Withholding last months rents until I get deposit back?

Zecat

Hello,

I am a property guardian and about to move out of the property I have been living at.

The company I have been a guardian for has a poor reputation when it comes to paying deposit back. As guardians we have no tenancy agreement, but what they call licence agreement. This states that the company can take up to 3 months to return the deposit money. But in various forum messages former guardians complain that it took them months to get money back from the company. Most of them say they had to threaten legal procedures.
I do not trust the company and I fear I will have to have to fight for the money.

Is it possible (legal) for me to withhold the money of my last two months rent on a separate bank account or even pay it to a solicitor until they pay the deposit back? How would I go doing this?

Thanks for your help.

BitterAndTwisted

You just need to set it aside so it's available should the S hit the F. Dunno how how this property guardianship thing works but is there a risk that you'll just be locked out of the property if you miss the first month's payment? Under normal circs a landlord wouldn't be able to apply to the court for unpaid rent until the tenant owes two month's rent. i.e. the day after the second month's rent is due, not two months in arrears.

Naturally, if you do decide to not pay the last two month's rent you can kiss bye-bye to your future as a property guardian. Is that of any consequence to you?

Okydoky25

I did this at my last tenancy. The house was being repossed. I had nothing but trouble from the Landlord. I withheld the last months rent expecting for them to claim it of TDS however they didn't. They claimed for the same amount (full deposit) in made up damages.
After fighting this through the TDS I won my deposit back. I still don't understand why they made no mention of the last months rent but I still have it in a savings account just in case 6 months later!

dancingfairy

Most people will be able to tell you what would happen if it was a normal tenancy agreement but I don't know how licences work.
You might be best off looking on the Shelter website/phoning them as this is a more unusual situation.
As BandT said, in a normal rental situation a landlord can't just lock you out but again, I'm unsure how a license agreement works.
Your paperwork may give you some ideas as to how things work but paperwork doesn't always follow the law so don't take your paperwork as gospel.
df

Guest101

Is this an employment situation?

Zecat

Thank you for your reply. No Guest101, it is not an employment issue. I pay the company a "rent" to stay in the property. The rent is lower that if I was renting a proper room or flat with a private landlord. But in exchange guardians live in former office blocks or closed down pubs, etc. The aim is to prevent the buildings being squatters moving in. The property owner also pay the company for their services.

I am not planning on being a guardian anymore. But I want to be honest with the company, I'm happy with paying the rent, but it seems to me that whitholding it might be the only way to ensure I get my deposit back on time and in full.
I'll check with Shelter. Thanks again.

G_M

It really does all depend on the legal basis of your occupancy.

AST? Although you would be in rent arrears, and breach of contract, eviction would take time, and cost, and you'd have left anyway. Now that deposit protection law exists for ASTs I would very rarely advocate witholding rent like this - there is no justification for it.

However, if you have a licence to occupy:
a) your deposit will probobly not be protected and
b) your security of tenure will be minimal (ie you can be evicted)

Much depends on the terms of the licence. My suspicion is that if you withold rent you will be in arrears and will be quickly evicted.