Hi everyone, I'm a new poster, so please be kind - I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place, or has already been covered. I've had a look through the sticky posts, but my understanding is that the legislation on deposit protection changed in April 2012, so they may not be up to date? Anyway, here goes - we have been living in a flat since 2008, and our contract ended on the 17th May this year. Since then, we have been in dispute with the landlord over their proposed deductions, which we believe to be unfair. Recently we decided that we weren't going to be able to resolve this ourselves, and I logged onto the TDS website and entered the details, only to find that our deposit was actually only protected after the tenancy ended - nearly 4 years late! My understanding is that the TDS won't take the case unless the deposit was protected during the tenancy - so it's going to have to be the courts. I'm aware from some googling (and the Shelter website, which is amazing for this sort of thing!) that they are in breach of contract. As I understand it, if we went to court we would be entitled to our deposit back, plus between 1 and 3 times the deposit in compensation. I have a couple of queries though. Firstly, does anyone know how much taking this sort of thing to court costs in court fees? I know we could ultimately claim them back, but we're pretty tight for money at the moment (being over a grand out of pocket). Secondly, how long does it typically take to come to court and be resolved? Thirdly, can the landlord still claim deductions from our deposit in a court situation? And finally, can we represent ourselves or would we need to hire a lawyer? Can anyone help with this? I would very much appreciate it. Thank you!

I majorly messed up with gas and electric in my student rented house. I'm attending court tomorrow in some desperate plea to set up a repayment plan but I really don't know how likely it is. The problem is that my housing contract says I can't fit prepayment meters or anything. Does anyone know what I can do if the warrant goes ahead and they have to come around and fit one tomorrow?

Hi, There are similar answers in this forum but they were all before the Localism Act 2011 came into force this April which brought significant ammendments to the Tenancy Deposit Scheme under Housing Act 2004. I was wondering if anyone has advice or experience with the following issue post Localism Act 2011. The claim: My tenancy ends in 2 weeks (10 July). I am planning to file a claim in county court on the grounds that my landlord did not inform me about the protection of my deposit within 30 days of me paying the deposit, did not inform me by 6 May 2012 as required after the leeway given by the Localism Act 2011, and did not give me the information even after I wrote a formal letter to him. The questions: 1. Will my landlord still be subject to the fine even after he returned my deposit at the end of my tenancy? If I file a claim to county court within this week, and if the court hearing takes place after he has returned my deposit when my tenancy ends, will the LL still be subject to the fine? 2. Will there even be a court hearing now that the Localism Act 2011 made the 30 day time limit absolute? From my research, it seems that a tenant can automatically make a claim if the landlord did not protect or provide the information required by law within 30 days, and if the judge is satisfied that the landlord did not do so, the court can make the landlord liable to fine. I am deciding on whether to file the claim now, or if I should file the claim only if my landlord refuses to return my full deposit. Thank you for your time and I would be most grateful for any comments on the issue.

I have been trying to get my deposit back from a letting agents since vacating the property on 19th October 2012. I was a sole tenant and had an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement. The contract states that the deposit would be protected by "the Deposit Protection Service" depositprotection.com, however I was never issued with a certificate or any reference number. I received a letter from the letting agency stating I would be deduced £30 for holes in the walls due to pictures etc. - to which I agreed. I have been trying to get the reminder of my deposit back ever since - the excuse given has been that they are waiting for the landlord to sign the cheque. Is my understanding correct that if it was in a proper scheme that it is all done on-line and therefore no need to issue a cheque? This leads me to believe that it is / was not ever in a proper scheme? If so could I make a claim at the County Court? Could I claim for a breach of the regulations (which I believe they can award between 1 and 3 times the original amount plus the deposit). The amount is £450 - £30 charge (also I was never given an inventory so could I now dispute the £30 charge and claim the full amount back) Any advice would be gratefully recieved as its now been 8 months!

