Subletting

bebe86

Hi,


We are a couple who have been subletting a room in a houseshare with 9 other people (three of these are kids). We paid a £500 deposit and was told that bills (council tax, energy, internet and water) were paid separately.


Whilst the main tenant was away the owner came to the house and when he saw me (black female with dog) he said that dogs aren't allowed (we knew how difficult it is to rent with a dog so before we moved in we double checked with the main tenant that dogs were allowed and he said that it was fine) so the owner told the main tenant that we had to leave asap, this was three months ago, we are finally moving out in two weeks time.


However I have some questions, the landlord was obviously racist (he told the main tenant that he does not want black people living in his house), however question is will we get our deposit back, I know by law we are considered lodgers, however my stance is we asked the main tenant if dogs were allowed he said yes, he obviously lied, and how do we make sure that we only pays bills until or leaving date

Pixie5740

bebe86 wrote: »

Hi,


We are a couple who have been subletting a room in a houseshare with 9 other people (three of these are kids). We paid a £500 deposit and was told that bills (council tax, energy, internet and water) were paid separately.


Whilst the main tenant was away the owner came to the house and when he saw me (black female with dog) he said that dogs aren't allowed (we knew how difficult it is to rent with a dog so before we moved in we double checked with the main tenant that dogs were allowed and he said that it was fine) so the owner told the main tenant that we had to leave asap, this was three months ago, we are finally moving out in two weeks time.


However I have some questions, the landlord was obviously racist (he told the main tenant that he does not want black people living in his house), however question is will we get our deposit back, I know by law we are considered lodgers, however my stance is we asked the main tenant if dogs were allowed he said yes, he obviously lied, and how do we make sure that we only pays bills until or leaving date

If you share accommodation with your landlord you are not subletting.

The racism and dog are red herrings. As long as you have paid your share of the bills and have not caused any damage over and above fair wear and tear you are entitled to your deposit back. If your landlord does not return your deposit or tried to make deductions you do not agree with then you can pursue the return of your money through small claims court.

Edit: I have assumed that the "main tenant" is your landlord. Can you confirm if this is correct?

Cakeguts

Who did you pay the deposit to?



What size is the house that you are renting a room in? How many bedrooms?

G_M

It sounds like
* you agreed your room rental with the 'main tenant' yes?
* you pay your rent to the 'main tenant' yes?
* you paid your deposit to the 'main tenant' yes?


If so, the 'main tenant' is your landlord. He must return your deposit, and this is a matter of negotiation with him over any unpaid rent and/or damage you may have been responsible for.


If he refuses to return all or part of your deposit for reasons you disagree with, then you will have to sue in via the courts.


However if my assumptions above are wrong, and the 'landlord' is your landlord then you are a tenant and all the deposit protection rules apply.

bebe86

No I do not live with the landlord, we paid our deposit and our monthly rent to the "Main tenant" who legally signed the contract with the landlord/owner.


So our names are not on the main contract of the house.


It is a normal size three bedroom house, however the main tenants rents out what would be the living rooms as well, really I don't think he was allow to rent this house for so many people.


My worry is that our relationship with the main tenant has soured (mainly because you realise it's his way or nothing) so we want to get our deposit back and makes sure he does not charge us anything extra for eg: we are moving out on the 8th October the council tax gets paid on the 1st of every month, I don't want him to charge us for the whole of October if we are only there for 8 days, same with all the other bills.

Pixie5740

bebe86 wrote: »

No I do not live with the landlord, we paid our deposit and our monthly rent to the "Main tenant" who legally signed the contract with the landlord/owner.


So our names are not on the main contract of the house.

The "main tenant" is your landlord then and you are his lodger.

bebe86 wrote: »

It is a normal size three bedroom house, however the main tenants rents out what would be the living rooms as well, really I don't think he was allow to rent this house for so many people.

Your landlord may have created a HMO depending on how many households are living in the property. The HMO may require a licence, that can be checked with the local council.

bebe86 wrote: »

My worry is that our relationship with the main tenant has soured (mainly because you realise it's his way or nothing) so we want to get our deposit back and makes sure he does not charge us anything extra for eg: we are moving out on the 8th October the council tax gets paid on the 1st of every month, I don't want him to charge us for the whole of October if we are only there for 8 days, same with all the other bills.

Does your contract with your landlord say how much notice is required to end the agreement? Has the required notice been given?

As I said earlier, if you disagree with any deductions your landlord makes then you can use small claims court to get your money back.

Honeylife

bebe86 wrote: »

No I do not live with the landlord, we paid our deposit and our monthly rent to the "Main tenant" who legally signed the contract with the landlord/owner.

Did you get a signed receipt for the £500 deposit? If yes then should there be any difficulties you can go to the Small Claims Court.

So our names are not on the main contract of the house.

Did you sign a separate Licence Agreement with the 'main tenant' of the house - perfectly legal form of action. If yes then this will assist you should you need to go to the Small Claims

It is a normal size three bedroom house, however, the main tenants rent out what would be the living rooms as well, really I don't think he was allow to rent this house for so many people.

You probably knew this at the time. In future should it be a similar situation sign a Licence Agreement with the Main Tenant who incidently, in legalese, is the Resident Landlord/Live in Landlord.

My worry is that our relationship with the main tenant has soured (mainly because you realise it's his way or nothing) so we want to get our deposit back and makes sure he does not charge us anything extra for eg: we are moving out on the 8th October the council tax gets paid on the 1st of every month, I don't want him to charge us for the whole of October if we are only there for 8 days, same with all the other bills.

What was the Agreement regards the Notice/Break Clause. I think you should be prepared to pay the full months Council Tax, its far too much of a hassle for him to work out a daily rate so my bet is he wont bother. Roll with it. Otherwise be absolutely scupulous in cleaning and replacing any damaged items at departure. Take photographs of the room which will all be useful if you do have to go to the Small Claims court.

Btw how did you pay your Deposit and Rent? via Online Banking or cash? These banking receipts can be useful for the Small Claims Court. Be aware that your arrangement swith the "main tenant"/Resident Landlord is subject to him continuing to be resident and if he decides to depart from the premises before you get your deposit back well you can be pretty sure its goodbye to the Deposit.

Always get Agreements on Paper, including explicit clauses relating to animals and then a subclause that your type of animal is okay, as some landlords only mean small caged creatures like a hampster and will swear blind they told you a sheepdog was not allowed when they actually just said a blanket yes to animals!

I am not going to dismiss the point you made on the issue of being black. Yes it is totally illegal to discriminate against race, but honestly thats an incredibly tuff one to fight, unless you have witnesses and other concrete proof to support you in a Court. In this instance focus on the refund of your deposit. Good luck.

Comms69

bebe86 wrote: »

Hi,


We are a couple who have been subletting a room in a houseshare with 9 other people (three of these are kids). We paid a £500 deposit and was told that bills (council tax, energy, internet and water) were paid separately.


Whilst the main tenant was away the owner came to the house and when he saw me (black female with dog) he said that dogs aren't allowed (we knew how difficult it is to rent with a dog so before we moved in we double checked with the main tenant that dogs were allowed and he said that it was fine) so the owner told the main tenant that we had to leave asap, this was three months ago, we are finally moving out in two weeks time.


However I have some questions, the landlord was obviously racist (he told the main tenant that he does not want black people living in his house), however question is will we get our deposit back, I know by law we are considered lodgers, however my stance is we asked the main tenant if dogs were allowed he said yes, he obviously lied, and how do we make sure that we only pays bills until or leaving date

That seems a bit of a leap, who told you the LL said that?!