Landlord wants to use deposit as last months rent - is this normal?

Maye101

Hi

I have been renting for about 10 years now. I am about to move flat but I didn't go via an estate agent just dealt directly with the landlord. Its a flat share and there is already a tenant living there. I have signed a contract I am happy with and asked for my deposit (one months rent) to be put in a deposit protection scheme. This is what I've always done. My landlord to be has text me saying he's finding it very difficult to arrange a dps. He suggested instead that he keep my deposit as my last months rent. He's willig to wait until I've moved in and give me a receipt wtc. But I've never heard of this before and was just wondering if others have and if it worked for them?

Thanks for reading.

agrinnall

No, it shouldn't be done these days, and I'd want to know why he is having difficulty protecting your deposit, it might suggest that there's something dodgy about his business.

Maye101

Thanks for the reply. This is what i was thinking. Although I should mention that "landlord" is a bit of a stretch. He's a guy who owns the flat and is moving out to move to London so is renting out his room. So this is his only property and its not really his business.

AnnieO1234

This is ringing alarm bells that it isn't an AST, but rather some form if lodging agreement which does not have the same rights and protections.

Xxx

Miss_Samantha

On the other hand, a clear agreement that money is taken as payment of rent rather than deposit is also good for the tenant.

Person_one

Maye101 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. This is what i was thinking. Although I should mention that "landlord" is a bit of a stretch. He's a guy who owns the flat and is moving out to move to London so is renting out his room. So this is his only property and its not really his business.

Someone who moves out of their home and then rents it out to someone else...is a landlord!

I would suggest finding somewhere else to live, it doesn't sound like this guy will be living up to his responsibilities.

theartfullodger

Maye101 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. This is what i was thinking. Although I should mention that "landlord" is a bit of a stretch. He's a guy who owns the flat and is moving out to move to London so is renting out his room. So this is his only property and its not really his business.

Really?? You sure he's not a tenant, probably of council or housing association??

Spend £3 with landregistry & see who owns the place.

He sounds either stupid, ignorant or a crook: none are good characteristics for a landlord.

note3

If you really want this property perhaps he could just not charge a deposit? You can give one mth rent in advance but no deposit to protect or repay?

Maye101

Thanks for all the replies! I have signed a ast that isn't any different to my previous ones (I have also emailed it to my sister who was a contract law solictor before she decided to retrain - so will see what she thinks). The flat definately isn't a housing association flat or anything like that I know the area and the building really well. But I will look into the land registry thing. Didn't know I could do that so thanks for the suggestion.

As I said there is a tennant living there that I would be moving in with. He's lived there since August. It was landlord renting the spare room out to him. But landlord now needs to move but doesn't want to sell so keeping it as an investment property. I didn't have any concerns up until yesterday when he said this. I know he is a landlord but just wanted to point out he was a small landlord not somebody with multiple properties.

I guess it would be like paying rent in advance, I've just never done it this way before. He seems very cool about it though. He's happy to wait for me to pay rent + what would last months rent "deposit" after I've moved in and I'm happy with everything. I'm just in a bit of a spin because as I said I had no concerns until now and I'm supposed to move on Friday! Not much time to sort out other options.

Maye101

Oh meant to say other tenant only has nice things to say when I spoke to him separately to landlord and this the arrangement he has with landlord.

Person_one

Maye101 wrote: »

As I said there is a tennant living there that I would be moving in with. He's lived there since August. It was landlord renting the spare room out to him. But landlord now needs to move but doesn't want to sell so keeping it as an investment property. I didn't have any concerns up until yesterday when he said this. I know he is a landlord but just wanted to point out he was a small landlord not somebody with multiple properties.

The responsibilities are exactly the same though, and all the same things can go wrong in a house owned by an amateur clueless landlord as can go wrong in a house owned by an experienced professional one.

Are you sure that this person understands that by moving out they will no longer have lodgers with few rights, they will have tenants with much more security and rights who can't be kicked out on a whim and who have a right to expect him to live up to his side of the deal?

If he's doing this properly, there wouldn't be any reason why he couldn't protect your deposit. It makes you wonder if perhaps he hasn't bothered getting consent to let, or is going to lodge elsewhere and try to claim that the place you'll be living in is still his primary residence.