Hi, This is a question about the correct process for me to apply for a Possession Order given the complex circumstances of the property's occupation. I am the new –since May- leasholder of a flat. It was only affordable for me because it comes with a complex occupier problem. Five years ago, when the property was inherited, the ‘tenant’ claimed to be regulated. From her figures, she was 12 when she took over the tenancy (she is currently 52.) That person does not live in the UK. I have a land registry document showing she owns a house in the USA. She is employed in a school in the USA and her name appears on their staff list. She has a Linked in profile stating that her work for the last 10 years has been in America. I have a screen shot of a facebook page where she says she is trying to earn extra money “to afford a trip to the UK in the summer as flights are really expensive.” She has not been on the electoral roll at the UK property for years –if at all. The property appears – according the current electoral roll –to be occupied by her nephew and his girlfriend. All information from facebook! The nephew registered a business at the property in August last year – as listed by Companies House. I went round to the flat and knocked on the door but got no answer. I popped a letter addressed to ‘the current occupiers’ introducing myself and explaining that I had no paperwork for a tenant in the property so could they contact me, by email or using the SAE, and let me know basic information about themselves – identities etc. their rent and any proposed leaving date etc. (it was a 1 page form with mainly tick boxes). I heard nothing so sent a recorded delivery letter to the registered company with a duplicate and new letter saying if I didn’t hear from them I would begin proceedings to gain possession of the property. I am not sure what notice to serve or possession order to apply for! As there is no Assured short hold tenancy it seems the Section 21 notice is invalid. As they did not forcibly gain entry they are not trespassers. The original tenant had no legal right to allow them a tenancy or license to stay – as she is not resident in the country. What is the correct process for evicting the occupiers? Can I apply for an Interim Possession Order for trespassers even though I knew someone was probably in the flat when it became mine – over 28 days ago? Are there any other grounds on which I can apply? Any help would be very much appreciated.

Hello all, some advice please. We have lived in our current home for almost 5 years on annual SAT's. when we last renewed we gave verbal notice of our intention to purchase our own home and negotiated a month-by-month arrangement with 2 months notice to quit. We have purchased a new home with an entry date of 31/8/12 and have given more than the required notice to our landlord. Notice has been accepted. The acceptance of our notice came with a message that the landlord intends to put up marketing boards and give us posters to display " for let". In addition the landlord assumes that the property can be marketed and viewed during our tenancy with or without our agreement. We have always had a good working relationship with our landlord but now feel this intrusive.We will not unreasonably deny access but equally do not wish the landlord or agent showing their rental vehicle(our home) to strangers prior to the end of our private arrangement. How do we stand? and any practical advice please.

Hi I rented a house for this academic year from June 2011 until June 3rd 2012. It was a joint AST type tenancy. The house had 9 tenants and they had all paid deposits and had them put into a protection scheme- but not signed any contract in early October 2011. Someone dropped out and I joined the group in the late October. We signed the contract in the December and I paid my share of the deposit (£350) to the person who had dropped out. I paid in my name the summer retainer rent, and all rent payments came out of my bank account via a bank transfer. Now, despite the fact I signed the contract I didn't get a copy as they only gave one to the lead tenant. To be fair me and my housemates didn't really get on, but there you go, sometimes that happens. So it isn’t possible to ask them for details about the return of the deposit etc. I emailed the landlord about the return of deposits and he emailed back saying he only deals with the lead tenant. How do I find out about the return of the deposit? Thanks

Hello, I am hoping somebody informed can help me with the situation I am currently in. In December 2011 I took out a 6 month rental lease on a property. The lease was to end at the end of June 2012. At the beginning of April I was offered a job in another location, and subsequently accepted and informed the landlord of my decision. According to the terms of my tenancy, I was bound to pay the rent up to the point a new tenant could be found to move in, and then I would have to pay the letting agents re-listing fees. I complied fully with this, and was very flexible when the agency asked for a viewer to come around. Around a week later, a new tenant paid a holding fee on the property. Despite this being sorted mid-April, they'd chosen not to move in till the 21st May. I therefore had to pay for the rent in between leaving on 20th April, and the tenant moving in on 21st May. Early in May I received a call from the letting agent, advising that there were credit and reference problems with the new tenant, and due to the delays they would not be moving in till the 1st June ie today. I had to therefore transfer the landlord an equivalent transaction to cover rent between 21st May and 1st June 2012 to cover this gap. Despite leaving the property on the 20th April, the agency left the check out / inventory check to the 30th May. This therefore left me with one day only, 31st May to investigate any discrepancies raised. Despite the house being fully cleaned to an extremely high standard, I was informed there were 'hand prints on glass tables, oven needs doing etc' and was told there'd be a £100 deduction from my deposit. Naturally I am very disappointed by this. The property was very well looked after during my brief time as the tenant, and was left in a significantly better state than when I moved in, I do not believe it was cleaned sufficiently at all when I moved in. I have never received an inventory since singing the tenancy agreement at the end of December, so have nothing to cross reference the state of the house now (exceptionally clean) to the state it was when I moved in. Today I received a call from the landlord, stating the new tenant had reported the boiler as faulty, and therefore they could not move in today, and I would be liable for again, further rent. Am I bound to pay this? And what can I do regarding the deposit? Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you.

