Big isssues with landlord, advice needed

antonia86

My partner and I moved into rented flat we found advertised in the friday ad in December last year. Once we had paid the deposit and signed everything we got to the flat, which was when we began to notice all the issues with it. Like rotting windows held together with parcel tape, damp so bad that the hall floor was spongy, the hour it takes to run a bath and the fact that the heating has to be on in order to have hot water, to list but a few! :eek:

Within the week I had contacted my landlord regarding these issues and was promised all would be resolved. Well, we gave notice that we would be leaving at the beginning of June last month as nothing had been done! :mad:

We have now put down a holding deposit for a lovely new flat, the landlord seems nice and we have done it all through a letting agent. Which is when I realised that there was a law passed on 6th April last year saying that all tenants deposits should be in a protected scheme, which I found out ours wasn't. So I questioned this with our landlord and was told it didn't apply to us. Being the kind of person I am I though I ought to check so I got some legal advice, and lo and behold, our deposit should be in a scheme. I contatced our landlord again to tell them we had sought legal advice and what we had found out - the ruling states that if not protected you can sue them for 3 times the deposit in the small claims court. They have now said they are putting our deposit in a scheme but are looking into it first.

My dilema is that due to their general uselessness as landlords I do not want to lose our deposit. If it is not in scheme, it is not protected. Our final months rent is due on Tuesday and I am loath to pay it as we have no security that our money will be returned to us.

Any advice would be greatly appreciatted!

*jobags*

My advice would be to withold your rent and get onto an organisation like Shelter to advise you. (don't have a link, you'll have to google it)

You landlord cannot just throw you out so don't worry - he has to serve Notice etc and get a Court Order (I assume you have an AST)

Photos photos photos - and hang onto your inventory

You have probably lost your deposit unless you want to spend time and stress chasing it but at least he won't have got any more money out of you

Jo

antonia86

Thanks Jo,

I took some photos when we first moved in.

My main concern was being homeless!

Can he still serve notice etc once we are gone, what I mean is is it something that can follow us?

silvercar

When did your tenancy start and when does it end? If the tenancy was from December 2006 there would have been no need to protect the deposit, if from December 2007 then it should have been protected.

*jobags*

antonia86 wrote: »

Thanks Jo,



Can he still serve notice etc once we are gone, what I mean is is it something that can follow us?

The Notice would be for possession so if you had relinquished possession it would be pointless

Have you considered getting Environmental Health in for an opinion Re fitness etc

If the property is as bad as you say then he has more to worry about from you than vice versa

Jo

antonia86

My main concern right now is getting out without losing my money in the process.

I will contact the enviromental health about the property as I know they have already let the property from when we move out in June to a young couple with a baby and I don't see the property is fit for habitiation, especially for a baby.

Our tenancy began Decemebr 2007, so it should be protected. I think they are just stalling for time now so that I pay this months rent and then they don't protect the deposit and I lose out all round.

We did view the property before we moved in but the issues were well disguised, like blinds being down to cover the rotting windows. We were also told, which the new tenants have been told too, that the damp would be sorted before we moved in!

The landlords are just a joke, they are now trying to make me feel guilty for asking them to do what they ought and spend some money to sort out the property because they have just had new baby. Their life is not my issue and I'd leave them alone if they would just fix the issues they said they would.

ruggedtoast

Unfortunately you dont have any authority to withhold rent, its seen as a separate issue.

*jobags*

But is he likely to chase it - highly unlikely as it's not worth his time and effort

He's also got to find the outgoing tenant which also involves time and effort

Sounds to me he's not a proper landlord but one of those who gives other private landlords a bad name
(BTW I'm not a private landlord)

As I advised earlier - seek advice from Shelter after the BH

Jo

antonia86

OK, so how would it be treated as seperate issue ruggedtoast?

silvercar

ruggedtoast wrote: »

Unfortunately you dont have any authority to withhold rent, its seen as a separate issue.

I agree and by with holding rent you will never know if the landlord intended to keep your deposit.

Your only saving is that the landlord can't risk taking you to court for the last months rent if he hasn't protected your deposit.

Doom_and_Gloom

Your deposit should have automatically been switched onto the protective scheme when the law was enforced as quite rightly those that aren’t the tenants can sue for three times the amount of it.
With regards to your flat you are currently renting I would call up on the Landlord and Tenant act 1985. Your looking at sections 10 and 11 I’d say for certain maybe even some others to be honest. It basically states that any rented accommodation has to be up to a certain standard and that all repairs should be done and that if the tenant pays for any repairs they can demand the Landlord pay them back or arrange for it to be taken out of rents to come.
If as you say the place has severe damp and the windows had severe rotting held together with parcel tape then it was obviously a KNOWN problem and the place should not have been rented under these conditions without you being told that this was the case. I would say the place was inhabitable from the off and therefore un rentable from the off as well. I think CAB could help you further with this. They can be rather helpful in these satiations.

http://www.letlink.co.uk/letting-statutes/statutes/landlord-and-tenant-act-1985.html#S10%20FHH

You do have to make sure you pay your rent as they can use this against you. My partner has just got out of a situation very similar to yours (no hot water, boiler broken, no heating, leaking windows and ceiling and damp everywhere) and he was advised that it would not help the case if he did with hold. I know your worrid about the money however if you take pictures of it and write an informative letter with the regulations they are going against by recorded delievery (keeping a coppy for yourselves as well) you are more likely to get somewhere with it. I know my partner did as he was supposed to be there untill mid June or July and they let him out mid APRIL even getting most of the deposit back (he is disputing the charges as he got told he wouldn't be charged for anything due to the circumstances). My point is it can work.

I hope all the best for you. I know it's a stressful time for you.