Lodger legal rights without inventory, no deposit protection and expired agreement

Michy78

Hello,
I currently rent one of the room in my landlord property . She used to live here but she decided to stay abroad during the pandemic and she will soon return back to England. As i want to move out , i want to give her 1 months of notice and use one month deposit to pay towards the rent but i fear she will not agree to do so as she has been very greedy with money and she often accused me of damaging already faulty appliance although i didn't as she does not do any maintenance in the house and it is a very old house.
My lodger agreement expired over a year ago and she didn't renew it, she also didn't do any inventory although she said she was going to and my deposit is not protected. 
Can  i refuse to pay my last month of rent and use my deposit instead? Can she provide bad reference although i can prove i always paid on time?
I also found out she does not have a gas certificate which is required by law and also an EICR certificate

Any advice is much appreciated 

Kind Regards

Michela

MaryNB

A landlord is not required to protect a lodger's deposit or provide an EICR for a lodger. Those requirements relate to tenancy agreements. An inventory is not a legal requirement. She should have had a gas safety check done though according to Citizens Advice - see Condition of your home.

Since she's lived elsewhere for a considerable amount of time she probably should have given you a proper tenancy agreement. From what I've read it's a bit of a grey area with regards live-in landlord who spends a lot of time away from the property. The pandemic has been going on for over a year and it would be hard for her to argue that it's her main residence. She might try to argue that she still has a room there and all her post goes there. I doubt at any point she would have wanted to give you a tenancy agreement because she would be giving you significantly greater rights to the property. 

If she provides a reference saying you didn't pay your last month's rent well there's nothing stopping her doing that. It would be the truth. The deposit really should be for damage to the property, not to cover your last month's rent if you chose not to pay.

theartfullodger

As she moved out you probably now have an AST.  'Phone Shelter 0808 800 4444 for advice. Landlord will likely argue matters.

saajan_12

Michy78 said:

Hello,
I currently rent one of the room in my landlord property . She used to live here but she decided to stay abroad during the pandemic and she will soon return back to England. -okay, debatable whether you're still a lodger or a tenant. Did she actually move out with a degree of permanence, or did she still maintain a room, receive post, expectation of returning at any time, no expectation of having the place to yourself long term etc..  
As i want to move out , i want to give her 1 months of notice and use one month deposit to pay towards the rent but i fear she will not agree to do so as she has been very greedy with money - that would be against your contract, so her not agreeing to that is not greedy. 
and she often accused me of damaging already faulty appliance although i didn't as she does not do any maintenance in the house and it is a very old house.- are there repair issues impacting the habitability, or just decoration etc?  Have you reported the issues? Anyway irrelevant now, as you're moving out, which is what you should do if you don't like it there. 
My lodger agreement expired over a year ago and she didn't renew it, she also didn't do any inventory although she said she was going to and my deposit is not protected. - and? The paper agreement might have expired, but you kept paying rent and kept living there, so a contractual (even verbal) still exists. The other terms would be deemed to continue the same as on the paper. Inventory and deposit protection are not requirements for a lodger. 
Can  i refuse to pay my last month of rent and use my deposit instead? Can she provide bad reference although i can prove i always paid on time? - well rent is due the first of the month, deposit is only usable at the end (and usually for damages not rent) so that last rent is late. A reference stating that seems fine. 
I also found out she does not have a gas certificate which is required by law and also an EICR certificate - EICR is not required. You can report for the gas cert, but that doesn't affect your deposit / rent / notice. 

Any advice is much appreciated 

Kind Regards

Michela

You have all the rights of a lodger you expected to have when you moved in.

Rent is due at the start of the month usually, so that's when you need to pay it, not use a deposit. Then if you disagree with deposit deductions and can't come to an agreement then write a letter and ultimately file a court claim for your deposit back. You have her address, and she owns a property, so its not exactly going to be an issue getting it back. 

If you choose not to pay, then fully expect a claim for any damages due to the lack of deposit remaining, and a bad reference. Most of the other issues eg condition, deposit protection, EICR, etc are irrelevant. 

getmore4less

Depending where they were stranded there may be a case for their absence being unavoidable and still being a lodger.
If they just chose to stay away because they were anyway would support  the being a tenant position and then that brings in overseas landlord.

Was there anyone else living there?
What would have happened if you had left while they were away.