In a contract I'm about to sign (as a tenant), there is the shortest and least explained break clause I have ever seen: "Fixed Term From 08/07/2012 until 07/07/2015. (36 months). Renewable if agreed by both parties 6 weeks notice must be given if the tenants wish to extend the lease. Break at 12 months with 2 months previous written notice by either party. Option to review rent after 18 months" I know the contract term is unusually long, and I can only break it after a year - I'm fine with that, planning to stay. Here is the question: Can I break this contract only on 07/07/2013, with 2 months notice, or can I break it any time after 07/07/2013 with 2 months notice? Anyone have a clue? Usually it is spelled out ...

Hi All, can anyone give me some advice on my legal right regarding the below please? I have a standard tenancy agreement with 6 month break clause (1 month notice) a the condition that "the heating in the flat is not enjoyable for the Tenants as mutually agreed by the Landlord and Tennant" This clause was put into place as the flat don t have central heating neither double glazing (back in 80/2010) - following cold winters I have requested in several occasion to have the window replaced or for a secondary double glazing to be put in place but nevertheless the management agency attempts to insulate the flat with other cheaper solution no much did improve - secondary double glazing were not put into place as the landlord want to sell the flat this summer. Due to the very low rent I still have put up to live in the propriety and to pay more on heating to try to keep warm. This anyway did result in me been ill constantly and having to take time off work consequently. Following been diagnosticate with Cervical Artois and Chronic Sinusitis I have tried to give my notice as I did not want o jeopardise my health any further. Unfortunately the Management agency don t agree with us giving notice and they are stating that now is warm. I am challenging that in the break clause isn t specificity that the temperature has to be agree to be enjoyable or that I have to allow additional time for repairs as this "has already been mutually agreed" Can anyone give an opinion on our right? Many thanks

Firstly, I have to say that this community is invaluable and I have come back for advice so many times over the years. So thank you in advance. My problem - I recently moved out of a property that I shared with a flatmate. We had a joint tenancy agreement that expired and I found someone to move in immediately after. We paid seperate deposits. In my last couple of weeks at the property there was an issue - we noticed black mould appeared in the lounge. At first we wiped it off as it's an outside wall, it had been raining and I have asthma, but quickly within about a week or so, it became apparent this was not normal and contacted the landlady in the usual manner to inform her. She sent in men and it transpired that the tiling upstairs in the bathroom had come away and it had been a sustained period which resulted in water running down the wall. I moved out while they were still examining and making repairs. But since it was a structural issue not caused by us, I didn't think anything of it. It's now a month later and no deposit. I chase and get a reply that due to the fact that I neglected to inform the landlady quick enough about the situation, she would be keeping my deposit. She claims that we *concealed* the fact that there was problem in the bathroom and as a result caused her to have a far bigger problem than if we'd let her know earlier. Serioiusly, this is such bull. When I moved in, the tiling and grouting was already in disrepair. I didn't notice any difference at all. If I had, I would have let her know. It's no skin off my nose and I hated the bathroom anyway because it was so unkept compared to the rest of the property. I am no decorator or builder - I genuinely had no idea there was a problem until we examined it when the mould came back. She quoted section 11 of the tenancy agreement at me: “Tell us about any repairs or faults that we are responsible for in the structure or outside of the property, in any installation or in the shared areas.” Clearly I did tell them about the problem when I realised there was one. I will be disputing her claim with the DPS because I honeslty don't think it's fair that I be held responsible for something I informed her of as soon as I was aware of it, but I just wanted people's opinions/advice about whether she is right or not here? It's quite upsetting. Also, you should know, that in the time I was there, I did inform her of any problems. There was even a time when water dripped into the living room on the other side and we told her straight away, but since it didn't happen again, it was just an FYI thing. We were very good with stuff like that. Thanks in advance. Claire

