Private student shared house-deposit?

G_M

Mela322 wrote: »

G_M

Thank you for your help. My son has found his agreement:

To pay for all bills relating to the property that apply during the period of the tenancy, including gas, electricity, water, council tax, and telephone bills, etc. (This clause may not be applicable if rent is inclusive of specific bills. It will be stated on the final page of the contract which bills, if any, are inclusive. so what does the final page say??If bills are included there is a cap set on the Gas and Electric of £5.00 per tenant per week. If tenants exceed this amount, they will be liable to cover any excess charges.

There were actually 7 students paying £45 each per month.
So they are paying bills on some basis. Tht is not what ou said at the start(your Q2)
My son said a smart meter was installed in November and he checked in June and they were paying slightly more. I'm not sure if that would fluctuate over winter.
Usage is bound to be higher in winter, for gas or electricity or both depending on heating method.

A smart meter will make no difference. Prior to that there will have been a meter. The meter readings will be on any bills so a weekly cost can be calculated.

Took till the end of July for his landlord to email him but landlord is saying that he can't get an itemised statement for the house and has offered a day for my son to go over and sit with him to look at the payments from his bank!
I would not do this. If the LL wants to rely on bank statements he should send them to your son
Not sure if deposit is protected, they never got any notification.
as advised earlier, several times, check! See the link provided.

If he owes it, fair enough but he should be able to produce bills to be fair on his side.
We cannot say if he owes it or not as

1) you have still not quoted the relevant tenancy agreement fully, and

2) the LL has not provided a breakdown of the costs.

Thanks so much for your help, really do appreciate it.

First establsh if son is liable. SEE THE TENANCY AGREEMENT

Second establish if the deposit was proteted. READ THE LINK

If not liable, and deposit protected, raise a dispute. READ THE LINK

If not liable, and deposit not protected, either
* write to the LL threatening to sue for non-protection unless the deposit is not returned in full within 5 days, and/or
* sue for the deposit AND for the penalty
(READ THE LINK)

If son is liable for bills, and deposit is protected, write requesting a breakdown of which bills and how much, backed up by evidence, within 5 days after which son will make a single claim for return of the deposit and/or raise a dispute.

* Deposits: payment, protection & return

Mela322

G_M wrote: »

First establsh if son is liable. SEE THE TENANCY AGREEMENT

Second establish if the deposit was proteted. READ THE LINK

If not liable, and deposit protected, raise a dispute. READ THE LINK

If not liable, and deposit not protected, either
* write to the LL threatening to sue for non-protection unless the deposit is not returned in full within 5 days, and/or
* sue for the deposit AND for the penalty
(READ THE LINK)

If son is liable for bills, and deposit is protected, write requesting a breakdown of which bills and how much, backed up by evidence, within 5 days after which son will make a single claim for return of the deposit and/or raise a dispute.

* Deposits: payment, protection & return

Hi G_M, my son still needs to see if his deposit was protected but he has only received email from landlord about why he was keeping most of the deposit. Nothing mentioned about dps and also the landlord has mentioned the wrong house number. I've told my son not to go and view landlord's bank statements.

The last page is worded:

Gas Meter Reading: Paid by landlord
Electric Meter Reading: Paid by landlord
Water Meter Reading: Paid by landlord

I'm very sorry if I've mis-lead anybody. I've only put information that my son has giving me. The total amount of rent with bills paid has always been the same over the 3 years he has been there.

I really do appreciate your help.

Edited to add that I've sent the links for my son to read. Thanks

saajan_12

Mela322 wrote: »

My son has found his agreement:

To pay for all bills relating to the property that apply during the period of the tenancy, including gas, electricity, water, council tax, and telephone bills, etc. (This clause may not be applicable if rent is inclusive of specific bills. It will be stated on the final page of the contract which bills, if any, are inclusive. If bills are included there is a cap set on the Gas and Electric of £5.00 per tenant per week. If tenants exceed this amount, they will be liable to cover any excess charges.

There were actually 7 students paying £45 each per month. My son said a smart meter was installed in November and he checked in June and they were paying slightly more. I'm not sure if that would fluctuate over winter.

Mela322 wrote: »

The last page is worded:

Gas Meter Reading: Paid by landlord
Electric Meter Reading: Paid by landlord
Water Meter Reading: Paid by landlord

bills: Per the agreement, the LL pays for the bills, subject to a £5 per tenant per week cap. So you need itemised bills, or at the very least, copies of the LL's bank statements to see if the payments exceed £5 x 7 students = £35 per week or £152 per month. Strictly, meter readings would be needed to see their exact usage, but it doesn't look like these are available, so look at the payments to get a ballpark.

1) Write to the LL, requesting the full deposit back, quoting BOTH parts of the tenancy agreement to show bills should have been covered by the LL, and asking for proof if he claims they exceeded the cap.

