Will I get my deposit back in my situation?

Assets

I had an Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement for a room in a house share which was originally for a period of 3 months from 18 July to 18 October and I gave the landlord one month rent in advance of £750 plus a deposit of £750. The aggreement written by the landlord states that I have to to give TWO months notice in advance in writing if I want to move out. I did not move out on 18 Oct as I just came back from visiting my wife abroad who had just gave birth to our child that time and I was still in process of searching for a new place for three of us to live (house share is not a suitable accomodation if you are sponsoring your wife from abroad to come to the UK). So I told the landlord about my definite intention to leave only on 28 October and we aggreed by whatsapp that my tenancy would end on 18th November but he kind of gave me a stark warning that I was liable for the rent and for advertising cost that needs to be done to find tenants. The tenancy aggreement states as quoted: I have to give ''at least two month's notice in writing''. Today I asked him to return my £750 by whatsapp message but he told that I have breached the notice period and ''it is unlikely that you will get the adnvanced rent''. He said that the room is still not let and that he has not mitigated his losses. I think he refers to the deposit that I gave him as ''advance rent'' as it is written in his AST aggreement. My deposit was not put in any protection scheme and he just asked me to transfer it to his bank account which I did. Also the deposit mentioned in the AST is £500 however he took from me £750 at the beginning of the tenancy under the pretext that I am not able to provide UK based guarantors. Worth adding that the house was in a very poor condition the landlord barely ever fixes anything and always used to tell us that tenants are responsible for all the fixes.. Tenants told me that this landlord is also a lawyer so I kind of feel at a disadvantage if I make any request from him. THinking I should probably start by requesting my deposit by email? Untill when am I really liable for the rent? Will he lawfully be able to take take all of my £750?

FlorayG

A difficult situation for you as your deposit was not protected; this is a legal requirement and you could take your landlord to court over it, but are you prepared to do that? (If he really is a lawyer you can possibly also report him to whatever lawyers association there is so you have an advantage there).
As for the agreement, it seems you agreed to two month notice so you should be required to pay rent two months from 28th October. Landlord warned you that you would still be liable after your move out date
So as far as I can see yes you are legally liable BUT the landlord has broken the law anyway so you could pursue him for quite a large payout. I'm not a legal expert though.
Up to what date have you actually paid rent?

es5595

Just checking it was definitely a live-out landlord? 

Was the advance rent prescribed for a month? If not, it is a deposit and should have been protected. Do you have your landlords home address? 

Assets

Sorry I am not sure if the advance rent prescribed or not. It says on the aggrement, quote: ''The sum of 500.00 (500.00 pounds) has been taken as advance payment as rent''. It was a live-out landlord. The landlord's home address is not stated anywhere on the tenancy aggreement. Instead he gives his email address and phone. He goes like this on the tenancy:

2.2 Section 48

Until you are informed in writing to the contrary Notice is given pursuant to section 48(1) of the

Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 that your Landlord’s address for the service of Notices (including

Notices in proceedings) is as follows:

Mr xxxxxx xxxx

xxxxxxxx@hotmail.com

I am willing to post the agreement in full with his name and details cropped out if it is okay?

FlorayG

Sneaky. No deposit, then, just extra rent. I don't know if he can get away with that being as you paid him actual rent in advance. On the other hand, how did he 'take' £750 from you if you agreed on £500?
I would speak with CAB or SHELTER see if they can help

Assets

I actually paid him the rent in advance too. I gave him £750 upfront for rent + £750 when I moved in.

FlorayG

Assets said:

I actually paid him the rent in advance too. I gave him £750 upfront for rent + £750 when I moved in.

Why did you give him £750 when the agreement says £500? And, point for the landlord, if it's an extra month's rent paid over then it should have said £750 on the agreement.
Whichever, you've given two months notice as agreed from 28th October so you are responsible to pay until until 28th December, shyster landlord or not. So if you don't give him any more money now I think he's entitled to keep it; but that's just my opinion, I'm not a tenancy lawyer

Assets

He asked to transfer £250 extra to his account because I didn't have a guarantor.. 

Myci85

There is every chance, depending on the contract wording, that your 2 months notice should have coincided with a rent due date, e.g. 18th of the month, meaning you'd be responsible for paying rent until 17th January. You might be best off not quibbling the £750 advance rent payment in that case, as it doesn't sound like it was taken as a deposit against damages, and therefore no need to protect it. 
Did you make a rent payment on 18th Nov?

dinosaur66

landlord has to put your deposit in a scheme called TDS its govt backed /free to use and covers your deposit / they also act on behalf of the tennant and are free to use for tennants as well / i have to use the scheme for propertys i manage myself and propertys that i use letting agents / i do not think there is a way round it as a landlord .

look up TDS and contact them and they will know straight away whether he put your deposit with them.

if he did not he is still liable / but as a HMO owner and a lawyer i find it virtually impossible your deposit is not registered with them/

Bookworm105

it is perfectly legal to take "advance rent" provided the intent to treat it as such is "clear" from the outset.
Rent in advance - Shelter England
Is rent in advance a deposit?
That does not make it into a deposit which must be protected.

it appears in your case that it was intended from the outset to be "advance rent" not a "security deposit". The fact he assessed you as lacking a suitable guarantor and thus increased the size of payment to equate to 1 full month's rent lends further support to that idea.

so you have paid him:
18 July - 17 Aug £750 first month's rent + £750 advance rent
18 Aug - 17 Sept £750 rent (advance rent carried over)
18 Sept - 17 Oct £750 rent  (advance rent carried over)

you failed to give notice on or before 18 Oct, instead you notified the LL on 28 Oct, at which point the terms of the contract refer to "2 months".
As others have suggested, without seeing the actual wording, it is unclear if "2 months" means calendar months from date of notification or 2 rental periods from date of notification. Either way you will certainly, as minimum, owe rent for 18 Oct - 17 Nov and 18 Nov - 17 Dec.

at this point in time, to get you to 17 Dec, you have already paid one lot of rent (the original advance rent)  and so would need to make one further payment of £750. However, if the contract is rental periods, then as others suggest, you would need to pay rent for 18 Dec - 17 Jan as well to get to the termination date. 

So, whether you need to make 1 x £750 or 2 x £750 further payments depends on the exact wording of the notice clause in your contract.

if the LL then discovers there has been damage to the property he would need to take legal action against you to claim for any costs since there is no deposit from which to deduct such damage.

one thing for sure, you not entitled to a refund.