Looking for any help at all.... I lost my job around 4 months ago and have been struggling to make ends meet ever since, I am already in rent arrears and now I cannot afford to pay any of my rent this month. I have seen that for now my only option is too be back in with my mother but I can't afford to pay this months rent and bills let alone this month and next if I have to serve my notice period. What can I do? Thanks

Hello, My landlord has asked for increase in rent now that my 6 month fix term has come to a end. My questions is how much notice does he need to give me? https://www.gov.uk/private-renting/rent-increases "Your landlord must give you a minimum of one month’s notice (if you pay rent weekly or monthly). If you have a yearly tenancy, they must give you 6 months’ notice. " I can see from gov.uk but I paid for my rent upfront so how much notice do i need?

We have received a demand on ground rent from a new company which owns by same shareholders of the landlord of our flat. The demand was chasing not only the yearly ground rent of GBP100 (which we paid yearly), and also the difference of inflation amount since the flat was built in 1995 - that is GBP830:mad2:. However we did not own the flat from 2004, we rejected to pay the amount for the period that we did not own the flat. We then wrote to them for dispute. The landlord did not response to us at all and later they sent the demand to our mortgage bank and requested the amount:-x. At the same time, we investigate about the landlord about the new company and find out that the original company (which we used to pay the ground rent) was strike off:???:. The directors of the orginal company bought a new company and request for the ground rent and the additional amount. Unfortunately, the mortgage bank paid the demand and claimed that they did not consider the dispute as a good enought for them not to pay. We then decided not to pay the ground rent anymore until a full explanation from the landlord. However, the landlord did not reply us and reject to send the demand to another address. Recently, we find out the new company is a dormant and plan to strike off again. We have following questions? 1) Is it legal for the landlord to transfer the freehold from one company to another company without notification to the leaseholder of the flat? 2) Can they collect the ground rent for the period that we did not own the flat (obviously it is unreasonable!!!) 3) Can the landlord refuse to send the ground rent demand note to another address? 4) Is it legal for the new company to collect the ground rent (the company is dormant and plan to strike off)? 5) We did not hear anything from the landlord since they sent us the GBP830 demand note on ground rent. What should we do? We are so miserable ... not to know what we should do. We want to sell flat , however, we have no clue whether it would affect our selling.

Hello - I wonder if anyone can help? I'm looking for a house to rent for me and my daughter - I'm on Income Support - but all of the properties I'm finding are stating 'no DSS'. However, If I ask my (working full-time) ex-husband to make the application with the lettings agency - so his name is on the contract, his bank details etc - would that then be an issue when it came to making a new Income Support claim for the new property - my name not being on the contract - despite him being my daughter's father? I have a feeling the answer is yes, but I can't see any other way around this? Many thanks.

Hi all - sorry in advance for the essay, but I'd be grateful for any advice. We forgot to pay the rent at the beginning of this month - my wife handles the bills as I have a mental health problem which affects my memory, and we had worked out the stress of bills makes it worse, but as she now handles most of the household I really can't blame her for a solitary mistake. I have been in quite poor health recently, and she has been particularly badly treated by our employer, so it's been quite stressful for some time. She hadn't realised that she had forgotten, but today we received an S21 notice from the landlord, dated the 22nd Jan and stating they require possession from the 29th March. It was only after seeing this that she checked back through our accounts and realised the mistake. I am assuming that the S21 is as a result of this, but I'm not 100% sure - we've had no other contact from them for months, other than the occasional pre-paid envelope to send any errant mail to them, nor have we had any problems. The only rent-related issue was a couple of months' over-payment when I was in charge of it, which they righted without quibble. The complication is that the house is currently for sale, and we are additionally planning to emigrate around the middle of the year. If we were to leave at the end of March, that would really affect our planning as we're only likely to get a minimum 6-month tenancy anywhere else. If we cut our losses and leave ASAP, giving one month's notice, we would obviously still owe the arrears. I'm just looking for some advice on how to approach this. I plan to write to the LL and offer extra on top of our normal rent each month to catch up, but I'm not sure whether to also give them notice to quit. In order to keep up with our plans, we would need to find somewhere else within the next 5 weeks, assuming a 6-month tenancy. To further complicate things, the wording of the cover letter for the S21 seems to imply that the tenancy could still continue!

