what are my rights

ihatemyhouse

wont get bond back as I am not going to pay him any more rent, am going to contact EH again tomorrow and ask for them to come out, I am going to stay in the house till I find some where I want to live, rent free, i have had 10months of hell he can have some now

sandsni

Good luck with that. If, as you claim, he has 5 mercs sitting outside his door, he will have no problem chasing you in court and getting you that CCJ you so obviously want.

I look forward to seeing your post in a couple of months' time "Help, I have a family and can't get a decent rental property because I have a CCJ". No one will listen to your sob story about your crap LL, all they'll see is your crap rental history.

ihatemyhouse

so what do you suggest I do, if I pay the rent, I cant afford to move out, he has said he wont do the work why we are living here, so where do I get the money from to move

RAS

Assuming England and wales

Think we need to separate out the issues here.

ihatemyhouse wrote: »

my LL never put my bond in a scheme,

So you can sue him for the deposit return and up to 3 times the amount for failing to secure the deposit and failing to provide the prescribed information.

ihatemyhouse wrote: »

so due to the disrepair of the property we have decided not to pay rent and move out,

Understand why you want to move out but you are stuck in the contract until the end of January unless you agree early surrender or the EH declares the place uninhabitable.

ihatemyhouse wrote: »

I know he cant legally evict us until we are a full 3 months behind on the rent

Incorrect. The first day of the second month you fail to pay the rent he can go for a section 8 notice, immediately after the due date.

ihatemyhouse wrote: »

but am sure I have read somewhere that because he didn't put bond in a scheme, he cant evict us under section 21
is this right

Correct but seems to be somewhat at odds with your desire to move out.

You need to be explicit about your situation and what you want.

And if you owe any rent at the end of the contract he can sue you for it.

And you almost certainly need a reference which will not be forthcoming.

ihatemyhouse wrote: »

so what do you suggest I do, if I pay the rent, I cant afford to move out, he has said he wont do the work why we are living here, so where do I get the money from to move

I suggest you see what the EH say and if the LL agrees that you need to move out ASK nicely for the return of the deposit now in exchange for not suing him for the penalty deposit payment.

ihatemyhouse

from what I can see my options are

stay in the dump and keep paying rent and LL wont fix it

Keep paying rent give notice have no where to move to as cant get any where on days notice and £800, council wont help as I will have made my self homeless, try and sue for the bond scheme thing, but will be homeless

don't pay rent, for next 2 payments, let him keep bond and walk away, see if he sues me and if he sues me, counter sue him for stress, damage to my goods due to the damp in his property

keep paying my rent, ask him to evict me, which he wont do as wants my rent, so will end up staying in house, that he wont fix unless the house is empty

not pay any rent, wait for him to get a court order to get me, all the mean time saving what I would of paid in rent, wait for him to sue me,

pay rent, stay in house and get EH out, if they bother to come out, they might give me a bedsit over xmas, with a pregnant partner and 2 kids under 8,


decision decision

[Deleted User]

ihatemyhouse wrote: »

from what I can see my options are

You're missing the easiest option:

Your landlord has made clear that he does not want Environmental Health involved because he knows that the house is not in the condition it needs to be in, therefore you have leverage.

Approach your landlord with the following deal:

1. The deposit is returned to you (in full) within a week so you can afford to move out
2. You promise not to sue him over the unprotected deposit once returned
3. You will find somewhere new to live
4. You will move out without talking to Environmental Health

That satisfies everyone and doesn't require any legal involvement, and as the deposit isn't protected if he tried to make deductions at the end of the tenancy (if you were forced to stay) you'd have full claim to it, so this works out better for him.

ihatemyhouse

just got in from speaking to the housing options team at the council

basically, he cant serve me with a section 21, as bond not in scheme, if he wants me out to do the work which he wont do till I am out, he has to take me to court, as long as I keep the rent separate and don't spend it, then I am ok, even if he gets an exiction notice, I can still sue him for the bond not being in a scheme

the council say he cant sue me, as he hasnt but bond in a scheme, I got to get EH out, even if they condem the house, the homeless people don't have to help me

but as long as I don't spend the money and can show I still have it, it is only with holding rent due to state of the house

the women said pervious tenants have complained about the house

so got to go see a solicictor

dancingfairy

Why do you want to see a solicitor? Surely this would cost money?
From what I can tell your landlord could sue you for unpaid rent so either you pay it or you run the risk of being sued?
Why not pay one months rent and then withold the last months rent, knowing that you are unlikely to get your deposit back?
df

ihatemyhouse

I got told by housing office go see a solicitor, he also told me the LL cant sue me, due to the bond, and as long as I don't spend the money I am ok, as once the work was done, then you could pay him, but he cant get work do why we are living here, so he need to evict us, but cant evict us, unless he wants to come to some sort off arrangement but he doesn't, he wants us out pay up the contact, don't get EH involved, why he try to claim on his insurance for storm damage

if EH condem the house, they still wont help me, but it means I can use the money I am withholding to move,

this is what they told me this morning, basically I am on my own, they arnt intrested with out EH saying it is unfit, then they still wont help me, all they will do is pass me on to the homeless team, who aint got any propertys, I don't even want a property off them

so basically have decided just to sit here now till he evicts me or I find some where I want to move to keep the rent in the bank, and use that, if after that he wants to sue me, he can do, but the council said because he didn't put it in a bond scheme, he cant and will just be wasting his money but I can sue him for 3 times the bond,

RAS

ihatemyhouse wrote: »

I got told by housing office go see a solicitor, he also told me the LL cant sue me, due to the bond, and as long as I don't spend the money I am ok, as once the work was done, then you could pay him, but he cant get work do why we are living here, so he need to evict us, but cant evict us, unless he wants to come to some sort off arrangement but he doesn't, he wants us out pay up the contact, don't get EH involved, why he try to claim on his insurance for storm damage

if EH condem the house, they still wont help me, but it means I can use the money I am withholding to move,

this is what they told me this morning, basically I am on my own, they arnt intrested with out EH saying it is unfit, then they still wont help me, all they will do is pass me on to the homeless team, who aint got any propertys, I don't even want a property off them

so basically have decided just to sit here now till he evicts me or I find some where I want to move to keep the rent in the bank, and use that, if after that he wants to sue me, he can do, but the council said because he didn't put it in a bond scheme, he cant and will just be wasting his money but I can sue him for 3 times the bond,

Not quite. If the EH declare the house unfit for habitation, then the contract with the LL is "frustrated".

At which point the LL needs to provide you with suitable alternative accomodation, pay to put you up in a B&B or agree to let you move out with no penalty.

Which is what you want I think?