Rights as a tenant

Exodi

HillStreetBlues said:

To be blunt you have limited options moving wise, your profile will put you at the bottom of most landlords lists. The best value ones will be snapped up and LL will have a choice of tenants. That leaves either overpaying, which sounds like you can't, or ending up with a property no one else wants.

I remember helping my parents move into a rental (while they sold a house in France and browsed for a house in the UK ). They had two small dogs (Shih Tzu's) and that was pretty much an automatic decline for 90% of the properties.

At the time (about 4 years ago) the rental market was booming, people viewing properties were queuing round the streets and renters were resorting to putting down deposits on properties they hadn't viewed. It was also in one of the biggest towns in England.

This unfortunately meant LL's were afforded the luxury of being ultra-selective and as you describe, after working with a few estate agents and agreeing for me to be a guarantor for them, the properties they were presented with were effectively the properties no-one else wanted. Fortunately for them it was only a relatively short period. The house they moved into had a large skip worth of stuff dumped in the garden (I don't know if it was ever collected, I'll have to ask them).

I don't know where the OP lives, or what the rental market is like now, but if it's anything similar, combined with 6 dogs and no reference, it is clear the OP will struggle to find a good place.

noitsnotme

Have you tried contacting any of the many organisations that help veterans with housing?  If you Google "veterans housing help" it brings up lots of results.  Probably worth speaking to as many as you can.

If he hasn't already done so, your husband can apply for his veteran card that may help to access additional support - https://www.gov.uk/veteran-card

ButterCheese

Exodi said:

Emmia said:

The only solution really is moving, that will be difficult with six dogs (I'd say you should re-home (some of) them, but I appreciate that's easier said than done), but unfortunately I'm not sure there's really an alternative.

Agreed and this is what I wanted to say in response to ButterCheese also, but I didn't want to be seen as forcing my own opinion.

I'm not sure what kicking up a fuss with the landlord solves and if I'm totally honest I think it would be counter-productive 

I agree with that also.  If it was me I'd do everything I could to move, but OP said moving isn't an option.  So rather than being bullied and palmed off with "you put a padlock somewhere so I'm not going to uphold my duties as a landlord", I think it's important to get all ducks in a row if things go further.  Also to try and protect the security deposit which the landlord will blatently claim was an "upfront payment" and refuse to give back

noitsnotme

ButterCheese said:

Exodi said:

Emmia said:

The only solution really is moving, that will be difficult with six dogs (I'd say you should re-home (some of) them, but I appreciate that's easier said than done), but unfortunately I'm not sure there's really an alternative.

Agreed and this is what I wanted to say in response to ButterCheese also, but I didn't want to be seen as forcing my own opinion.

I'm not sure what kicking up a fuss with the landlord solves and if I'm totally honest I think it would be counter-productive 

Also to try and protect the security deposit which the landlord will blatently claim was an "upfront payment" and refuse to give back

If it’s advance rent as the landlord is claiming it’s kind of irrelevant.  They just make sure they move out a month after the last rent is paid and then nothing is owed as far as a deposit goes.

Normally a tenant would pay first months rent AND a deposit at the start of a tenancy.  It sounds like the OP may have just paid the first rent payment.  Would be good if they could clarify.

Exodi

noitsnotme said:

ButterCheese said:

Exodi said:

Emmia said:

The only solution really is moving, that will be difficult with six dogs (I'd say you should re-home (some of) them, but I appreciate that's easier said than done), but unfortunately I'm not sure there's really an alternative.

Agreed and this is what I wanted to say in response to ButterCheese also, but I didn't want to be seen as forcing my own opinion.

I'm not sure what kicking up a fuss with the landlord solves and if I'm totally honest I think it would be counter-productive 

I agree with that also.  If it was me I'd do everything I could to move, but OP said moving isn't an option.  So rather than being bullied and palmed off with "you put a padlock somewhere so I'm not going to uphold my duties as a landlord", I think it's important to get all ducks in a row if things go further.  Also to try and protect the security deposit which the landlord will blatently claim was an "upfront payment" and refuse to give back

If it’s advance rent as the landlord is claiming it’s kind of irrelevant.  They just make sure they move out a month after the last rent is paid and then nothing is owed as far as a deposit goes.

Normally a tenant would pay first months rent AND a deposit at the start of a tenancy.  It sounds like the OP may have just paid the first rent payment.  Would be good if they could clarify.

Yes, I said earlier it works in the OP's favour somewhat if the LL wants to suggest it's an advance payment. If it was me, I certainly wouldn't be arguing it was a deposit. 

Exodi said:

marcia_ said:

 The landlord asking you to leave isn't enough. He must follow the legal process including the return of your deposit which will help in finding a new place which you should definitely start looking for 

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/eviction

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/eviction/section_21_eviction

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/tenancy_deposits/tenancy_deposit_protection_rules

The LL suggests there is no deposit and the lump sum provided is just rent in advance. Cynically you could suggest that the LL has only taken this stance because he realises the penalty for not protecting the deposit, but I'd argue this position also helps the OP because it means it's much harder for the LL to make deductions when they eventually move out, and the OP doesn't have to pay rent in their final month, which they could use for a deposit on a new property.

Of course if they do pursue arguing it was a deposit (perhaps by digging out the agreement/old communications), they would be entitled to sue for 1-3x the deposit amount for lack of protection.

Also, if it was deemed to be a deposit, practically it would not help the OP in finding a new place, as deposits are typically returned 1-2 weeks after vacating a rental, whereas they are typically required before you can move into a new one.

This means unless the OP bridges the gap by staying with friends/family or in a hotel for a week or two, they'd likely have to fund the deposit on the new place out their own pocket, knowing they should be refunded the old deposit shortly after.