Would you move or stay in bad accomodation?

Viberduo

Following on from last thread, my friend has been advised by Shelter to give his LL 3 working days to fix the water situation then if LL ignores it he tell him he is in breach of contract and leave or withhold rent.

My friend is unsure how to proceed though because the flat is in such dismal state such as door handles hanging off every door, no trip switches in electric box, cracked windows, and the main reasons for not wanting to live there no water at all and LL altering contract to a higher amount after signing

The fact that its a rough estate and things like dog poop everywhere and its 2 miles walk to town centre he can handle(the whole reason he didnt get place in town as he thought it would be cheaper but obviously not)

Shelter told him to either stay with friends or register as homeless both of which he doesnt want to do, because registering as homeless means he will either just be in a hostel with no security or if he stays with me he cant afford to save for a deposit plus he spent like £130 getting furniture and moving it to new place(but he doesnt have any cooker or washing machine there)

Would you recommend he stays and withholds rent, stays with me, or registers as homeless and moves out? Or maybe find somewhere else and uses his credit card/gets a crisis loan or something to cover moving costs?

giddypenguin

I don't understand- he doesn't want to stay for obvious reasons, but doesn't want to take action to leave?

Yes, a hostel isn't ideal, but at least it'll have running water and council might lend him the deposit for the new place... He doesn't have much of an option.

Pixie5740

Was the state of the property not apparent to your friend when he went to view it? Cheap rent or not, cracked windows, door handles hanging off, dog poo on everywhere outside would have had alarm bells ringing in my head and it would have been a thanks but no thanks.

If the landlord duped your friend into paying more rent and was happy to let the property in such a state then he doesn't sound like a good landlord. Your friend should move. Whether that means staying with you for a while (Why wouldn't he be able to save money for a deposit if he does this?) or going to the council to be re-housed is up to him but he should leave his current home. In fact he should report the state of his current property to the council so that someone else doesn't end up living there.

Edit: Your friend could sell the furniture and use the money to put towards a deposit.

pmlindyloo

Viberduo wrote: »

Following on from last thread, my friend has been advised by Shelter to give his LL 3 working days to fix the water situation then if LL ignores it he tell him he is in breach of contract and leave or withhold rent.

My friend is unsure how to proceed though because the flat is in such dismal state such as door handles hanging off every door, no trip switches in electric box, cracked windows, and the main reasons for not wanting to live there no water at all and LL altering contract to a higher amount after signing

The fact that its a rough estate and things like dog poop everywhere and its 2 miles walk to town centre he can handle(the whole reason he didnt get place in town as he thought it would be cheaper but obviously not)

Shelter told him to either stay with friends or register as homeless both of which he doesnt want to do, because registering as homeless means he will either just be in a hostel with no security or if he stays with me he cant afford to save for a deposit plus he spent like £130 getting furniture and moving it to new place(but he doesnt have any cooker or washing machine there)

Would you recommend he stays and withholds rent, stays with me, or registers as homeless and moves out? Or maybe find somewhere else and uses his credit card/gets a crisis loan or something to cover moving costs?

With the property unfit for habitation then your friend should move out.

He can do a combination of the options. Stay with you on a temporary basis and also make a homelessness application.

Since he is on housing benefit then he should approach the council and discuss his housing options.

He is homeless but does not (from what you have said) have a priority need.

The council has to give, at the very minimum, housing advice. He should ask about a Discretionary Housing Payment which could be used for a deposit on a new place and for moving costs. The council may also have a Deposit Bond scheme where they guarantee a deposit (no money changes hands).

Even though you offer him a place to stay so that he is not on the streets, he is still classed as homeless. The council have to allow him to make a homeless application and then give him a formal answer as to whether they have to 'house' him. He will need to prove that he has written to the landlord giving him the time to do the repairs (so keep copies of correspondence) and the landlord has failed to do so thus breaching the contract.

Viberduo

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Was the state of the property not apparent to your friend when he went to view it? Cheap rent or not, cracked windows, door handles hanging off, dog poo on everywhere outside would have had alarm bells ringing in my head and it would have been a thanks but no thanks.

If the landlord duped your friend into paying more rent and was happy to let the property in such a state then he doesn't sound like a good landlord. Your friend should move. Whether that means staying with you for a while (Why wouldn't he be able to save money for a deposit if he does this?) or going to the council to be re-housed is up to him but he should leave his current home. In fact he should report the state of his current property to the council so that someone else doesn't end up living there.

Edit: Your friend could sell the furniture and use the money to put towards a deposit.

It was more that it was so cheap it would be a place to crash and he could just buy some cheap screws and attach them to the doors, he bought a £15 cooking hob to cook on and could spend a few quid wiping down windows(as long as they kept heat in he wasnt worried about cracks), I mean it was so bad there was cobwebs everywhere, dead spiders down the sides(he has cleaned all that up)

For £200 a month he wasnt expecting luxury and just planned to live cheaply but it just is horrible the longer he lives there, I mean the bedroom carpet stinks of urine(the ex tenants were junkies he found out so puts him off)and things he wasnt expecting like the walls being paper thin and a lot of neighbours have barking dogs(and explains the dog poop on streets) but for £260 a month plus he has to spend money on furniture, repairs its a terrible deal as he was paying £275 for a large flat near me in a slightly better area with good transport links.

To be honest he would be happy with a bedsit as long as its furnished, he was going to move into student accomodation as it was £60 a week but thought he wouldnt get lha for it and that was 2 minutes walk to train station and 10 minutes walk to uni and right next to shopping centre and it has a common room with tv and snooker table he was just worried about noise from train station and drunks.

What he is worried about is he has seen some cheap flats from actual agencies online which are furnished(and only about £20 more per month than paying now) but then he wastes his furniture worth money, or stay for a few weeks and sell his furniture for next to nothing(just to get something)

Ideally he was thinking to withhold the months rent and use that as a deposit for elsewhere but thinks this is dishonest.

I dont think the benefit run on for 2 properties would work since he has only been at current flat a month.

Argghhh

why could he not save up for a deposit if he is staying with you, surely his costs for food etc would be the same if you let him stay for a while till he gets on his feet?

Viberduo

It was more that because he chose somewhere that the LHA covered before he is not really any better off living with me(bar not paying council tax and a few quid a week utilities)

His feelings tell him to just not pay the rent for the month as the LL wanted it in arrears and use that for a deposit for elsewhere but feels that is dishonest but then he(and I) think he has been unable to live there anyway, or pay like half of it, he has seen another place he wants that costs the same as current one and fully furnished and 5 minutes walk to uni he is starting after summer and 15 minutes walk to train station and main shopping centre and he can use his credit card and last of his savings for the deposit for the rent in advance.