Landlord making deductions from deposit which wasn't protected

peachybonbon1

Hi Guys,

I moved out of my share house at the end of last month (April) and asked my landlord about the amount of deposit I can expect to receive back. He is making deductions for three light bulbs which doesn't concern me that much. The biggest issue is that he has decided to with hold £140 from a £600 deposit as the other tenants have told him this is for the water bill. There has not been a water account in anyone's name for the house since a previous tenant left in February so I do not know where he is getting this amount from or which tenant he proposes to pay the amount to.

I have contacted the water company who said that the entire bill from Feb to April is £80 therefore I would owe around £32 for my share. The landlord returned the remainder of my deposit today but obviously it is wrong for him to keep back such an inflated amount without proof.

In addition, he never registered my deposit with a tenancy protection scheme from when he received it two years ago and I have asked him to confirm whether he has protected it which he ignored.

Does anyone have any recommendations on how to deal with these issues? I have contacted Shelter but they were unclear other than advising me to bring a claim for the protection issue in court but I am emigrating in 3 weeks!

Thanks for any assistance!!!

theartfullodger

Send draft letter from Shelter website for up to 3xdeposit & dispute deductions threaten him with court.

Stupid landlord

quantumlobster

peachybonbon1 wrote: »

Hi Guys,

I moved out of my share house at the end of last month (April) and asked my landlord about the amount of deposit I can expect to receive back. He is making deductions for three light bulbs which doesn't concern me that much. The biggest issue is that he has decided to with hold £140 from a £600 deposit as the other tenants have told him this is for the water bill. There has not been a water account in anyone's name for the house since a previous tenant left in February so I do not know where he is getting this amount from or which tenant he proposes to pay the amount to.

I have contacted the water company who said that the entire bill from Feb to April is £80 therefore I would owe around £32 for my share. The landlord returned the remainder of my deposit today but obviously it is wrong for him to keep back such an inflated amount without proof.

In addition, he never registered my deposit with a tenancy protection scheme from when he received it two years ago and I have asked him to confirm whether he has protected it which he ignored.

Unlucky for him.

Does anyone have any recommendations on how to deal with these issues? I have contacted Shelter but they were unclear other than advising me to bring a claim for the protection issue in court but I am emigrating in 3 weeks!

Best get a wiggle on, then!

Thanks for any assistance!!!

Refer to G_M's excellent post:

Deposits: payment, protection and return

Housebuy12345

Tell him to get !!!!ed for the light bulbs as wlel

G_M

Clarity needed regarding the legal set-up....

peachybonbon1 wrote: »

I moved out of my share house at the end of last month (April) and asked my landlord about the amount of deposit I can expect to receive back.
'shared' with who?
1) the landlord?
2) 1 or more other 'joint tenants' with whom you share a contract?
3) 1 or more other tenants who are all on separate contracts?

He is making deductions for three light bulbs which doesn't concern me that much. The biggest issue is that he has decided to with hold £140 from a £600 deposit as the other tenants have told him this is for the water bill.
4) Are the other 'tenants' moving out?
5) is the tenany ending?
6) how and by who has the tenancy been ended?

There has not been a water account in anyone's name for the house since a previous tenant left in February so I do not know where he is getting this amount from or which tenant he proposes to pay the amount to.
7) what does your tenancy agreement say about utilities, and water in particular? Please quote in full.

I have contacted the water company who said that the entire bill from Feb to April is £80 therefore I would owe around £32 for my share. The landlord returned the remainder of my deposit today but obviously it is wrong for him to keep back such an inflated amount without proof.
8) please answer all the above Qs as that will influence what you can do, and how.

In addition, he never registered my deposit with a tenancy protection scheme from when he received it two years ago and I have asked him to confirm whether he has protected it which he ignored.
9) please answer all the above Qs as that will influence what you can do, and how.

......................................................................................................

agrinnall

While it's a pity to let him get away with it I think you need to concentrate on what you actually have to get done before you emigrate rather than what you'd like to do. The fact is that your LL can easily delay responding at all until after you have left the country, and once that's happend it'll probably cost you considerably more than you are actually losing to pursue to the bitter end.

peachybonbon1

Hi guys,

Thank you for all your helpful responses. I shared the house with 3 other tenants who all signed agreements with the same terms but different start dates. The other tenants are still there as they have a few months left on their leases. My tenancy ended at the end of April as I gave a months written notice to the landlord. I was on a renewed 12 month lease until December last year and from that point it was a rolling one month contract where I had to give one months notice to vacate and was not responsible from that point for finding a new tenant for the room.

The agreement states:

"The landlord may retain the deposit until you
have done the above and provided proof of the settlement of all utility bills
and council tax for the property; otherwise it will be returned to you within
14 days of the end of the tenancy.
If you do not do so the Landlord may deduct from the deposit:

any rent or other money legally owed to him, plus interest at 2%
above the bank rate of the Royal Bank of Scotland;
- reasonable compensation if you have broken any of the terms of
this agreement;
- reasonable cost of making good any damage not caused by fair
wear and tear.

So the agreement does not state anything about water specifically. The water account is now in the remaining tenants joint names not the landlords and they are sending the bill to that house but the remaining tenants are refusing to provide a copy of the bill to the landlord and he has still retained £140 of my deposit despite the total bill not even being close to that amount. He has also stopped responding to my emails!

Comms69

As the property is clearly a HMO, the LL is responsible for council tax.

CIS

Was it a joint tenancy or where you just renting a room/paying rent on only part of a property ?

Comms69

CIS wrote: »

Was it a joint tenancy or where you just renting a room/paying rent on only part of a property ?

From what I understood it's all separate contracts.

G_M

So you have no legal relationship with the other occupants. They are on separate tenancy agreements.

I find it hard to believe your tenancy agreement does not make clear whether or not you are liable for utility costs. However, if the tenancy agreement simply specifies 'rent', with no obligation to pay for or contribute towards utilities, then you have no liability for utilities.

So stop talking to the water company.
Stop talking to the other occupants.

Write (yes a letter) to the landlord, at the address provided by him (by law) simply requesting your deposit back in full within 7 days.

Refer to the Housing Act 2004 and inform the LL that if the deposit is not returned within this timeframe you will either
* refer the matter to the depoit scheme arbitration process if the deposit is registered or
* make a claim for the penalty for failing to register the deposi if it has not been registered.


* Deposits: payment, protection and return