Hello all, I am currently in the process of claiming against my landlord for lack of securing deposit in a scheme, as well as unfairly witholding it from me. I have filled in my claim form but am having difficulty with the interest - if someone would be able to advise me it would be very much appreciated. I moved into the property on the 10th December 2008 and a deposit of £1000 was paid to the landlord on the 15th December 2008. I moved out of the property on the 8th January 2012. 1) Do I claim interest for the deposit alone or interest on the deposit plus the £3000 compensation? (Totalling £4000) 2) Is it claimed from 14 days after the deposit was paid to the landlord and up until the date the claim is put into the court? I have an understanding that interest claimed can be calculated to a lower amount by the judge but not increased. Many thanks in advance

can anyone give me any advice about how to go about getting my tenancy deposit back from my previous letting agent, we moved out 8weeks ago and still havent been told how much of our deposit we are due to recieve, and have just found out that they havent used a tenancy deposit scheme, all the forums and advice sites i have looked at tell you what to do for when you are living there and was hoping someone had experience of a simalar situation? Thanks

...Well, important for my partner and I! Just want to declare I've tried Googling this but get conflicting information, so thought would register and ask you kind people. Our aim: To commence renting a new property we've found to replace our current rented property (which has different agents) as soon as possible. My hope is we're able to send notice by registered post immediately, to quit our present property on or after 28 October, without any penalties or repercussions. You'll see below why I haven't put an earlier quit date. By the way, when I search this query the results are generally information to assist tenants who want to stay where they are, which is kind of the opposite! Information: Our current six-month Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) commenced 29 September last year. So it expired 28 March this year. When we signed this AST we also signed the notice that possession would be required by the landlord or his agents on 28 March this year. Obviously they haven't let us know any further intent to execute this possession yet and we haven't entered into any new agreement with them. So all would seem good... The possible problem: ...However, the AST we signed includes this clause: "The Tenant agrees with the Landlord to give the Landlord at least two months' notice in writing when the Tenant wishes to end the Tenancy at the expiration of the term certain or to terminate the tenancy if the Tenancy has continued as a Periodic Tenancy. Should the tenant provide less than two months' notice the Landlord reserves the right to charge the full rent for the notice period required." Not sure about the apostrophes there To be fair though, the AST also includes the same sort of clause requiring the landlord to give us two months notice should he want to give us the boot. The questions: 1. Is the two months notice noted above something we have to adhere to, i.e. is this legal? I appreciate we signed it. 2. Or am I even not understanding things correctly, and perhaps it doesn't apply? 3. Actually, we'd prefer to commence the new property about a month from now, but is it true 9 October-ish wouldn't be acceptable notice for my present letting agents as the quit date, as the quit date has to be the end of a full month of tenancy? I.e. is it true that the cost of rent doesn't have to be accepted pro rata by the agents where the tenant gives a quit date before the end of his month's agreement? More info: My partner's pregnant and we need to move from our one bedroom cupboard to a two bedroom home. I hadn't checked the agreement we signed recently, which is my fault of course, so today paid the new letting agency our agency fees, with a provisional agreement of commencing tenancy in about a month. Obviously, if we're stuck we'll have to ask the new agents if they'll consider waiting a bit longer. And of course I can phone the present agents first to see if they'll accept notice to quit of one month. Though I don't see why they would. Also, we live in Wales, if that matters. And the bond, held by the Deposit Protection Service, is equal to one month of rent. PS: I've tried to write this to make things as easy as possible to answer for anyone kind enough to help. PPS: Welcome to the forums, me?

Hi all, I would like some advice, we are looking to move from our current rented property and recently wrote to the agency advising of our intent and gave our one months notice, they have written back stating we signed a Statutory Periodic Tenancy which requires us to provide 2 months notice? I have looked through this and other forums and believe that as a "Statutory Periodic Tenancy" by law we are required to only give one months despite this new agreement. Can anyone help!!

