Housing possession claim with a counterclaim - offer to settle or wait for trial?

bomodo

Evening all,

I am the tenant in this situation and I'll try to keep this short and simple. Facts of the case:

- tenancy started in 2019, went periodic in 2021, new tenancy started in 2022, went periodic in 2023. heating and plumbing were problematic in the house since the start of the tenancy, however the landlord has been repairing things up to 2022 and then stopped

- S21 proceedings failed in October, 2023 as my deposit wasn't protected and no gas safety checks have been done since 2019

- deposit is still not protected

- rent increased by £300 (700 -> 1000) via S13 in Nov, 2023, I refused to pay the increase due to ongoing disrepair: gas heating not working properly (or just plain not working at all) since 2022 and I had to buy electric heaters and pay more costly electric heating to heat the house

- landlord stopped all repairs in 2022 and never made efforts to repair the gas heating after that and claimed in court (as part of the S21 process) that there is in fact no gas in the house at all (no idea why he did that)

- I do not dispute that the rent was lawfully raised and due, I do not dispute that I owe this amount and I accept that I refused to pay it due to the disrepair

- S8 possession claim started due to rent arrears as I now owe £3600

- I counterclaimed for the unprotected deposit and disrepair to the value of £10000 (4x tenancies with £2100 compensation each + £1600 for the cost of 3x electric heaters, inconvenience due to disrepair and having to pay a lot more for electric heating as I am unable to use gas for heating)

- I am aware I am not going to get £10000, but I feel confident my claim is worth around £5000 and certainly more than my arrears

- landlord is using an eviction specialist and on the first hearing they have requested it adjourned in order to reply to my defense and counterclaim. this was granted and the hearing was adjourned for next month. the next hearing is likely going to be a directions hearing only anyway

- landlord has since replied to my defense and counterclaim, but the reply wasn't of any substance, aside from claiming that the landlord did not know about the disrepair. However, I have copies of emails where I raised these issues, not to mention that the disrepair was also mentioned in court for the S21 proceedings as the court has sent the landlord a letter stating that the tenants are reporting a faulty gas boiler in the property

- I do not qualify for legal aid, and although I have had help from a solicitor to write my defense and counterclaim, I was not impressed with how unprofessional they were, and I did not really get a better feel of any other company, so I am just representing myself in this

- I do not actually want to stay in this house and I will be moving abroad as soon as this is done, so I am not interested in keeping possession and would gladly give it back, but I am not doing it before this court case is resolved. I might be coming back to UK in 5-10 years time, so I would like to have this case settled either by a trial or out of court, but I am not giving the property back so that the landlord can then make repairs and say there was never any disrepair!

- all my contact to the landlord is via the eviction specialist as they have stated I am not to contact the landlord directly

So my questions now are:

1.) do I need to provide a reply to the landlord's reply and provide evidence etc, or do I just wait with that until the trial actually starts? I don't want to engage in "ping pong" with replies, statements, evidence if this is not necessary, but I also don't want to go the next hearing and get asked why I have not replied?

2.) can I make a settlement offer? I know Part 36 rules do not apply for housing possession matters, but can this still be settled out of court? I want my deposit back and probably £1000 in compensation. In return I would drop my deposit and disrepair claims and surrender my tenancy at short notice (I am only limited by availability of flights and can leave whenever). Of course, I expect the possession claim to be ended and rent arrears written off.

3.) do I let the landlord / eviction specialist know that I am willing to surrender the tenancy as soon as this matter is resolved and / or otherwise settled, and wait to see if they instead approach me with an offer to settle?

4.) if I do make an offer to settle, do I do so "Without prejudice" or "Without prejudice save as to costs"? Or does it not really matter in my case?

5.) how long does a trial like this normally take? even though I would like this sorted as soon as possible so that I can finally move, I don't mind waiting a few more months if needs be, but I wouldn't want this lasting another year...

Thank you all for reading, I appreciate it. Any advice / suggestion is welcome.

HampshireH

I can't answer the above but. The fact he has stopped all repairs does that mean no gas safety checks either as he has cited no gas?

Have you been to your local council about the disrepair and had them involved to get repairs acted upon?

FlorayG

I would go for a variation on number three but worded very, VERY carefully - you don't want this eviction specialist to take this as you giving notice to quit. If s/he is good at the job they will advise the LL to make an offer as he is clearly in the wrong here and the ES will know that it could end up with the LL being forced to pay you a huge compensation

silvercar

With rent arrears of £3600 and rising, I would be looking to settle. Winning in court is not a given. 

doodling

Hi,

With arrears greater than 2x the rent, then, assuming a valid S13 (and it appears you didn't contest it), it is highly probable that you will lose the possession element of the case.

The question then is whether you are due the compensation you claim.

There is a risk you end up with return of your deposit plus three time the amount as compensation - that I suspect will leave you owing money. 

bomodo

HampshireH said:

I can't answer the above but. The fact he has stopped all repairs does that mean no gas safety checks either as he has cited no gas?

Have you been to your local council about the disrepair and had them involved to get repairs acted upon?

Last gas safety check was in 2019, if that is of any relevance

bomodo

doodling said:

Hi,

With arrears greater than 2x the rent, then, assuming a valid S13 (and it appears you didn't contest it), it is highly probable that you will lose the possession element of the case.

The question then is whether you are due the compensation you claim.

There is a risk you end up with return of your deposit plus three time the amount as compensation - that I suspect will leave you owing money. 

Thanks for your reply. The possession side of things does not worry me per se, I don't want to live here anymore anyway, and have made arrangements to move. However, I do not want to surrender the tenancy until the disrepair has been assessed and dealt with, as I am assuming as soon as the landlord has the property back, he will do repair and then claim there was never any disrepair, which I don't want to happen.

As soon as the disrepair has been assessed and dealt with, whether that's by paying an expert witness to do for the court or settling out of court, I will happily surrender the tenancy and move out. But not before. I am not hassled by losing money on this, this is something higher for me now, money is secondary.

anselld

bomodo said:

doodling said:

Hi,

With arrears greater than 2x the rent, then, assuming a valid S13 (and it appears you didn't contest it), it is highly probable that you will lose the possession element of the case.

The question then is whether you are due the compensation you claim.

There is a risk you end up with return of your deposit plus three time the amount as compensation - that I suspect will leave you owing money. 

Thanks for your reply. The possession side of things does not worry me per se, I don't want to live here anymore anyway, and have made arrangements to move. However, I do not want to surrender the tenancy until the disrepair has been assessed and dealt with, as I am assuming as soon as the landlord has the property back, he will do repair and then claim there was never any disrepair, which I don't want to happen.

As soon as the disrepair has been assessed and dealt with, whether that's by paying an expert witness to do for the court or settling out of court, I will happily surrender the tenancy and move out. But not before. I am not hassled by losing money on this, this is something higher for me now, money is secondary.

You are putting your life on hold to try and enforce repairs which have not been addressed for 2-3 years, yet nowhere have you indicated that you have reported the disrepair to the authority who actually have the responsibility for enforcement action.  This seems to be a misguided crusade you are on.