Tenancy Agreement - Can I get a copy?

Amethy5t

My son and his partner have just moved from one rented property to another. Unfortunately there was an accidental fire at the first property which destroyed much of their property. The landlord has quite rightly kept their deposit, and then he changed the locks to the property before the official end of their tenancy so they could not retrieve property. In particular they could no retrieve their tenancy agreement. The letting agents seem unwilling to give them a copy of the agreement, do they have to by law provide a copy?

Apologies if this is posted elsewhere but i couldn't find it.

suited-aces

Might be illegal eviction? Though someone better qualified than me might know better

theartfullodger

The landlord has no right to change the locks and in doing so is breaking

“Protection from Eviction Act 1977”
Section 1

• Unlawful eviction and harassment
• s.1(3A) (as was amended by the Housing Act 1988) which states:
  "the landlord of a residential occupier or an agent of the landlord shall be guilty of an offence if he does acts likely to interfere with the peace or comfort of the residential occupier or members of his household."

- (Criminal""!!!)

And until it has been established why the fire occurred and/or who started it can't see what grounds he has for holding on to Deposit.

Is the property unfit for habitation??

Has the tenancy been ended by Tenant and Landlord by either formal notice or surrender??

How were the Police involved over the fire??

G_M

Cause of fire?
Dates/type of contract?
Property now habitable or not?
Possessions of tenant - what and where?
Reason why contract needed?

No legal obligation on part of agent to provide a copy, but no reason not to either.

Yes, there could be an illegal eviction - landlord insurance should re-house the tenant IF the property is uninhabitable. Is there proper LL insurance? If not, LL should pick up the bill.

Witholding personal belongings could be theft - certainly the LL has a duty of care for belongings left behind. No right to hold onto them. Is he doing so in the (misguided) belief they are compensation for damage caused by the tenant? Only a court can order damages be paid.

Arguably the contract could be 'frustrated' (impossible to continue) in which case it ends.

Amethy5t

Hi. thanks for all this. A candle was to blame for the fire. It was an accident but was my son's fault. The flat was uninhabitable. The flat was carpeted and had window blinds when they rented the flat and the landlord/rental agent is trying to bully my son and his partner into paying for these items. They have a two year old son and twin boys on the way and simply don't have the money to do this and it is causing all kinds of stress. It's not that they don't accept responsibility it's that they literally don't have the cash. We are being told different things by different people. Some say that the carpets and blinds are part of the fixtures and fittings as they were provided by the landlord therefore should be covered by his insurance. Possessions left behind were all kitchen appliances, leather sofa, book cases and units from the lounge and a single bed. Tghey were fortunate that they had already given notice to leave before the fire and they were able to collect the keys to the new place two days later.

Oh the landlord is also demanding an extra months rent even though they had paid a month in advance and had given notice to leave.