Demand made by landlord

twinkle13

Hi guys,

I need some advice about a condition made by my landlord.

So i have two cats which go through the main front door in the house i have rent a studio, i'm right by the front door. There have been different conversations with the estate agent, their bells are loud, took them off. My neighbour commented that my cat shouldn't be in the hallway, which I didn't realise and immediately shooed outside when caught. The front door is busy so sneaking in happens without my knowledge. It's harmless, old and reflexes 9/10 and quiet.

About a month ago i get a formal notice of breach of contract, i had a litter box (always clean never used) in a toilet that originally was a communal toilet but I am now the only one using it as i don't have a toilet in my room. A bed that I put in the hallway when the sneaking happened as the neighbour moaned. There was an inspection that resulted in this formal notice. I was asked to remove it and i did. explained it was a preventative measure nothing more.

a few days ago i get a call to say i've got 2 months to move out. As my pets are a nuisance, A rug was needing to be replaced which i split some cleaning fluid ammonia, I let the build manager know beforehand but the landlord didn't. i didn't know building manager wasn't eh landlord. so they gave the reasoning that the rug needs replacing. There's apparently compliments made direct to the landlord about a smell which is not true, it's all embellished.

I made arrangments for the pets and landlord has now added a condition of cleaning the carpet of entrance or replacing it. There is no damage to the carpet it's just very dirty do to muddy shoes and the landlords work men walking on it. There has not been a reason for this condition so i thinking this is exploitation. this need to be dealt with for the end of contract thing to be revoked.

I have also checked my tenancy agreement it doesn't mention my cats at all. My first tenancy agreement did ( it was another management agency) this new contract should end in April 2020.

So my question what can i do about the unreasonable request regarding the carpet. the state of it has nothing to do with me. I've taken video's of the last few days, it's just the tenants, they busy in the evenings. the cat have not damaged it at all.

I want to stay here longer however I don't know how to go about this carpet situation.
Also, the tenancy not including the pets, is that major?

any help would be appreciated

tom9980

twinkle13 wrote: »

Hi guys,

I need some advice about a condition made by my landlord.

So i have two cats which go through the main front door in the house i have rent a studio, i'm right by the front door. There have been different conversations with the estate agent, their bells are loud, took them off. My neighbour commented that my cat shouldn't be in the hallway, which I didn't realise and immediately shooed outside when caught. The front door is busy so sneaking in happens without my knowledge. It's harmless, old and reflexes 9/10 and quiet.

About a month ago i get a formal notice of breach of contract, i had a litter box (always clean never used) in a toilet that originally was a communal toilet but I am now the only one using it as i don't have a toilet in my room. A bed that I put in the hallway when the sneaking happened as the neighbour moaned. There was an inspection that resulted in this formal notice. I was asked to remove it and i did. explained it was a preventative measure nothing more.

a few days ago i get a call to say i've got 2 months to move out. As my pets are a nuisance, A rug was needing to be replaced which i split some cleaning fluid ammonia, I let the build manager know beforehand but the landlord didn't. i didn't know building manager wasn't eh landlord. so they gave the reasoning that the rug needs replacing. There's apparently compliments made direct to the landlord about a smell which is not true, it's all embellished.

I made arrangments for the pets and landlord has now added a condition of cleaning the carpet of entrance or replacing it. There is no damage to the carpet it's just very dirty do to muddy shoes and the landlords work men walking on it. There has not been a reason for this condition so i thinking this is exploitation. this need to be dealt with for the end of contract thing to be revoked.

I have also checked my tenancy agreement it doesn't mention my cats at all. My first tenancy agreement did ( it was another management agency) this new contract should end in April 2020.

So my question what can i do about the unreasonable request regarding the carpet. the state of it has nothing to do with me. I've taken video's of the last few days, it's just the tenants, they busy in the evenings. the cat have not damaged it at all.

I want to stay here longer however I don't know how to go about this carpet situation.
Also, the tenancy not including the pets, is that major?

any help would be appreciated

You have a contract until April unless the landlord uses an s8 notice with the correct grounds and takes you to court and wins then you cannot be evicted in 2 months. Has the notice been issued in writing yet? If so in what form?

However rightly or wrongly you will be evicted eventually that's for certain, you seem to have annoyed the neighbors and landlord they seem unlikely to change their minds.

twinkle13

thanks for responding.

they only sent an email nothing formal. They mentioned tghat they will give me two months and they don't want to have to go the formal route. there willing to give me that 2 months realse my deposit quickly.

could you advise on the carpet? what can i do about that.

G_M

You spilt amonia on the rug. You caused damage. You can be charged for that either now, or, if you don't pay, via your deposit when you leave.

You do not have to leave now or in 2 months unless a court orders you to.
Is there a 'Break Clause' in the contract that the landlord can use?
If not, he must serve a S21 Notice to expire in April, or a S8 Notice based on one of these 17 Grounds here.(possibly G13 or 14? Maybe 15?)

From what you say, it seems very likely that the LL will not renew your tenancy in April and if you don't leave will seek a court order (no reason needed at that time).

My advice is therefore to either
* give away the cat, or
* look for a more appropriate property where the cat will not be a problem. If you find somewhere between now and April, the landlord may well be flexible about your notice period as it saves him going to court.


More here about how a landlord can evict a tenant:
* Ending/renewing an AST: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?

kdotdotdotdot

Twinkle13 - I think you've confused the issue by mentioning a rug inside your studio which you DID damage and then the carpet at the entrance hall, which you say is damaged by other tenants and workmen coming/going.

It does sounds as though you've been a bit of a difficult tenant - putting furniture (a bed?) in a shared hallway, putting a litter tray in a shared toilet, having cats when they aren't allowed and letting them roam around the public areas.

I can't give any useful advice about the carpet, but generally it's easy-ish to see damage from cats because they'll have been clawing the carpet up in threads. Wear and tear from foottraffic will look different.

Smodlet

If you rent, you need specific permission to keep pets; sometimes even the type of pet can be specified e.g. some landlords don't mind fish in a tank but do mind dogs and cats; some don't mind cats but do not accept dogs, believe it or not.

If your tenancy agreement does not specifically allow you to keep cats, you are in breach of it and could be evicted on this ground.

Just so you know, I love cats but would never keep them in a rented property unless I knew it was allowed.

onwards&upwards

A room in a shared house (?) is not a great situation to be keeping two cats.

If I were you I would move on and look for a place you can rent that is just yours or lodgings somewhere your cats will be welcome.

diggingdude

seriously who keeps cats in a room in a shared house????

G_M

diggingdude wrote: »

seriously who keeps cats in a room in a shared house????

To be fair, I did as a student. Mind you, the other 3 had dogs.......

onwards&upwards

G_M wrote: »

To be fair, I did as a student. Mind you, the other 3 had dogs.......

Well that’s it, with sharing you either need to very much keep to yourself or find like minded people who are happy to have another cat lover/tap dancer/tuba player/nudist in the house!

LandyAndy

kdotdotdotdot wrote: »

It does sounds as though you've been a bit of a difficult tenant - putting furniture (a bed?) in a shared hallway, .

I thought the OP meant a cat bed.