Issues with landlord

saajan_12

Orgazzz wrote: »

Hi Sajaan,

Thanks for your reply. I really do appreciate it! - You're welcome, happy to help. Please try to take note of the points rather than repeat your OP (unless you have something to suggest I'm mistaken)

Sorry if I didn't make this clear but neither myself or brother considered the property a forever home. - irrelevant It was convenient for the business and we were genuinely helping him and the business out by renting it as he would not have had much success doing so in the condition it was in. - irrelevant. Besides you expected the work to be done too as you are now looking for compensation so what's the difference?

He did indicate that he would address the heating from the outset, but this took 2 years to resolve and I took the lead in it. - you could have followed Shelter's process to report at the time Permission was granted, although would it not be the case that we could effect repairs even if it wasn't given due to the fact that 2 years had now elapsed with no action on his part? No, there's a specific process outlined by Shelter which you would have needed to follow precisely, there's no default permission.

"You can start court action to claim compensation during your tenancy or up to 6 years after it ends."

I pulled that from Shelters website (thanks for the recommendation!).

We stayed in the property for the benefit of the company, as we all had a vested interest in it. It was convenient to use it for storage of materials (large plot of land) so the guys could come and go at all times of day etc. To be honest once he announced he was selling I was fine with moving out and was prepared to forego the issues I had put up with during the time I was there. However when he decided to serve notice on me and also to lie regarding rent owed my attitude has changed. - irrelevant

I left the property in December and my portion of the rent was fully paid up until that point, so not sure why I would be liable for anything as he is/was well aware of the fact. - You rented the property initially paying the full rent. You have not left the property legally until you return a vacant property. You moved your brother in, so until you both and all your posessions are out, you are still liable for the FULL rent. The back rent he is claiming on my part is false and I have the bank statements to verify this. No idea why he would lie about this as so easy to prove otherwise.Fair enough, have that ready for the deposit scheme / court claim when needed, that should be easy to resolve for August-December

As for my brothers 'arrears' he would dispute that he was responsible for the whole tenancy as only paid £300 rent for the property. - You're still liable for the full £900 (just OP if brother was a lodger or brother and OP jointly He would also argue that the landord had not approached him in any way to indicate that he should pay more rent following my leaving the property. - There's no change in the total rent, this was already requested in the original agreement. The LL doesn't need to re-request this for it to be due. In fact could it not be argued that up until he vacated he would actually be offsetting the LL costs in him still remaining until the new purchaser had taken possession?- Irrelevant

My brother is happy to leave the property, but is not prepared to accept that he has done anything wrong in this situation. No clear guidelines have been provided by the landlord up till the notice was served on him and myself.- Irrelevant, no guidelines needed Considering we have never missed payments - As you should, so? and endured a fair amount of inconvenience, we feel compelled to look at redressing the situation in whatever method is available.

I appreciate yourself and others are almost certainly much more well versed in these matters and the likelyhood of having our issues addressed fairly are remote. However we are both quite stubborn (family trait!) when it comes to matters of injustice.It's business, I don't see the injustice. If you didn't like it, you could have moved out earlier.

Thank you for your advice, I really do appreciate the time you and others have taken to reply. Ironically I have always previously been a home owner, so never understood the law relating to renting a property. So much to learn if I ever decide to rent again! TBH i think I will just buy next time....

You can try but seeking compensation is likely futile. The repairs should have been dealt with sooner following Shelter's process. As for the rent, you are simply misinformed about the concept of joint tenancies.

saajan_12

Orgazzz wrote: »

Hi Sajaan,

Thanks for your reply. I really do appreciate it! - You're welcome, happy to help. Please try to take note of the points rather than repeat your OP (unless you have something to suggest I'm mistaken)

Sorry if I didn't make this clear but neither myself or brother considered the property a forever home. - irrelevant It was convenient for the business and we were genuinely helping him and the business out by renting it as he would not have had much success doing so in the condition it was in. - irrelevant. Besides you expected the work to be done too as you are now looking for compensation so what's the difference?

He did indicate that he would address the heating from the outset, but this took 2 years to resolve and I took the lead in it. - you could have followed Shelter's process to report at the time Permission was granted, although would it not be the case that we could effect repairs even if it wasn't given due to the fact that 2 years had now elapsed with no action on his part? No, there's a specific process outlined by Shelter which you would have needed to follow precisely, there's no default permission.

"You can start court action to claim compensation during your tenancy or up to 6 years after it ends."

I pulled that from Shelters website (thanks for the recommendation!).

We stayed in the property for the benefit of the company, as we all had a vested interest in it. It was convenient to use it for storage of materials (large plot of land) so the guys could come and go at all times of day etc. To be honest once he announced he was selling I was fine with moving out and was prepared to forego the issues I had put up with during the time I was there. However when he decided to serve notice on me and also to lie regarding rent owed my attitude has changed. - irrelevant

I left the property in December and my portion of the rent was fully paid up until that point, so not sure why I would be liable for anything as he is/was well aware of the fact. - You rented the property initially paying the full rent. You have not left the property legally until you return a vacant property. You moved your brother in, so until you both and all your posessions are out, you are still liable for the FULL rent. The back rent he is claiming on my part is false and I have the bank statements to verify this. No idea why he would lie about this as so easy to prove otherwise.Fair enough, have that ready for the deposit scheme / court claim when needed, that should be easy to resolve for August-December

As for my brothers 'arrears' he would dispute that he was responsible for the whole tenancy as only paid £300 rent for the property. - You're still liable for the full £900 (just OP if brother was a lodger or brother and OP jointly He would also argue that the landord had not approached him in any way to indicate that he should pay more rent following my leaving the property. - There's no change in the total rent, this was already requested in the original agreement. The LL doesn't need to re-request this for it to be due. In fact could it not be argued that up until he vacated he would actually be offsetting the LL costs in him still remaining until the new purchaser had taken possession?- Irrelevant

My brother is happy to leave the property, but is not prepared to accept that he has done anything wrong in this situation. No clear guidelines have been provided by the landlord up till the notice was served on him and myself.- Irrelevant, no guidelines needed Considering we have never missed payments - As you should, so? and endured a fair amount of inconvenience, we feel compelled to look at redressing the situation in whatever method is available.

I appreciate yourself and others are almost certainly much more well versed in these matters and the likelyhood of having our issues addressed fairly are remote. However we are both quite stubborn (family trait!) when it comes to matters of injustice.It's business, I don't see the injustice. If you didn't like it, you could have moved out earlier.

Thank you for your advice, I really do appreciate the time you and others have taken to reply. Ironically I have always previously been a home owner, so never understood the law relating to renting a property. So much to learn if I ever decide to rent again! TBH i think I will just buy next time....

You can try but seeking compensation is likely futile. The repairs should have been dealt with sooner following Shelter's process. As for the rent, you are simply misinformed about the concept of joint tenancies.