Housing legal advice

chantelle18

 On November 19th myself, my partner and our 1 year old moved into a property was believed was residential. Little did we know we are actually staying in a commercial property. Two days ago, our landlord called us to let us know that he’s knew since December that the council want him to pay £1200 to have this property approved as residential which he is refusing to pay. So our first problem is why did our rent agency list this as residential knowing it was commercial just because ‘they thought they would get the go ahead’. This was manager words to me. I have spoken to citizens advice and shelter Scotland who both agree that we have a good case to take this the full way legally as we should never have been allowed to move in here as a family when it is a commercial property. Not only this, last month we asked if we were allowed to decorate so she asked for permission from the landlord who agreed knowing what he already knew since November! So we spent £400 of our savings decorate to now be landed with all this! The landlord said on the phone call he could let us stay here and say he’s using the building for property use and he would draw up his own contract for us(which we don’t agree with). He also said as long as we don’t tell the council so he obviously knows what he’s doing as wrong as he doesn’t want us to pay council tax. He’s been in constant contact with us. He also wanted us to set up a fake business so he can sub let us the property from his business which we don’t think sounds legal. Also, our landlord is the father of the manager at the renting agency which I think doesn’t add up with this also. We’ve also now been giving our 3 month notice aswell. So far we’ve had no apology. Just hassle, stress and emotional despair. Can anyone help with how far I can take
this legally please?

martindow

chantelle18 said:

I have spoken to citizens advice and shelter Scotland

Just emphasising this.  English laws are probably not going to be the same.

davidmcn

chantelle18 said:

I have spoken to citizens advice and shelter Scotland who both agree that we have a good case to take this the full way legally 

A good case for what? It's not clear what you want to achieve. Stay there?

AlexMac

You are right to be angry, and as you have already taken legal advice from SHELTER and the CAB, and presumably looked at the advice at   https://www.mygov.scot/resolve-housing-dispute/
I can't improve on their advice; in fact I guess you now know better than we do;

1 -  whether you stand a chance of a successful legal action for any redress for your losses - which are...? £400 for decorations? Removal Costs? Possibly offset by the £400 -£600 which you'll have saved by not paying Council Tax  for the period Nov - May 21 when your notice expires and you vacate? What the costs and risks to you of such action are?

2 -  if you ignore the notice to quit and simply refuse to leave til you've found another more suitable home, or if you just want to make life difficult for the LL and Agent, how long it will take the LL to get a Sheriff Officer to evict (assuming the law in Scotland you is anything like England; I don't have a clue, but when I was briefly a commercial LL for a Social Landlord's portfolio of 40 retail properties we had a couple of tenants living/squatting in their shops and it took a while to evict; in the end I did it through kindness and encouragement rather than cruelty)  

3 - if the LL has any realistic chance of a successful counter-claim against you (for what? Decorating without approval unless you have this in writing? Retention of deposit for alleged damage assuming an inventory and evidence? Not paying rent if you simply stop? Securing a Court Order against you for payment of any of this..?)

And again, probably only you know if

4 - if you'll find it easy to secure an alternative, affordable property to rent; and

5 - if you'll need a reference to take out a tenancy, and whether you already have an earlier positive refererence from a previous LL or if you need to keep on the right side of the current duplicitous bedsted in case he shafts you, or worse? 

But as the website above says;

-  "Going to the .. Tribunal to solve a problem can be stressful. It's usually best to try to find another solution" 

it might be worth cutting your losses and moving on?

 

At least you won’t be using the LL’s wee boy as an Agent again?  In fact (as they are legally obliged to register and adopt a code of conduct including a complaints procedure) they probably won’t want you as a customer after you’ve lodged a formal complaint with them, then, as they almost inevitably won’t give you a satisfactory reply, you’ve moved on to the next stage with a complaint to the Tribunal in line with the advice at the bottom of the page at

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/scotland/housing/renting-a-home-s/starting-a-tenancy/letting-agents-s/#register

None of which will help you, but if you can be bothered, it might make you feel better to give 'em grief?

I hope you enjoy a better experience next time; good luck!

chantelle18

Give them grief? Yes it’s nothing less than they deserve after all the grief they’ve gave us

chantelle18

davidmcn said:

chantelle18 said:

I have spoken to citizens advice and shelter Scotland who both agree that we have a good case to take this the full way legally 

A good case for what? It's not clear what you want to achieve. Stay there?

A good case to take them the full way legally obviously after what they’ve put us through

theoretica

Is your landlord allowed to give you 3 months notice?  Didn't you sign for a full 12 months fixed term contract or something?

What would you want to do if he does pay the £1200 and get residential permission?

greatcrested

chantelle18 said:

davidmcn said:

chantelle18 said:

I have spoken to citizens advice and shelter Scotland who both agree that we have a good case to take this the full way legally 

A good case for what? It's not clear what you want to achieve. Stay there?

A good case to take them the full way legally obviously after what they’ve put us through

I too am unclear what "take them the full way legally" means. What do you want/hope to claim legally?

At present it seems you are paying rent and have received accommodation in return.

The council may or may not regularise the property at which point there may or may not be a problem. If there is, we/you don't yet know what that problem will be.

Slithery

What monetary loss have you suffered?

That's the only thing you have a valid claim for.

[Deleted User]

theoretica said:

Is your landlord allowed to give you 3 months notice?  Didn't you sign for a full 12 months fixed term contract or something?

What would you want to do if he does pay the £1200 and get residential permission?

The OP is in Scotland. There are no fixed terms for Private Rental Tenancies. 

[Deleted User]

@chantelle18, have you checked the Landlord Register to see if the landlord is registered for that property? My guess is that he won’t be since it’s not a residential property so you can report him to the council as that is a criminal offence that can be accompanied by a penalty of up to £50,000 and a ban on letting properties. 

https://www.landlordregistrationscotland.gov.uk/

What has Shelter Scotland advised you to do? Stay put and fight the notice to leave at the FTT or to move out and go for a wrongful termination order? Take the letting agent to the FTT? Take the landlord to the FTT for something else? 

https://www.mygov.scot/letting-agent-registration-tenants/