Landlord pulled out a week before I am due to move in - making me homeless

bobbidyboo

Not sure if you guys are aware but there's a major problem with accommodation in London. I've lived there 20 years but never had as many problems as I have recently.

I've spent the better part of 2 years almost permanently accommodation hunting. Nothing available. I've had to settle for a lodger room because I couldn't find a studio flat available. A month later the agent put the rent up by £500, so I have been searching for a place to live yet again - in London it's not that simple. You could search for years and find nothing. As new studio flats come on the market rarely and then fly off the shelf as they get loads of applicants. It's not first come first served- they pick & choose who they want, and often it's not done by price / offer. There's a major shortage of accommodation.

After months of searching I was accepted for a studio flat- it's over my budget but at this point I had no choice as risking homelessness if I don't take it. It's £1500pcm for a 17m2 studio with patio.

My offer was accepted in writing, I paid the holding deposit. Agent said my holding deposit is non-refundable if I don't pass their referencing. I'm aware that this is illegal, but given the alternative was homelessness & job loss, I had to take it. There are many large agents who don't seem to be aware of the law or who circumvent it. It's a nightmare. Fortunately I passed referencing & am due to move in next week.

Sigh of relief.

However, after a long time waiting for their referencing / process to go through, just as I was about to receive the contract to sign, I received a call from the agent's colleague today saying that the landlord no longer wants to accept my offer as he wants higher rent (even though it was previously accepted in writing & I paid the holding deposit). The agent I was talking to is conveniently suddenly ill and is no longer available to speak. I suspect the agent who told me it was £1500, got the price wrong & hadn't done his job properly or spoken to the landlord.

I now have a few days left to find another place- having only found one in months of searching, it seems unlikely.

This could now potentially make me homeless.

Are there no laws to protect people from things like this? I guess not since the contract wasn't signed. The holding deposit seems to be only one-way (protects the landlord from tenant changing their mind but doesn't protect tenant from landlord / agent changing mind). It's a mess out there...

EDIT:
- I'll get the holding deposit back, but that doesn't solve the situation the agent has now pushed me into. I lost 2 other flats I could have got because they lied about this one being accepted.
- in my current place the agent put the rent up by £500 and wants me to sign a 12 month contract with no escape clause
- My partner was forced to leave london due to us being unable to find a flat for so long - working self employed from home is impossible when there's no home
- we had to take a hotel room for almost a year because there was simply nothing out there, my partner living off savings
- when we finally found something, we discovered after moving in that it was uninhabitable- the building shook and vibrated every 2 mins - except specific times - this was hidden from us when we viewed it. Obviously not possible for partner to work
- we've moved more times than we can count but each time end up with problems pushed onto us from previous tenants/owners which are always hidden during viewings
- agents / previous tenants always dishonest. It seems the only way to be sure a flat is legitimate is to check the previous residents chose to renew, otherwise steer clear (99% of properties available seem to not fall in this category)
- as with many london full time workers, my company works on temporary contracts. Mine keeps getting renewed but they can't do longer term contracts. It's therefore not realistic for me to sign a 12 month contract without an escape clause in case my work situation changes

easy

Can you get to Citizens Advice,  or afford a short meeting with a solicitor?  It won't find you a flat,  but might show you a way to get your deposit back.  
I'm not in London these days,  so don't know the system any more.  Can you do a house/flat share for a few months?  Have you asked around friends/acquaintances/work colleagues if anyone has a spare room you can use temporarily,   and also if they know of any flats coming up for rent soon.  

Use whatever contacts you have,  ask everyone you know to keep a look out for you.  I'm sure everyone knows how difficult the situation is right now,  no one will mind you asking.  

One other point is can you compromise on location at all?   If possible widening your geographical area might help you find somewhere.  
Good luck  !

macman

Has the agent returned your deposit? If contracts have not been signed, then yes, either party can withdraw without penalty
I suggest you remain in your current place for now, unless you have voluntarily agreed to vacate it. It will take many months for your LL to obtain a possession order. Have you actually been served with a valid S21, and on what date?

Schwarzwald

bobbidyboo said:

My current place is no longer available and I've been given notice.... This could now potentially make me homeless.

so why is your current place no longer available and where are you staying right now?

bobbidyboo

easy said:

Can you get to Citizens Advice,  or afford a short meeting with a solicitor?  It won't find you a flat,  but might show you a way to get your deposit back.  
I'm not in London these days,  so don't know the system any more.  Can you do a house/flat share for a few months?  Have you asked around friends/acquaintances/work colleagues if anyone has a spare room you can use temporarily,   and also if they know of any flats coming up for rent soon.  

Use whatever contacts you have,  ask everyone you know to keep a look out for you.  I'm sure everyone knows how difficult the situation is right now,  no one will mind you asking.  

