Urgent Advice Needed For My Flat Deposit

lalive1

Hi I am having a very bad experience with my landlord now, I'll greatly appreciate your advices!!!

My lease will end on 31th of March, it's a 9 months contract from last June. I am a student struggling with my final year, so I told my landlord when we sign the contrat if it's possible to make an one-year contract because I wouldn't have anytime to looking for flat in March. He said there would be a bill raising in the end March by the concil, so it's better to sign for a 9-month contract, but he will renew it for me till the next June. Because I was looking for a place in the last minet, so I agree with him...

Three weeks ago he told me he will only renew it to september, 3 months is too short. That's different from what he promised me, I am an oversea student, planning to go back in summer for a long vacation, really can't renew it to September, so I told him in this case, I have to move out and looking for other place. That made him so angry, from then on, he keeps troubling me with many different excuses.

First, he said I am using his property for business purpose, because he found there are letters for me with my home address, but it's to a name of a company.
Actually, he mention this to me last september, I told me that is my payslip, as I am doing a part-time work through an agency. I also called my company and agency to explain this to him, and change the address back to my name. He accepted that at that moment, but now he use it as an excuse to hold my deposit.

Second, even worse... I will be on a school field trip to Asia for 20 days in March, back 4 or 5 days before 31th of March(the last day). He asked me to leave my door open during the 20 days, so the people who want to see my room can easily get into my room. I said I can only agree with him if he will be there with the guest who want to see the property. But he said he has no responsibilty to take care of my property, but I must leave the door open for him. He doesn't live together with me, so he doesn't want to come with the people who want to see the property. He will ask the other tenant to open the door, so anyone could easily come to see my room...

thirdly, hope it's gonna be the last. I heard from my flatmate that the landlord told her he is very unpleasant that I am planing to leave, he will make things hard for me to find other place, and he even ask the other tenant to watch me and 'report' to him about my situation like whether I have find a place or not. I am so worried that he will do some bad things when I am on the trip...

another thing, I also worry about my key deposit which was give to him by cash, it's 100 pounds! I am afraid I can not get that back...

This is my first rent experience abroad, I feel like there is nobody can be trust ...

clutton_2

you poor thing. this is a bad landlord. i would go to your university accommodation officer and tell them exactly what you have written here and ask them if they will write to your landlord.

your landlord has NO rights WHATSOEVER to go into your room if you are not there in order to show other people round. he can only go in if he thinks there is a gas leak or water leaks - emergencies like that.

if your university accommodation officer does not wantg to help - i suggest you contact your local council housing department and see if your landlord is registered as a HMO (house in multiple occupation) - he will have a lot of regulations to comply with.

did you sign an inventory when you moved in ?
have you been told which Deposit Scheme your deposit has been lodged with ?

b w

lalive1

clutton wrote: »

you poor thing. this is a bad landlord. i would go to your university accommodation officer and tell them exactly what you have written here and ask them if they will write to your landlord.

your landlord has NO rights WHATSOEVER to go into your room if you are not there in order to show other people round. he can only go in if he thinks there is a gas leak or water leaks - emergencies like that.

if your university accommodation officer does not wantg to help - i suggest you contact your local council housing department and see if your landlord is registered as a HMO (house in multiple occupation) - he will have a lot of regulations to comply with.

did you sign an inventory when you moved in ?
have you been told which Deposit Scheme your deposit has been lodged with ?

b w

There are so many things I don't know about renting in UK... thank you so much for your reply.

I didn't sign an inventory, the deposit should be custodial schemes because it is submitted to the Deposit Protection Service.

I will go to my university accommodation officer tomorrow. Hope everything will be peacefully solved.

Doozergirl

If you have an assured shorthold tenancy then you don't have to sign a new agreement. If you simply don't sign then the tenancy turns into a Periodic Tenancy which means your landlord has to serve you with two full rent months notice to leave. If he doesn't realise until after 2nd April that you are not signing, then the notice he has to give wouldn't end until 30th June which would be perfect for you

You then need to give your notice during May to leave at the end of June if he hasn't given you notice by then himself. I think it's clear that he knew what he was doing - the fact that the Council Tax year ends at the end of March is neither here nor there - he's simply bullying you into signing another agreement which doesn't suit you!

Did you get full details of the Deposit Scheme where your money is protected? If you didn't, I suspect he hasn't done it (mine didn't!) and in which case I simply suggest you withold June's rent when you get to that point

clutton_2

if there has been no inventory signed - then he cannot with-hold your deposit anyway ....... by law !!!

lalive1

Doozergirl wrote: »

If you have an assured shorthold tenancy then you don't have to sign a new agreement. If you simply don't sign then the tenancy turns into a Periodic Tenancy which means your landlord has to serve you with two full rent months notice to leave. If he doesn't realise until after 2nd April that you are not signing, then the notice he has to give wouldn't end until 30th June which would be perfect for you

You then need to give your notice during May to leave at the end of June if he hasn't given you notice by then himself. I think it's clear that he knew what he was doing - the fact that the Council Tax year ends at the end of March is neither here nor there - he's simply bullying you into signing another agreement which doesn't suit you!

Did you get full details of the Deposit Scheme where your money is protected? If you didn't, I suspect he hasn't done it (mine didn't!) and in which case I simply suggest you withold June's rent when you get to that point

Jesus! I hate myself for knowing nothing about the Council Tax, actually I don't get why I have to pay for that as a full-time student. I checked the deposit, I can log in with my deposit ID,it should be okay...

The advice you give to me is quite clever, but I really don't rent or even talk with him anymore.He always shouting at the tenants like: it's me the landlord, not you! if you don't appreciate my advice, just get out of my place! actually the other tenants also complain about him.

clutton wrote: »

if there has been no inventory signed - then he cannot with-hold your deposit anyway ....... by law !!!

Sorry I just misunderstood the meaning of inventory, there is a list for all the properties and I signed that...

anyway I won't agree and just say "yes" to him from now on.:mad:

clutton_2

an inventory is a list of all the items in the house (such as what sort of boiler, furniture, cooker, etc etc) when you sign the tenancy agreement, but, more importantly, it should also a statment of the CONDITION of the items and the condition of the property - so if the "moving-in" inventory says there is is a "burn mark on the left hand side of the lounge fire on the carpet" - the landlord cannot claim that you burnt it during the tenancy and he cannot then charge you for its repair after you leave, as it was there when you moved in - if you see what i mean.

an inventory must be signed by both landlord and tenant - if it is not - it has no legal validity.


""anyway I won't agree and just say "yes" to him from now on"

good for you !!!!


i just re-read your original postg and spotted this little gem

""another thing, I also worry about my key deposit which was give to him by cash, it's 100 pounds""

£100 for a deposit for a key !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is an amateur mean spiteful landlord trying to get round the Deposit Scheme.

if you have given him money ( which is not for rent) in advance, (irrespective of what he calls it)O - the law sees this money as a deposit.

if he does not lodge yoru deposit with a statutory deposit scheme you can take him to court (VERY easy thing to do - just fill in a couple of easy forms) and the court will automatically award you 3 times the amount of the deposit back.

but you then have to get the money out of him !!

but, he may assume that as you are foreign that you will not know about all this stuff

you do now !!!!

b w