Hi, It is difficult to write the whole incident but I will write to the point and any kind of help and input will really be appreciated. My 2 bedroom flat was flooded with sewage water on 2nd Jan, 2011 and 2 rooms were fully flooded and cleaners and insurance company declared it uninhabitable (though living room was not flooded as I was there and water did not enter in living room), 4 flats in same floor were flooded, so it was definitely not LL fault or my - tenant fault, this was caused by community living in that building which has 70 flats, so can not blame anybody in this case. I lived with my friends for initial 2 days and then moved to a guest house and payment was made by my landlord’s insurance but only for around 3 weeks. (I paid for initial 2 days but I got that back from my LL insurance) Flat was not fixed during this time and my landlord then wanted me to end the contract (because it may take several weeks before flat will be fixed), I had no place to go and all my stuff was still in the flat, During this time I also started looking for new accommodation as well as some other cheaper alternative accommodation and found one but that was not available till 12th Feb, 2011. On 14th Jan I gave him notice of 4 weeks, told him that tenancy will end on 14th feb as 4 weeks of notice was required. I used to pay rent on 20th of every month, and before 20th Jan I came to know that my landlord or his insurance company is not ready to accommodate me anywhere, I called my LL and told him that I am not paying rent because 1) you or your insurance company is not providing me an alternate accommodation 2) There is a clause in my tenancy agreement - (4.2) the Landlord will return to the Tenant any rent payable for any period during which the Property may have been rendered uninhabitable by fire or any other risk which the Landlord has insured on 25th of Jan I vacated guest house and went to my friend's place, I needed accommodation for another 3 weeks as new house that I found was not available before 12 th Feb, 2011. After lot of discussion with my spouse we decided to go back to same old flat and started living in living room (rest of 2 bedrooms were uninhabitable), we are a couple and 2 children (4.5 years and 8 months) as we found it extremely difficult to live anywhere else because of access to kitchen and kids were not adjusting well. Before moving back I informed my LL as well as his insurance well in advance that please please arrange some alternative accommodation or else I may move back. I thought of moving to a hotel but by that time I already spent good amount money for initial accommodation, packing , moving , taking time off from work etc that I did not want more financial exposure. There are two problems here – 1. My landlord expects me to pay full rent for last 3 weeks, though I was not able to make full use of property, moreover I moved to flat because I did not have any other option left. Agency claims that insurance was ready to accommodate me till 12th of Feb but that was not true as I have emails communication from them, basically either agency is lying or LL misguided him, I have written proof of it in form of emails, which I provided to agency and he kind of agreed on phone that LL should pay me all deposit back in such case. 2. My landlord/agency never protected my deposit till 4 months after I paid it to agency, who then paid it to landlord. I chased them after 4 months and they said they will do it but I never got nay kind of communication from them and I checked with all deposit schemes and it is not protected anywhere. Agency is not ready to help me; they initially said I should get back my deposit in full and now asking me to speak to landlord directly. Please suggest, is it worth going to court, if yes are they two separate issues? My tenancy has already ended on 14th feb, LL has not paid me deposit back as we have not been able to agree to how much he should return, I even offered him to keep i/3 of rent just to close this matter but he wants to take full rent. I did not mention other problems like issues in contacting LL etc and no reply from him as they can not be proved in court. I also visited CAB today and lawyer suggested me to file a court case for not protecting deposit. Thanks in advance

Hi All, I had a break clause for 6 months on an AST rental contract of one year duration. I had to vacate 3 months earlier than the 6 months. As described in the break clause, I have given notice of 2 months at the end of first month as required and also agreed to pay the remaining 3 months rent, if they do not find any other tenant and administrative costs incurred by the landlord. After 2 months notice period is over, I was told they found a tenant and took the admin costs from me. I was given a section 21 notice and I have done the checkout process and handed the property on Feb 16 as agreed. But the next day the agent tells me the new tenant has slipped away and I have to keep paying the rent for the remaining 3 months.Also landlord's agent has put the house on the market at 13% higher rent now. (Even in my AST agreement the maximum he can raise was only 7.5% per year, if I were to continue there). The break clause in the AST renewal agreement does not mention anything about the rent the landlord can ask for from the new tenants. The agent insists he can put the house on market at any rate. I think he is taking advantage of the fact that I agreed to pay the remaining rent for 3 months and being greedy to get more rent. (He probably will reduce the rent he is asking for in the last month, if he cannot find any tenants till then). Isn't this a breach of contract or unfair ? Can he withhold my deposit ? Thank you.

