Landlord not protecting deposit

Sunny_Bear

Can someone tell me about this.

I currently live in a privately rented house but am having to move as my landlord is selling the house. I only signed the contract in November and he told me 6 weeks later that he was selling. He said he'd give me my deposit plus 1 months rent if he had to end my contract early, but I understand now that he cant do that, it was due to end end of April.

Anyway, I'm 8 months pregnant and have found a new house to move into before the baby arrives thank goodness, and will be moving in Feb, I've given him 1 months notice and he's happy to end the contract early, as he would have been had it been him ending it early.

Anyway, my deposit is not protected, so can I claim from him the 3 x amount once I've moved out. I'm sure he will give me my deposit back on the day I move out in full. Should I ask him to sign something that says hes happy that the tenency is ending early.

I feel really horrible for thinking about doing this, but hes really really messed me around, and seems to think he can do anything. I'm heavily pregnant with a 16 month old as well, plus I moved here as I'd split from my husband so I'm single and dealing with it all myself.

BitterAndTwisted

Nope. Claiming the 3 x deposit as penalty has been scuppered recently by a case in the High Court, I believe. Yes, get him to sign a dated document acknowledging that he has accepted a surrender of the tenancy. You can prepare this for him to sign. Please insist on your deposit being refunded to you in cash. Honestly, I can't understand why you're being so cooperative about this. I'd have sat tight until the end of the agreement, or asked for rather a lot more money to go. Still you have somewhere else all signed up so I hope it's nice.

All the best to you and your family.

Sunny_Bear

So do you mean I can or cant claim from him? I'll def get something in writing from him saying hes happy for the tenancy to end before April and also get him and me to sign for the deposit in cash on the day I move out.

The reason I'm being so cooperative is because I'm so pregnant and wanted to move before baby comes closer to my family. I dodnt want for him to give me notice to leave in April becasue then Id have to find somewhere while trying to look after a tiny baby ect, its easier to do it before! I could have made it more difficult for him but I can do without the stress to be honest, just breaking up from my partner has been hard enough! I went to the council to ask about housing but they scared me with temporary emergency accommodation and i was lucky enough to find the new house so couldnt say no!!

BitterAndTwisted

If he returns your deposit in cash why would you want to go to court and start a claim? There would be no basis for one, obviously. If the deposit wasn't returned to you, you could go to court but there would be no point in asking the court to award you 3 times the deposit as penalty due to the High Court ruling I mentioned before. Now, that recourse is only open to tenants while their tenancy is still ongoing.

I think that you're better off right out of there. A landlord who signs a tenant up and then needs to bribe them to leave is probably just on the verge of having the house repossessed. He's moving quickly to avoid it.

That is precisely why I suggested that you get your deposit back in cash. His cheques may be ng