Can my LL charge me rent for a condemned house?

Paulslady

I moved into a property over a year ago paid £1200 deposit which the LL asked me to transfer into his sisters bank account no tenancy agreement was signed straight away I asked him everyday but he only produced this a few days before the house was condemned by environmental health

The property was a tip and was supposed to be ready before I moved in however he phoned my partners mother not myself the day before I was due to move in saying it wasn't ready but I had already given notice and had no option but to move in!

To cut a long story short he didn't turn up to do the works he promised and demanded my rent without the agreement that I needed to get help with the rent so I was unable to pay him at that time he then threatened to throw me out so I contacted the council who in turn got the EHO out to inspect the property and to quote the officer he said "I have never seen anything like this in my 20 years of this job" there was no front door I had to gain access through the back door the boiler had no cover and the control panel was ganging off NOW HERE'S THE CHESTNUT - the fuse board had wires hanging out and the supply was being fiddled in other words he bypassed the supplier therefore not paying for the electricity this was all hidden behind a door which was blocked by a washing machine! I was then told the house was not safe and was put in emergency accommodation

I have sued the LL for the deposit as it wasn't protected and he is counter claiming for lost rent and damages can he do this if the house was condemned? Please help!!!

Fire_Fox

Welcome! Do you mean condemned or uninhabitable? Lost rent for when, the period you lived in the house or the period after EH rehoused you? Are EH sending any reports to the court or turning up at court? Do you have proof the council put you in emergency accommodation? Are EH taking legal action against the landlord?

paddedjohn

This is a wind up isn't it? Even if not, no one forced you to move into a derelict house.

Paulslady

He wants to charge me £9500 for damages which never occurred and lost rent for when I was in emergency housing I have proof of everything the court has issued a judgement for him to pay but he is refusing too

I HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO MOVE IN A I ENDED MY PREVIOUS TENANCY I WASN'T GIVEN ANY ADVICE AND HAVE HAD TO DEAL WITH THIS ON MY OWN

Paulslady

Sorry I forgot to add that the electricity board came and cut off the supply

Fire_Fox

Paulslady wrote: »

He wants to charge me £9500 for damages which never occurred and lost rent for when I was in emergency housing I have proof of everything the court has issued a judgement for him to pay but he is refusing too

If you have a full body of evidence from Environmental Health and a judgement in your favour for a related matter the judge will throw it out of court. Funnily enough I bumped into a neighbour a few days ago and apparently the court ate his landlord alive for having him live in a flat with no electricity. :T

If a house is deemed uninhabitable the landlord has two choices
1. Hold the tenant to the AST, still charge the same rent, rehouse them in an equivalent property
2. Release the tenant from the AST and they rehouse themselves.

Paulslady

So what he's trying to do is scare me off! I am still in EH waiting to be rehoused so if any court paperwork comes my way I obviously defend what he is saying and it will be thrown out and he will have to pay me what he owes - he actually changed the locks a couple of months later with all my belongings inside until I threatened to break in and get it all out I have sued for the unprotected deposit and 3months of storage fees which were very cheap considering what I could of paid! I feel he has got away lightly my partner is insisting that I now sue for my mental health which has deteriorated since can I do that?

Fire_Fox

Has he submitted the counter claim or not? He can't if he doesn't have a valid residential address anyway, be sure he knows you have moved from your temporary accommodation but not where to. Why did you leave you property inside?

Do you have legal representation? What do they say?

Paulslady

I don't have any legal representation I had to leave all of my stuff as I was placed in a b&b and I had no storage at the time he hasn't put in a counter claim as yet but told me today he was going to. I have spoken to citizens advice and I am awaiting an appointment to speak to someone. All of the court paperwork that the court has sent has come back as post marked "gone away" the property is empty and is now up for sale I do have another address for him and I don't know whether to copy everything I have and send it to him there

Fire_Fox

Let him crack on and take you to court with a temporary B&B address, that is not valid you need a proper ideally residential address for the court documents.

Speak to Shelter as well, you really should have had basic legal advice before proceeding. Is there an address at which to serve notices on your tenancy agreement? If so haven't you been using that? Have you downloaded the title from the land registry (£3) and seen if there is an address on there? Cross reference these addresses with the electoral register, should be at the library or council offices. Can also copy care of the estate agent who is selling.