Friend's Renting Trouble

saajan_12

fluffymuffy wrote: »

But how to pay the rent?

The contract says - "We may repossess the property if:
you fail to pay us rent 14 days after it is due, whether you have been asked for it or not"

Make reasonable efforts to ask the LL how they would like you to pay rent, but if you can't then keep the rent aside to pay as soon as they do ask for it.

Few practical ways to get the LL's address:
1. Write to the landlord at the address for serving notices (may be the agent's physical address) and demand the landlord's address (without which you don't have to pay rent under the Landlord and Tenant act)
2. Do you receive the LL's mail? You could try posting a letter to the property, in the LL's name, incase the LL has set up a mail redirection
3. Find the property owner's details on land registry (£3 cost) - may have an alternative address.

fluffymuffy wrote: »

Thanks all. A little more information today. Friend has spoken to the landlord who said that she should not have been offered the room as he no longer wants tenants.

But she has a contract. And a direct debit with the agent, but they are not taking her money. It seems the landlord doesn't want the agent or any tenants.

Friend paid a £200 booking fee and a month's rent as deposit. The deposit is in a holding scheme and I just checked on their website (using address and surname) and it shows up as legit.

Indeed, this is an issue between the LL not de-instructing the agent or the agent overstepping their remit. Either way, you have a valid contract to rent THAT property for atleast 6 months (and then await eviction proceedings through court). So the starting point is friend can ignore everything and live there for 6+ months.

However if LL really doesn't want the tenant, they will likely get notice & eviction proceedings started eventually. So eventually friend will have to move, and if there are other properties that friend would be happy in, then it might be worth their while to move in return for a payout from the LL.

As the LL wants to terminate early, the tenant holds all the cards in demanding a payout to move e.g.
- moving costs covered
- new tenancy fees, referencing etc covered
- deposit returned early
- 1 month to move, rent free
- £x payout

Could end up profitable for the tenant, with a more peaceful few months without the LL/agent trying to get rid of them.