My Rights as a Tenant

kier333

debrag wrote: »

And? did I mention buying? I'll change what I said:

'Why don't you move 15 mins down the road, then you can rent something far better & on your own.'

Well I think its fair to.say o do not need to do anything other than report the LL to mortgage lender, HSE etc, I will let the council do the rest along with finding me a home to live in, this is while I wait for my deposit and all rent bavk from this discusting lowlife LL.

Mrs_Arcanum

kier333 wrote: »

Spoke with shelter, there legal team advise that if the flats are deemed unsafe, then the council are responsible for re housing us all, and charging the LL the costs. Seems to me a few on here have no idea what they are stating. The whole building has passed no fire regs and as such is not fit to be rented, so LL has broke the contract right from day one. LL deserves everything he gets, I am also now going to call all relevent bodies and raise my concerns, ie he has addition studios in other houses. I am paying no further rent, and I intend to pursue the LL for all rent and full deposit returned.

The one rule when renting regardless of the conditions, legitimacy of the accommodation or planning consent is always pay the rent.
You will have a VERY strong case when claiming from the LL. Without paying rent your case will be very thin indeed.

If you stop paying rent, do be sure not to use any electricity unless you still pay this part. Could be straightforward theft otherwise.

tbs624

sariebeth wrote: »

I would be reluctant to report him for operating an unlicensed HMO unless he is putting the safety of the residents at risk. I just think its a bit spiteful, and the council will catch up with him eventually anyway. But thats your perogative. If he IS putting the tenants safety at risk i.e not conforming to fire regs etc. the please report him immediately.

HMO regs are there to protect the occupants and those who live in the immediate vicinity - *anyone* who reports LLs who fail to register a potential HMO property is doing the right thing.

It is not for this LL ( or any other LL) or this T to decide whether or not the Ts safety is at risk - it's one for the local Council to decide. Simply saying that the Council will "catch up with the LL eventually" is lazy and that delay may be placing the occupants at risk.

There are nice fat fines levied on those LLs who fail to meet their legal obligations on HMO properties - check out the long Evict a Rogue LL thread on this board, for relevant prosecutions

Out,_Vile_Jelly

kier333 wrote: »

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

You can afford to live in Piccadil
ly but don't have enough for a deposit on a new place?

I do have enough for another deposit, but point is why should I have to.pay more

But this is what you said in an earlier post on page 1: "I do not want to move as I have got no where else to go or have any money for another deposit at present".

It's difficult to provide advice to posters who are so inconsistent.

kier333

Why would anyone pay rent when they can as other op say get evicted at any time? He is getting nothing more from me. I hope he gets whats coming to him, a huge fine and a criminal recored for council tax evation.

kier333

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

But this is what you said in an earlier post on page 1: "I do not want to move as I have got no where else to go or have any money for another deposit at present".

It's difficult to provide advice to posters who are so inconsistent.

I meant I do not want to spend anymore money on a deposit or move tbh. I like the area.

SavvyStudentSaver

Just to add my two pence worth (I wasn't in a fit state to do so last night):

Even if he breaks the contract, it is unfortunately no excuse to break it on your part too, in the eyes of the law. Just as you would be able to enforce that he should hold up his end of the bargain, he can make you do that too. The law sees them as different issues. For instance, he can be made by Environmental Health to effect reapirs to the house, and sort problems out. As the house is not registered as a HMO, he may have to pay the fine of £20,000, and he MAY be required to pay you all of your rent back (Note that the source you found about this didn't say this was a definite). A court order can enforce this. If you withold rent, he may chase you through the courts for the rent you owe, and when he succeeds (because the court will deal with these separately), if you don't pay, you may end up with a CCJ. The net effect of this may be you come out with more money from this, but that requires you are entitled to your rent back. If the courts don't decide this, you'll have to pay rent outstanding. It's unfortunate, but true.

Furthermore, if you don't pay your rent, and it gets to 2 months outstanding, and it hasn't been decided BY THE COURTS that your landlord is not owed rent, you can be issued a section 8 notice, and the landlord can begin eviction proceedings, even within your fixed term. So basically, keep paying rent- you should get it back.

If the landlord has to pay for your accommodation elsewhere, I believe that if you take the p***, it would probably have to be the closest thing to what you had that is not worse that you can claim for from him. But that's a personal opinion- no basis really.

With regards to what your landlord may do- he may decide to terrorise all of you for the fact that he's been caught out, and is probably going to lose money. Landlords can be real menaces when they feel their tenants are 'unreasonable' (and I use that very loosely, because some landlords seem to think that you are paying for the privilege of being allowed under their roof. Anything beyond that which they allow is a bonus). This isn't legal or right, but lets face it- has he really paid attention to that? If he harasses you, go to the police- it's a criminal offence, and don't let them fob you off.

And about the unsafe part- if it's deemed that in the case of a fire, you wouldn't be able to escape, it only makes sense that you would be required to leave at short notice. What would happen if there WERE a fire in that time?

And finally- look on the land registry for £4, and you can find the mortgage lenders name, I believe. Report him to them, and maybe send a copy of your agreement (I can't remember if you have one). Ensure that he does get caught out by them- don't hope.

Oh, and I can say that BitterandTwisted genuinely has been accused of being anti-landlord. The thing is- most of B&T's posts are based not upon opinion, but upon behaving lawfully so you can't get into trouble for it. And when thigns go wrong in a tenancy, it always seems the law favours the party doing the wrong thing. For example, teants who don't pay rent, but stay just under 2 months arrears- can't be evicted until the end of their AST, and even with a CCJ against them, the landlord may not get the rent back, or any money to fix any problems if the house was left in a state (as can happen- sometime thousands of pounds). Similarly, it seems anti-tenant here.

kier333

I fully intend to report him to everyone, Council again today for the other proprties he lets and no doubt without any concent, Tax office, Mortgage lender. I will also pursue him for the full refund of my Deposit and in addition to this all my rent returned from day one. I hope the council sue him for the up to 20k, along with the council tax enforcement team, and hopefully will not only be fined but receive a sentence as its all he deserves, due to him let out property that is unsutiable and without the required permissions.

lukesy

Commiting fraud on all partys, obtaining local tax from residents and pocketing the money, most of all putting life's at risks due to no building regs, stop funding this CRIMINAL pay no more and advise other tenants also. SICKENED

Shelldean

kier333 wrote: »

Spoke with shelter, there legal team advise that if the flats are deemed unsafe, then the council are responsible for re housing us all, and charging the LL the costs. Seems to me a few on here have no idea what they are stating. The whole building has passed no fire regs and as such is not fit to be rented, so LL has broke the contract right from day one. LL deserves everything he gets, I am also now going to call all relevent bodies and raise my concerns, ie he has addition studios in other houses. I am paying no further rent, and I intend to pursue the LL for all rent and full deposit returned.

kier333 wrote: »

I own my own house thank you, I just live in London for ease of work.

As you own your house ( wherever it maybe) I can not see the council being responsible for rehousing you. The priority will be given to those need a roof over their heads, which you don't as you already have a roof, just in another place.