G_M

Depends on the agreement you had, but to be honest it sounds like the landlord took his property off the market for you.

That means he's lost other potential tenants, and lost rent from those tenants, so it is only fair he keep some/all of your deposit to cover his losses. It is you who is changing your mind.

Second-Time-Around

OK thanks. The delay was told to him at the start, I said I had to wait until I had ended my contract here, and he said ok, and he'd keep the property for me.