We started privately renting our current property Aug 2009, we noticed a musty smell in our ensuite bathroom immediately. we tried to contact landlord to no avail. We wrote to her and the letter was returned, this was late 2009. We have still not heard from her so 6 weeks ago our washing machine broke which was her property so we tried calling her again but could not get hold of her. The outsides drains were also blocked so we took action and got environmental health to track her down and get it fixed. The outside drains were fixed immediately by her 2 weeks ago, and she said she would get "her" plumber in to fix washing machine, the musty smell in the ensuite and also our gas boiler needs to be serviced because its been over 18 months since its last service. We are still trying to get her to fix these problems but still to no avail. We finally spoke to her this evening and she has tried to say that it is our responsibility to fix the washing machine, and that we should be grateful that we are paying the cheapest amount of rent in our street.........Tis made me a little mad!!!!!! We have read our contract and it states that all electrical and mechanical goods, fittings and fixtures are the landlords responsibility to maintain and repair. I see this as her breaking our tenancy agreement, and breaking the law by not have our boiler serviced because the certificate has ran out. Where do we go from here? Please HELP!!!!!!!! Tenants are always seemed to be the ones that are unfairly treated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi, I rented a residential property for 6 months under an AST via a letting agent. Upon vacating the property the landlord / agent claimed there was some damage and withheld my deposit. I agreed that there was some minor decorative damage and agreed that I would accept responsibilty however the landlords list of damage has since spiralled and includes items I am not responsible for. I wished to use the deposit protection schemes resolution service however it transpires that my deposit was never protected. I am willing to return the property to the condition it was in which would cost about a third of my deposit (according to the landlords own estimate) but I am not willing to let them use the rest of my deposit to redecorate their house to a standard above its original condition. The agency has been unhelpful, skirting around the deposit issue and failing to reply to specific questions. I received no inventory when I took up the tenancy and and the property was in poor condition in terms of cleanliness when I moved in. I am now considering small claims court action but I'm unclear how the damage I am responsible for affects things. I believe that I am entitled to take the agency and landlord to court if we cannot reach a settlement between us. If we manage to agree a figure for the agreed damage (which appears unlikely given the attitude of the landlord) do I still have the right to go to court over the failure to protect the deposit or would I only be able to go to court if the landlord persists in witholding my full deposit? Many Thanks, Lan.

I started a tenancy in December 2009 and my annual rent equated to £30,000 per annum. At the time of signing my contract in December 2009, the legislation stated that my deposit did not have to be registered to a deposit scheme eg mydeposits.co.uk because the rent is above £25,000. The legislation changed during my tenancy on 1st October 2010 to say that any tenancy with rent below £100,00 per annum had to now be protected. My landlord did not protect my deposit from this date, is this breaking the law? If so then i know i am entitled to my full deposit plus compensation through the courts. The main confusion is that the legislation changed mid tenancy. It has now been 4 weeks since moving out and i am nowhere closer to getting my deposit returned as the estate is holding it. Any help will be much appreciated. I have spoken with mydeposits and the citizen advise bureau. Thanks in advance.

I started renting a property in London in June 2009 and left it in June 2010 in immaculate condition. The landlord was an absolute nightmare during our tenancy (letting himself into our appartment without notification, refusing to get anything fixed unless threathened by legal action) and at the end of our tenancy in June 2010 he claimed 85% of our deposit to re-paint the whole appartment and change the bathtub (for a 1cm chip that was there when we moved in but not marked on the flawed inventory that we refused to sign from the start) amongst other ridiculous claims. Our deposit is sitting with the deposit protection scheme so as soon as we received the claim from our landlord and it became obvious it was non-negotiable, we took it up with the TDS. The landlord dragged it for as long as he could before refusing the dispute and saying he would make a case with the small claims court against us. He has indeed done so 4 months ago but we are now told by the court that he has failed to send his questionnaire through, meaning we are still without a court date. This landlord has a history of doing this, it is obviously not for personal gain (since he does not hold the money) but for the sheer pleasure of maniuplation. Can I make a counter claim with the small claim court or send it back to the TDS? Can I sue him for interest on this? If so, what interest rate would apply? Is there anything I can do to prevent other tenants to suffer from this in the future? There are a couple of his previous tenants who would be willing to join forces to prevent him from ever being able to be a landlord again... Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I am wondering if it just I am failing to understand how things work or is this completely off the charts. The story so far: I am currently renting from a private landlord. Want to move to another house. Found a more or less decent property to rent from a private landlord, Reed Rains is an agent. Put an application in and after lots of documents provided on their request (copy of passport, bank statements, utility bills etc..) and about 200£ paid for this the references went thru ok. Now I have received a letter from Reed Rains saying that references and credit check is fine and I welcome to come to their office to sign the lease and that appointment is set to, let's say, 15th of October .(let's assume that today is 15th of September) The thing is the tenancy is supposed to start on 15th of October as well!!! So they want me to phisically come and sign on the exactly the same day when the tenancy starts. Anyone, who, ever moved house would understand how ridiculous it is. I called the agent and asked to move the appointment to sign the lease for lets say tomorrow. They explained that it is their policy to always sign the lease on the first day of the tenancy and insisted that it is their policy and they do it for all letting agreements. I cannot beleive this. This simply cannot be the truth. Does anyone has encountered this? Any advise and suggestions? I do like the house and would like to rent it but this is beyound belief.