I moved into my Housing Association house 9th Dec 2013.I have been with the same Housing Association since 2004. I am in a row of 4 houses and my rent is £105.75 for a 2 bed house. My next door neighbour is paying around £83 for the same house,another neighbour £99 and another £86 all the same bedrooms configuration etc. Is this right ? and do i have a right to appeal against the rent as i am now paying higher than everyone else. Any help would be greatly appreciated

Hi, just a small query. My family and I are set to move into our new rental property on 31st January. However we paid a full months rent to our current landlord upto and including the 6th February. We are now in our 7th month of renting our current property after an initial 6 months term. Are we entitled to the differnce bcak if we leave? Any help greatly appreciated, Cheers

Hi, I currently pay £775 a month in rent to my landlord, they are a property company and own lots of houses. My tenancy is due to end the 24th January. I completely forgot and first call I get about it is today from one of the admin girls at my landlords office. She says to me they need to increase the rent by 4% to £806 a month. This seems like a massive increase to me, I understand and will accept an inflationary increase but I just want to understand my rights as a tenant and wether I just ave to grin and bear it or if I can negotiate. I've had a look on right move and in my area 2 bed properties similar to mine are going for £795 a month. I'd be happy to pay this. How can I negotiate this with the landlord? I've returfed the lawn as well out of my own pocket, surely this could be taken into account? Also I think I read somewhere they have to give me a months notice in writing before increasing the rent, this hasn't happened as they want to get me to sign paperwork this wednesday? Many thanks in advance Blinky

I'm new here today but would appreciate some advice as I can't seem to find the answer anywhere. I have recently checked my credit report after years of burying my head in the sand. To cut a long story short, I racked up some debts when I was a student, and have gradually paid these off - each one at a time. Received a CCJ for an old credit card but this now satisfied. The one LAST debt I have is for rent arrears from private student accommodation in 2008 (last payment made January 2009 approx), with about £2,000+ owed. I am willing to pay this debt in monthly installments like I have the others, although the repayments will be small as I cannot afford to pay back the amount in full. I have had NO contact with the company since (5 approx years). Question is, as this is NOT a credit agreement (it was a short-hold tenancy), there are no defaults or CCJ on my credit file. I presume there is no CCJ registered but have been reading online that CCJs are not automatically registered on credit files for rent unless specifically requested by the landlord. So, I have NO idea where I stand with this debt and what action has been taken, if anything. A s I moved back to my parents shortly after vacating the property (I was in my final year of study), nothing has caught up with me (yet), and what I mean by that is no letters, calls etc. SO, should I make an attempt to contact the private company (which has since gone into administration according to online), and try and set up a formal payment arrangement for X pounds per month. Or just leave things be, and hope that nothing will be done until next January time which will mark six years since anything was last acknowledged (statue of limitations? Even though nothing on credit file?). I don't know if that's even possible with rent arrears and I can't find any legal guidance on this topic anywhere online. Don't want to be in a position later down the line where enforcement action is taken on a possible CCJ that I am completely unaware of and is registered SOMEWHERE but nowhere where I can see. Would appreciate ANY help if possible. Thanks in advance. :|

Hiya Everyone. I rent with a housing association and they offer 2 weeks rent free at Christmas. I emailed them last week to ask which weeks they would be, and they got back to me today to tell me that I am not eligible as I am currently in arrears. In my original email I did acknowledge my arrears and outline that I would still pay the arrears for the two weeks. I am a bit gutted about it and also a bit confused, does this mean that when I pay in full for those two weeks is all of that amount coming off of my arrears? If not, doesn't that mean I am techinally paying more rent in a years period than people who are not in arrears? Does anyone know how this works? Thanks everyone x

My brother rents a house from a private landlord with two friends. A months deposit was paid as well as a months rent in advance when they moved in at the end of last year. Unfortunately, due to one friend losing his job there was an issue with his share of the second months rent but the landlord was very good about it and gave extra time to pay etc. An agreement was reached whereby they paid an extra couple of weeks rent when able to extend the official rent due date each month and so from the third month they started afresh and paid that month in full. However, it was only at this point that a contract was signed, for 12 months. the tenants signed and had it witnessed and returned both copies to the landlord for her signature. Neither copy has ever been returned to the tenants and this was several months ago. An arrangement was made to allow weekly payments of rent and this has continued. A couple of times the landlord contacted my brother via text to chase up rent and efforts were made to pay. Last week an arrears figure for the last 2 months was provided by the landlord, saying it needs to be sorted asap or she will be forced to serve notice. My brother queried the amount and landlord agreed they had paid more rent than initially thought, but there were still arrears. She also pointed out that looking back there were further arrears and she would provide a final figure. My brother is still waiting to here and is very concerned. He spoke to the landlord and said he would do whatever possible to pay the arrears as soon as possible and is desperate to stay in the house. In many ways the landlord has been very helpful during his tenancy and my brother hopes to keep a good relationship, but also raises a few valid points - concern over the fact that the contract has not been returned, if arrears have been accruing for sometime why are they only being sought now - should some letters have been sent when they began? All communication has been done by text and/or phone - does this have any bearing on things? They have an AST which still has over 3 months to run, does this affect anything at all? Any advice greatly appreciated, obviously we will know more when the landlord replies with the actual figure etc. I should also say that my brother has said to the landlord that he would like to reach an agreed weekly payment plan to cover due rent and reduce arrears.

