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

Maye101

Thanks for all your advice. I had a good long chat with my sister who looked over the contract and says it is typical. She also said that as long as I get it in writing what the £670 is for (i.e last months rent NOT a deposit) then it's mainly his risk not mine. He's going to be a LL without a deposit so if I damage anything (which is unlikely as I am a pretty good tenant , even if I say so myself) he would have to take me to court for damages and prove that I did them. Which considering the cost incurred is unlikely as many have said. If he then spends my last months rent then it's his problem and won't receive last months rent as I will have a receipt to prove it was paid.

In terms of him being a new and naive landlord, this I accept. He seems like a straight up enough guy, who is just a bit new at this and although that might be a pain at times everybody has to start somewhere. So I am going to risk it (mainly because I can't anywhere else decent to live with 3 days notice). But I'm sure if I get all the paperwork in order it shouldn't be a problem.

Guest101

Maye101 wrote: »

Thanks for all your advice. I had a good long chat with my sister who looked over the contract and says it is typical. She also said that as long as I get it in writing what the £670 is for (i.e last months rent NOT a deposit) then it's mainly his risk not mine. He's going to be a LL without a deposit so if I damage anything (which is unlikely as I am a pretty good tenant , even if I say so myself) he would have to take me to court for damages and prove that I did them. Which considering the cost incurred is unlikely as many have said. If he then spends my last months rent then it's his problem and won't receive last months rent as I will have a receipt to prove it was paid.

In terms of him being a new and naive landlord, this I accept. He seems like a straight up enough guy, who is just a bit new at this and although that might be a pain at times everybody has to start somewhere. So I am going to risk it (mainly because I can't anywhere else decent to live with 3 days notice). But I'm sure if I get all the paperwork in order it shouldn't be a problem.

Your sister is spot on.

agrinnall

Guest101 wrote: »

Your sister is spot on.

I'd agree in terms of the tenancy agreement, but she's not the one who will be living there, so in addition the OP needs to make sure that the LL is doing everything that is needed to ensure at the very least that the place is safe and habitable. Personally I'd look for something else in the circumstances.

cloo

Make sure there is an annual boiler service and safety certificate, and that they have installed smoke and C02 detectors as required, as sounds like they may not be aware of this. Which is kind of not their fault as given that the whole area of being a landlord is not subject to overarching scrutiny there's no particular reason any landlord *will* know what they're supposed to do!

Guest101

Joining an association is a great place to start, as well as some basic online research.


Usually a story of being fined a few thousand pounds is enough to get people motivated