Hello everyone I hope someone can give me some advice on how to resolve a dispute we are having with our landlord and estate agent. Mid-July my girlfriend and I signed an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement to rent a one bedroom flat with sole use of an external store room/study (outside flat but still in building) and sole use of a terrace. Since then everything has started to go wrong. The landlord came in the day after we signed the tenancy and removed the keys for the store room/study, post box and terrace. We returned to the property a few days later and found these keys missing so asked the estate agent to enquire as to where they had got to. The estate agent acquired the terrace keys and brought them round to the flat about a week later. About a week after this the estate agent came round again to remove some furniture that had been left in the flat, even though we let it unfurnished, so we asked about the remaining keys. They became very shirty and said that they were not even managing the property and they were doing us a favour in removing the furniture. Once we managed to calm them down they said that the landlord had posted the post box key to us! This was obviously a problem and we asked about the store room key, to which they did not give us an answer. This is a problem because the landlord has stated that she does not want to let us use the store room, even though it was advertised for our sole use and the estate agent has confirmed this in writing. Eventually the landlord conceded that we can share it with her but this is not what we agreed and now she is storing her belongings in there and will only let us have a key if we agree to her terms and go and get a copy cut (at our expense) from another estate agent she is trying to sell the property with. We rented the property under the assumption that we would have sole use of the store room as there is inadequate storage space within the flat. Additionally neither the estate agent nor the landlord is accepting responsibility for managing the property and we have contacted them stating that we no longer wish to live there and have tried to negotiate terminating the contract. They have flat out refused to negotiate and now want to take us to court. So: Do we have grounds to terminate contract due to misrepresentation and insufficient keys being provided? Are we obliged to get our own keys cut at our expense? Can the estate agent take us to court when the rent is paid directly to the landlord's bank account? Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated whether it is in our favour or not. Thanks in advance

Hi, I'm currently living in a shared house with 4 others and our tenancy is due to finish on the 19/08. Our landlord has always been very particular about pointing out to us what needs to be cleaned (mow the grass, clean the stair carpet etc). Now that our tenancy is coming to an end he has started getting quite aggressive in his communications with us. At one point he was unable to get in touch with me to arrange for a tradesman to visit the house as I was out of the country. He took his inablitity to contact me by phone or email to mean that I had moved out of the house and had "done a runner". He then phoned up one of my housemates in a rage and shouted at him for 15 minutes about "the state of the place" and about how we weren't looking after the place. Throughout the tenancy we have been clean and friendly - there have been no loud parties and no damage to the property outside of normal wear and tear. We have all rented before and never had any problems so his reaction was not something we'd expected. The house has always been kept clean and tidy and now that we are coming to the end of the tenancy we are making sure the place is as clean as when we moved in (and in some places it's cleaner!). Due our landlord's attitude during the tenancy and of late we are afraid that he is going to withold a large portion of the deposit when we leave. Our issue is that when we first moved in, 2 years ago, we didn't pay a deposit, our contract was using guarantors. We had no inventory at that stage despite regularly requesting one from the landlord. When it came to renewing the tenancy at the end of the first year, for some reason the landlord decided that he wanted a deposit from us. I thought this was a bit strange as we'd already lived there for a year with no problems. My housemates were afraid that they would be evicted if they didn't pay up, even though I told them not to pay anything until we had an inventory made up, and so they paid their deposits. We finally got an inventory from the landlord a month later but it was made up by an independant company in 2008, a year before we paid the deposit, and was never signed by any of us. I also don't believe that our landlord has registered our deposit with a protection scheme. I was unaware that such schemes existed until today (I've previously only rented in Scotland where they don't exist) and so did not know that we were supposed to have recieved additional information from the landlord when we signed our new agreement. I have phoned all three of the schemes and none of them have a deposit registered at our address. What we'd like to know is: Is the inventory valid evidence against our deposit if it was made the year before we paid it and has never been signed? As our deposit was never registered with a protection scheme, how do we go about disputing any deductions he makes from our deposit? Thanks in advance!