2) Check with the 3 deposit schemes to see if the deposit is protected (check all the joint tenants names)

3a) If protected, file a single claim for the deposit, providing both parts of the tenancy agreement as evidence (or get the named tenant to on behalf of everyone)

3b) If not protected, write the LL a Letter Before Action demanding the full deposit within 10 days and proof of the protection, stating if unprotected, you will claim the compensation of 1-3 times the deposit if this can't be speedily resolved.

Guest101

Mela322 wrote: »

Hi G_M, my son still needs to see if his deposit was protected but he has only received email from landlord about why he was keeping most of the deposit. Nothing mentioned about dps and also the landlord has mentioned the wrong house number. - well why would he? I've told my son not to go and view landlord's bank statements. - Why not? Or why not ask to be emailed?

The last page is worded:

Gas Meter Reading: Paid by landlord
Electric Meter Reading: Paid by landlord
Water Meter Reading: Paid by landlord

I'm very sorry if I've mis-lead anybody. I've only put information that my son has giving me. The total amount of rent with bills paid has always been the same over the 3 years he has been there.

I really do appreciate your help.

Edited to add that I've sent the links for my son to read. Thanks

Who were they paying £45 a month to and for what??!!

G_M

So now you finally know what was included in the rent, and what the tenants are liable to pay in addition to the rent.

Saajan has done some maths for you. You now need to ask the LL, in writing, to justify his claim that additional utility costs are due.

Quite why you've not checked the deposit protection I cannot understand. Perhaps the link provided is unclear in some way? If so, please tell me so that I can edit/improve it.

s[/QUOTE]

Mela322

G_M, your link is fine but it's my son that has the details to enter and he won't be able to do that till later.

He did get a reply from landlord when he questioned the deposit and now the landlord is claiming my son broke a bed and there is one missing. However, the broken bed isn't and wasn't in my son's room and the tenant that did break the bed has signed on for another year and is still using the bed. He went on to say some very rude things but it's not looking as though the deposit is protected. Will see what my son comes up with tonight.

Thanks so much again for your advice. I think you all have given me as much as can be to this point and appreciate all your time.

Guest101

Mela322 wrote: »

G_M, your link is fine but it's my son that has the details to enter and he won't be able to do that till later.

He did get a reply from landlord when he questioned the deposit and now the landlord is claiming my son broke a bed and there is one missing. However, the broken bed isn't and wasn't in my son's room and the tenant that did break the bed has signed on for another year and is still using the bed. He went on to say some very rude things but it's not looking as though the deposit is protected. Will see what my son comes up with tonight.

Thanks so much again for your advice. I think you all have given me as much as can be to this point and appreciate all your time.

So your son has time to text away, but not do three simple searches?!


As for the bed and who broke it, irrelevant. Legally he can claim it from any ONE (or all) that he chooses

G_M

Mela322 wrote: »

..... the landlord is claiming my son broke a bed and there is one missing. However, the broken bed isn't and wasn't in my son's room and the tenant that did break the bed has signed on for another year and is still using the bed. ..............it's not looking as though the deposit is protected. .....

1) Just to confirm, this is a 'joint and several' tenancy? A single contract that all 7 tenants signed, yes? They do not each have individual tenancies?


If so, then all the tenants are equally liable for any damage which can be deducted from the total deposit. How they decide between themselves to divvy up whatever deposit is returned is up to them.

There is no 'my deposit' and 'his deposit' - there is just one total deposit.

2)
* were both these beds included on the check-in inventory? Was any damage noted against either of them?
* is one bed missing?
* is one bed now broken? It's irrelevant if it's still being used - it's either as it was when the tenancy started, or it has been damaged durng the tenancy. The intention of one tenant to start a new tenancy next year is also irrelevant.

3) if the deposit is not protected you'll have the LL over a barrel. I assume the deposit for the tenancy is 7 x £400 = £2,800, yes? If awarded 3 times the deposit as penalty for non protection, that will cost the LL 3 x 2,800 = £8,400. The LL would be well advised to pay your son and hope it goes no further......

Of course, if each tenant has a seperate contract, that alters both the tenants' liabilites, and the penalty maths (unless they all individualy claim the penalty).

Mela322

So after a few more rude emails, landlord finally gave up the dps information. He has now added that he is going to charge £5 per day that rent was late in the past and they you won't have any deposit left. The late rent was agreed upon a few times via email/phone due to when my son got his loan payments.

The lease is a joint lease and all have signed together.

Landlord has not given any amount for the bed but now it's down to just one broken bed and not a missing bed. The emails contradict themselves a few times but come off very threatening, not in a harming way but as to say if you dispute the deposit, I will make sure to take it all and has pretty much said that.

Mela322

I'm just going to stop now. Some of the replies have been quite harsh. I thought this was a place to seek help, not to be rude to members.

I've learned my lesson and I won't be back. I do thank those that were helpful and not rude.