One other point is can you compromise on location at all?   If possible widening your geographical area might help you find somewhere.  
Good luck  !

1. Tried CA - useless
2. Can't afford a sol in terms of time or money, plus my experience of sols is that they are out to get your money and not actually help you. Tried before. They'd cost more than the holding deposit anyway
3. I get the holding deposit back but that doesn't negate the fact I lost the other flats available due to the agent accepting my offer & now have to go to a hotel most likely, costing an arm and a leg
4. If I hadn't asked around for spare rooms, I wouldn't be on here posting in desperation. Almost everyone is desperate in London.
5. The fact you think I'm not compromising on location already suggests you're not taking seriously how dire I'm saying the situation is. I'm looking up to an hour's travel from work. Been searching for years. It's THAT bad.

bobbidyboo

macman said:

Has the agent returned your deposit? If contracts have not been signed, then yes, either party can withdraw without penalty
I suggest you remain in your current place for now, unless you have voluntarily agreed to vacate it. It will take many months for your LL to obtain a possession order. Have you actually been served with a valid S21, and on what date?

They say they'll return holdingdeposit but that doesn't get rid of the problem they've caused by telling me it was accepted - I've now lost all other options that were available in time, because of them, and will either have to stay at a hotel (often these are full), pay more than my income in hotel fees or lose my job as a result of the agent's stupidity. They're so casual about it as well. How is this even legal.

You can't remain in your current place when you're a lodger. You don't need to be served a S21. It was a temporary abode until I found a flat. It took me months just to find this temporary room- and now I have to leave here already because agent wants to up rent by £500 and main tenant can't afford it so he's moving out hence I have to move out. It's so much nonsense. Before this I was living in essentially a bedsit come hotel room with my partner for almost a year as we were so desperately searching for somewhere to live but found nothing- in the end my partner had to leave london due to running out of savings. You can't work from home when you have no home, and are self employed. It's just a mess in London right now. Even if you're a multi millionaire, you'd better make sure you have several backup places just in case something happens to your primary residence. Even if you own it. It's a total nightmare.

I'm STILL waiting for the deposit return of my previous landlord who didn't register it with a deposit scheme and isn't replying to any form of contact. They say they're short staffed. I can't afford a lawyer to fight that one. There's just so much nonsense it's impossible to run your life. How can someone who is in a respectable job earning a decent wage be almost constantly facing homelessness in England's capital city? It doesn't make sense.

bobbidyboo

Schwarzwald said:

bobbidyboo said:

My current place is no longer available and I've been given notice.... This could now potentially make me homeless.

so why is your current place no longer available and where are you staying right now?

agent put rent up by £500 and wants a 12 months contract signed with no escape clause- main tenant (it's a 2 bed flat) can't afford it so is moving out, hence I lose my room as a lodger. I only moved in a month ago. It was always intended as a temporary place until I found a studio flat but still nothing is available, or I'm screwed over constantly. It's just been constant for the last few years. No one can live like this. No one.

What on earth happened to a home being something that's possible to get just like a job? It seems in London you can work a full time respectable job and easily be homeless at the same time due to lack of availability.

MultiFuelBurner

This won't help you but this isn't just London. This problem exists in many places.

The interest rates have led a to a number of Landlords leaving the market and that has reduced supply. There is no incentive to become a Landlord right now so that supply will only dwindle.

Prices are rising in the areas we have rental properties to ridiculous amounts and the same appears to be true across many parts of the country with posts like this on the boards.

I know it doesn't help but yes it is becoming common knowledge there are the issues you have raised.

RAS

bobbidyboo said:

macman said:

Has the agent returned your deposit? If contracts have not been signed, then yes, either party can withdraw without penalty
I suggest you remain in your current place for now, unless you have voluntarily agreed to vacate it. It will take many months for your LL to obtain a possession order. Have you actually been served with a valid S21, and on what date?

I'm STILL waiting for the deposit return of my previous landlord who didn't register it with a deposit scheme and isn't replying to any form of contact. They say they're short staffed. I can't afford a lawyer to fight that one. 

You don't need a lawyer to fight this one.

Your ex-LL is not only liable to return your deposit in full, they are liable for a penalty of 1-3 times the deposit. There's advice on CAB and MSE and a load of MSErs here who can coach you through it. The LL has 21 days to respond or you take them to court for the penalty compensation.

For future reference, having failed to register your deposit, any S21 issued by your ex-LL was invalid and the only way they could have issued a valid one was by repaying your deposit in full first. 

timehastoldme

When we had to find somewhere quickly we had better luck on the Northern borders, Enfield direction. There's a train station, is that too far out? 

Sympathies anyway, and good luck, we left 12 years ago now, it's too stressful. 

RAS

P.S have you looked at Property Guardianship, although I guess that's also under pressure.