Renewing Tenancy Agreement £70

Sybarite

I have no problem advertising that I find the LA service increasingly poor and increasing aloof - they are ta da da da da dada Hurford Salvi Carr.

My friend received no reason for the retention of a significant proportion of their deposit from this company. After the advise on here & reading the extensive posts on the 'help my deposit' thread (thanks again Clutton for pointing this out) I referred her to the fact that a reason, quotations & invoices have to be supplied from the LL/LA & that the onus is on the LL to prove damage/professional cleaning was required if this is cited as the cause of such a retention.

Having talked to one of my neighbours, they are so tired of the constant fight to have any significant repairs carried out (water through the ceiling and the electrics seems significant to me) that they are going asap, simply withholding the final months rent, as it seems safer to lose an extra couple of hundred quid, than risking a protracted wrangling about the deposit, the bulk of which you might have to go to SCC to ever see again.

What I find galling is
a)The sheer amount of money involved if a deposit is retained, the other thread mentioned has a fellow MSEs concern over her £1350 deposit being withheld.
b)The divided loyalty of the agent, they seem to have a vested interest NOT to act in my favour, but to retain their long term client.
c)The seemingly institutionalised nature of the financial 'bullying', creaming the deposit, spurious damages, & if you don't like it find somewhere else etc.
d)The unfair nature of some of the contract terms, if I have a maintenance issue there's no contractual requirement that a repair shall take no longer than say 28 days, Yet if my rent is late, payment denied by my bank etc then penality clauses start to apply immediately.

The contradictions in my contract also seem, at least in part, to be deliberate & designed to enable certain 'wiggle' regarding the LL's maintenance responsibility - he's gradually trying to wiggle out of more and more, despite the LA's vehement denial of this (at the same time as they were informing me that the LL had decided they were no longer going to maintain a facility of the property that had been undertaken when the block was managed by the previous letting agent.

It was likened to me as an unpleasant joke which presumably, will have a bad punchline. My previous LA was a bit poo when it came to repairs, but not really much different to the present one - the main change has been that Hurford's are very money-grubbing & respond to me when it suits them.

Are all the major LA's like this, it's not brain surgery after all to make your 5-10% & treat me politely at the same time?

littlemissmoney

For those still following this:

I wrote to the LL directly and ask for a periodic tenancy. I said that failing that I would be willing to sign a 12 month fixed term with 6 month break clause giving ONE months notice.

He obviously likes being fleeced for money because he replied to the LA saying he wants another fixed term for 12 months with a 6 month break clause giving TWO months notice. :mad:

So now nothing is happening. I want one, he wants two :rolleyes: I'm sitting tight. Surely he would be mad to give me notice because he wants more notice?! :rotfl:

If notice is so important to him, then surely a fixed term is a bad idea. Am I right in thinking I could just leave at the end of the 12 months giving no notice at all? (Obviously I wouldn't actually do this, but legal could?)

clutton_2

legally you can move out at the end of the first tenancy term - but will you get your deposit back ?

i would sit tight, pay your rent, sign nothing, see what happens. Tenants who pay rent, are much better than empty property any day !!!!!!

littlemissmoney

Clutton, On the last day of the fixed term tenancy could my LL ask me to leave that day? Or does he still need to give me 2 months notice?

Tassotti

LL has to give 2 months whatever by issuing a Section 21 notice. Just don't sign the new agreement, and, effectively create the periodic tenancy by paying the rent.

Tass

clutton_2

your landlord can ask you to leave - you do not have to leave at any time, unless the landlord has a court order to evict you - this takes time.

If the AST contains a clauses called Section 21 (2 months notice to leave basically) then the landlord can go to the court on the next day after the end of the Tenancy agreed term to apply for a repossession and/or evicition order.

If there is no Section 21 in the AST then the landlord has to issue you with 2 months notice on the day after the Tenancy agreed term. He then has to wait for these 2 months before he can go to the court to apply for possession / or eviction. The court will then have a few weeks before it deals with it, they will give a court date, a few weeks ahead, then the court hearing gives the landlord a date for repossesion. If then tenant does not leave on that date, the landlord goes back to court to get the court to appoint a bailiff and they will physically evict the tenant if necessary, along with all their goods and chattels.

littlemissmoney

At the start of the agreement I signed something called "Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notice Requiring Possession - Housing Act 1988 Section 21(1)(b)" The notes at the bottom say:

1. On or after the coming to an end of a fixed term Assured Shorthold Tenancy, a court must make an order for prossession if the landlord has given a notice in this form.
2. The length of the notice must be at least two months, and the notice must be given before or an the day on which the fixed term comes to an end.

Clutton, so does that mean your 3rd paragraph above applies to me? By the way, I have no intension of making life hard for my LL or anything, I just like to know where I stand

Thanks for your help guys, you are great

Tassotti

This means that the LL can apply to the court for repossession of his/her property the day after your fixed agreement ends. ie you have been issued with the Section 21 already.

So, ignore my previous advice about not signing the nw agreement as you may well find the LL will evict you.

Hmmm..think your stuck here

littlemissmoney

Hi Tassotti, So what does it mean when it says:

2. The length of the notice must be at least two months, and the notice must be given before or an the day on which the fixed term comes to an end.

Points 1 and 2 seem to contradict each other to me!

Tassotti

It just means that the LL must give at least two months notice. As the S21 was issued at the start of the tenancy, then obviously at least 2 months have been given.

The reason it says that the notice must be issued before or on the final day of the fixed tenancy, is because a different S21 must be issued if the tenancy is period S21 4(a)

Dates are very important here. The S21 4 (b) cannot be dated before the tenancy starts and must state possession is required AFTER the final day of your tenancy. Otherwise it is invalid.