Landlord being difficult.

AmberRose99

Hi, I was just looking for some advice.
We moved out of our rented house a year ago and to a different part of the country and our son who had split up with his wife moved in after us. Just before the lockdown was put into place our son began moving out of the property, please keep in mind that we lived in this property for about 15 years, got on really well with the landlords and probably did about 9k worth of work to it out of our own back pockets. Due to the lockdown being put in place my son has not had chance to take any of the stuff that was kept in the garage, an old sofa and table and things like that, to the tip because they are closed. Now the landlord is saying she does not care that there is a pandemic she needs the stuff out by whatever means possible as she needs to show new tenants around so they can move in asap - which I'm sure is against the current guidelines? She is saying that she will not give us our deposit back unless we move the stuff out but it is quite literally impossible due to the fact that we as an entire family are all having to self isolate due to coming under the vulnerable peoples category due to health problems? We were just wondering if she is right and if we have any rights?
Thank you.

samwilki

Hi,

The government guidelines are to stop people being evicted through no fault of their own, unfortunately the landlord will be losing out on rent due to delaying their tenant moving in (which could be a key worker self isolating from their family).  I do believe a lot of private tips's are open so it might be worth getting in touch with them as they will be able to take the items but obviously this incur a cost but it will be less than if the landlord charges for item removal.

bradders1983

You are going to have to relent here, she has a right to earn money renting a house out she will have a mortgage on and she may will be looking to move keyworkers in.

Someone going there to empty it....well it doesnt have to be anyone in your household. Hire someone to do it.

She needed more than she needed to do by letting you use the house for storage rent free tbh.

AmberRose99

bradders1983 said:

You are going to have to relent here, she has a right to earn money renting a house out she will have a mortgage on and she may will be looking to move keyworkers in.

Someone going there to empty it....well it doesnt have to be anyone in your household. Hire someone to do it.

She needed more than she needed to do by letting you use the house for storage rent free tbh.

It hasn't been used storage free, the rent was paid for up until the end of this month.

bradders1983

AmberRose99 said:

bradders1983 said:

You are going to have to relent here, she has a right to earn money renting a house out she will have a mortgage on and she may will be looking to move keyworkers in.

Someone going there to empty it....well it doesnt have to be anyone in your household. Hire someone to do it.

She needed more than she needed to do by letting you use the house for storage rent free tbh.

It hasn't been used storage free, the rent was paid for up until the end of this month.

I see. In that case remind her of this and arrange to have it all picked up by the end of Thursday 

Thrugelmir

Why didn't your son clear the garage at the same time as the house when he vacated? The LL presumably fees that there never was any intention to clear it. 

AmberRose99

Thrugelmir said:

Why didn't your son clear the garage at the same time as the house when he vacated? 

Because he planned to move out over a 2 day period. He moved all of the stuff out of the house on the day we went into lockdown and planned on going back the next day to clear the garage. Obviously he couldn't then go back the next day due to the lockdown.

bradders1983

People are still moving house, it is perfectly allowed if people arent able to delay it.

Given you cant delay picking up these belongs then you need to make arrangements to do it imo.

samwilki

Hi,
If your rent is paid up until the end of the month then that's fine, the items can still be there, but any days over what he has paid could very well incur storage costs from the landlord.  

A_Lert

If your tenancy ends at the end of the month then the landlord cannot demand the property be vacant before then! And should not be doing viewings or repairs without your permission, even if you have already moved out.

Your landlord cannot withhold the deposit because they feel like it, they can only deduct reasonable costs they've actually incurred. (Though in a tenancy that started 15 years ago, laws might be different to new tenancies.)

If you don't want the items, I would contact the landlord saying I apologise for leaving X Y Z behind and the landlord may dispose of them as they see fit. The landlord can deduct from the deposit for the cost of doing so. But they can't for example pay a man £50 to take them away then keep a £500 deposit.

If you want to keep the items, contact the landlord informing them that they are yours and you will retrieve them when it's reasonable to do so. As mentioned you're entirely able to hire someone else to do it, so self-isolating yourselves isn't likely to be a good reason for a long delay. On the other hand a delay of a few days after the end of the tenancy would be reasonable. The landlord can't just throw away your stuff on the 1st May.

Fire_Fox

Your son could have continued with and completed his removal after the 'lockdown'. Moving house classed as essential if the process is too far along to be stopped.

Unless you are all in the 'highly vulnerable'/ 'shielding' category you are permitted to leave the house for essential purposes. This does not sound like a particularly risky activity.

A landlord is permitted to re-let a property that is vacant. There are prospective tenants in urgent need of new accommodation (eg. in temporary accommodation/ fleeing domestic violence/ homeless). Many initial viewings and much of the documentation is being done online now, the remainder obeying 'social distancing'. However a landlord should not be letting a property that is still under a contract with the previous tenant which this one appears to be until the end of the month.