Deposit Held by Landlord. Pls advise

diya_2

Dear All,

We were living in a 1 bedroom house, frm feb 2005, let to us directly by the landlord. We had a 1 yr contract, which expired by Feb 06 and it was never renewed, as the landlord's brother lives straight opposite to us and is very freindly. This house is actually a detached house, split UN OFFICIALLY BY THE LANDLORD, into 2 portions, with 1 entrance to the top floor and the backdoor access for us on the ground floor, both seperated, by a cardboard.

The first floor, was occupied by another freind of ours, on a seperate contract frm the landlord. But when they moved out, the landlord wanted us to vacate as well. I was not given any written notice, neither was I given a notice by word of mouth. After the first floor guys moved out, I was told to vacate, but again without any notice period.

Now I have moved out, paid the rent for the first floor as well for one month, as it was because of me, that they were not able to rent the whole house.
Now the landlord, is holding £275 of mine, saying that its the amount for the 2weeks, that the first floor was not occupied. ( even though I paid £450 for 4 more weeks )

Is there any minimum notice period that one should give?? Is it legal of the landlord to do like this? How do I go about it now?? I am really short of money and this £275 would help me a great deal...

pls advise.

Many Thanks.

My first contract does not specify, any notice period.

Guy_Montag

diya wrote: »

Dear All,

We were living in a 1 bedroom house, frm feb 2005, let to us directly by the landlord. We had a 1 yr contract, which expired by Feb 06 and it was never renewed, as the landlord's brother lives straight opposite to us and is very freindly. This house is actually a detached house, split UN OFFICIALLY BY THE LANDLORD, into 2 portions, with 1 entrance to the top floor and the backdoor access for us on the ground floor, both seperated, by a cardboard.

The first floor, was occupied by another freind of ours, on a seperate contract frm the landlord. But when they moved out, the landlord wanted us to vacate as well. I was not given any written notice, neither was I given a notice by word of mouth. After the first floor guys moved out, I was told to vacate, but again without any notice period.

Now I have moved out, paid the rent for the first floor as well for one month, as it was because of me, that they were not able to rent the whole house.
Now the landlord, is holding £275 of mine, saying that its the amount for the 2weeks, that the first floor was not occupied. ( even though I paid £450 for 4 more weeks )

Is there any minimum notice period that one should give?? Is it legal of the landlord to do like this? How do I go about it now?? I am really short of money and this £275 would help me a great deal...

pls advise.

Many Thanks.

My first contract does not specify, any notice period.

Right, so let's get this clear - you had a contract to rent a portion of the house.

Can you confirm that the agreement was only for a portion of the house?
Can you confirm that you & the people renting the other portion were on completely separate tenancies & not in anyway on the same tenancy?

It doesn't matter when it started or how long it lasted, only that it went onto a periodic tenancy.


The landlord was obliged to give you two months written notice under section 21 of the housing act. Verbal notice doesn't count, nor does written notice if it is not correctly applied. But this is by the by now you have moved out.

Assuming that your tenancy was for a portion of the house & in no way connected with the other people. I would write a letter to the effect of:

Letter Before Action

Dear Mr. Landlord,

I am writing to request the return of the £275 from my deposit that you are holding because you did not feel you could re-let the portion of the property I was not occupying. As you are aware I only rented a portion of the house, and so cannot be held responsible for the use or otherwise you make of any other portion.

If I do not receive this money within 14 days I will begin proceedings to reclaim this money through the county court.

Yours sincerely
diya

more_money_for_me

As the post above says what the landlord has done certainly sounds illegal. A visit to the Citizens Advice Bureau is usually a good move if you want more information. No cost and very helpful.

diya_2

Dear Guy Montag,

thanks for your replies. My contract does not specify that I have take only part of the property, but just shows the rent for my part, but for the whole house.

Yes, we had seperate tenancy agreements.

thanks

Guy_Montag

Even so, I can't imagine if the landlord divided up the house he'd have a leg to stand on in court. Check with Shelter & the CAB first, but I'd send off the letter (recorded post - keep copies of all correspondence).

diya_2

thanks guy...I will. But I really thought the minimum notice should be 2 weeks or 4 weeks... never imagined it would be 2 months...

thanks again