You could have been gone by now

Michy78

Thank you all for the feedback.
My landlady used to live in this house as well with me as she was sharing the property . She has 3 rooms , one is that one i rent but i am not responsible for any bills . She locked both of the other rooms and during the past 16 months but she didn't tell me that she will stay abroad for so long. I liaised with her brother for collecting her mails and any type of communication. During all this time , i have been doing some small maintenance work and gardening at my own expenses but i never informed her about it , i just cracked on but there are major one to be done as the house is really old and needs some TLC, like plastering , painting and more .I also found out that she didn't service the boiler for over 5 years until it stopped working and the engineer told me.
 I have always paid my rent on time and i actually maintained and improved the property and garden during this time while she was there and also away but my fear is that as she accused me on many occasions in the past even while she was living with me , she will use the fact that i have no legal rights to make false allegation plus when i will leave she won't be here to check as she will still be abroad for maybe other 2 or 3 weeks but now she wants to rent her room to also someone else to make more money . So it seems everything legally is against me.  .
 She never took accountability for any repair. She even glued the toilet seat more than 30 times not to replace it and spend money on it . I feel she purposely choose not to do the inventory although she agreed originally to do it and  i fear she will deduct some of my deposit and make something up as she has been very greedy with money.

For example the oven stopped working and she accused me of breaking it as one day i moved the cooker 2 inch to retrieve something that fell behind.She left me without oven for 11 months until i begged her to repair it. In all this time i kept paying the full rent , while she saved so much electricity and i was forced to change my diet completely.  She accused me of silly things , for example the sliding door sometimes does not lock with the key and needs constant lubricating, the padlock combination got stuck and other silly things but as i say the property is very old and never been refurbished for maybe over 50 years. So this is the reason why i do not want to leave her with my deposit, she will make excuses about giving me back money, the more she earn the less she seems to have . How long does she have for returning my deposit?
Also i tried to contact Shelter but it is impossible to get advice these days . it seems no one is ever available.
So what are my option if she deducts some money

Thank you, any advice is much appreciated

MaryNB

Unfortunately for lodgers they have fewer rights than tenants and the fact a deposit doesn't have to be protected makes things more difficult. 

You can take the landlord to small claims court if they refuse to return your deposit.
Return of a lodger's deposit 

dimbo61

Do you need a reference ?
Where are you moving to ?
Are you paying more in your new home ? 
Will you be renting or buying your own place ?
The Landlord could argue that they were shielding for the last 16 months and could not or did not want to return to the most dangerous country in the World for Covid19 infection rates !
What will happen if you stop paying the rent and move out at the end of the month ?
Most home owners don't get the boiler serviced every year.
Landlords renting out a property on a AST need to have a Gas Safe Certificate done each year but that is not a service.

Michy78

Thank you Dimbo61,
I don't know where i am moving to yet as i made the decision just today .My future place will cost me for sure at least £ 300 more every month which is not ideal as i am not looking to share with anyone.My landlord wants to temporarily rent her current room to someone else for a month in June she said. Then She will return in July for  month if all goes well with the Covid travel restrictions and go back permanently to Ghana . I am so sure she will want to rent the other 2 rooms but i am not willing to share with anyone else especially strangers in these days as i am bit OCD.
My rent is due to be paid tomorrow so i wanted to gather as much legal information as possible as i never had any issue before with landlords accusations especially as i have been a very responsible and reliable tenant and i am worried that i will loose some of my money from my deposit as she will make up something for sure or she will provide bad reference if i decide that i will use my deposit towards my last month of rent 

caprikid1

I think you need to assume you won't get your deposit back and it will cost too much to try and get the money. If you work on that basis, she is unlikely to come after you for any unpaid rent. Make sure you have a mail redirect in place.

TBagpuss

If you are concerned about her claiming tyou broke / damaged things then make sure that *you* take photos immedicably before you move out, and also keep records of any damage / outstanding repairs which you've advised her of.  That way, if she accused you of causing damage you will be able to provide proof, if need be, that the item wasn't damaged when you moved out, or that it was already worn out and you'd advised her of the same, during your occupation.

Bear in mind she would not be entitled to claim for normal wear and tear 

If she didn't do an inventory when you moved in it would be difficult for her to prove you'd caused any damage - it would be your word against hers.

Strictly speaking you should not withhold rent to recover your deposit as they are two separate issues.
Do you have proof that you paid the deposit and that it was a deposit, not rent in advance?