Hello, I moved property 3 months ago. When I chose this location, there were several factors which were very important to me. 1) A NTL connection had to be available, which the estate agent told me was available, and they even showed me the NTL connection. 2) That there was CCTV around the entire property, which there appears to be by various cameras placed around the property. Since I have moved there, I have found out that: 1) The NTL connection is infact a dummy and does not work. I approached the letting agent about this and got the following response: ********** Response: With regards to the NTL. This is the first ive heard about it. And as far as i am aware if you are in a non serviceable area then NTL would'nt install a connection point. If there is a connection point Joseph would assume like anybody else would, that NTL would supply a connection there. ********** 2) The CCTV camera's are ALSO dummies... I also approached them about this and they came back with the following: ********** Response: With regard to the CCTV this would be down to the Managment Company (SLM) TEL: 01482 328068. ********** Now why do I feel like I'm being fobbed off here and that the buck is being passed on. What options do I have to sort this out? Also in light of this, can I dispute the £120.00 administration cost which they said was for 'administration and credit checking'? Thanks and Regards Adrian

Hi I haven't posted for a while but I do pop in sand read the threads and posts. A while ago I got into rent arrears which was a lot. I came to an agreement with The landlord. I have been paying off the arrears together with the normal rent. Last year I asked the landlord ifvibcould drop down the arrears payment as We were experiencing financial difficulties he said yes. So I am paying rent payment and still money towards arrears. Today I had an email from the lady that does his books telling me my arrears are mounting Up. How can this be when they should be coming down? My rent is £1000 a month. I was paying £300 on top for arrears Total £1300 a month I am paying at the moment £1100 rent and arrears. So how is she saying its in arrears. Arrears are being paid. I thought they would be going down not up. I have all my receipts. I am going down the cab on Monday. Any suggestions as to why she is saying my arrears are mounting. U The only thing I can think of is that she thinks the £1300 is on top of the £1000 rent and total Should be £2300? I owed £8000 in arrears and over 3 years have got that down to £1887.00. Its been hard but I am doing it. Any suggestions would be helpful as to why she has said the arrears are accumerlating. Thanks.

Hi I have a business lease and I am in arrears a considerable amount of money, I am looking to go bankrupt, but before I go can my landlord get the bailiffs in without notifying me they are coming or go to court and stop me from going bankrupt. help I am end of my tether please help. :???:

Hi All I really hope someone can advise me! I entered into a rent to buy agreement in August 2011, paid an 'option fee' of £15,000, and have religiously paid my rent/deposit for my house each month. The contract expired in last year, and a new contract was offered to me in July. For various reasons (illness) I was unable to respond for 2 weeks, so my LL rings me and asks if all was well?? I explained not really, I was very ill and had taken time of work etc etc. He offers my a short term tenancy (just an email) for 4 months (where I pay £600 less), with the option to go back to the original rent to buy agreement if and when my situation improves. I have informed my LL twice (via email) during this period that I would like to go back to my original agreement but now he says he wants to sell the property and would be serving me notice!! Can somebody please help me with advise??!! I'm really stressing out as I just wish I had signed the damn contract in July!! Many thanks

Hi, Can someone please help with this issue!!! I received a letter from my mortgage provider, stating that they had received a letter from my Ground rent company,showing that I was owing arrears for 2 years. The letter included various copies of the Ground rent company's correspondences to me. I never received any of these demands and on close inspection, noticed that all the letters had been sent to my previous address. I have previously been receiving letters from my Ground rent company at my current address and know that they in fact have my current address. They have now added charges to the amount owed because of a lack of communication from myself. I do not believe these charges to be warranted and would like some help with writing a letter to them stating this, and if there are any acts or laws that they are breaking by doing this. Thanks in advance.

In July last year the company we pay our ground rent to changed. I had happily been paying it monthly to the original company with no problems. So as soon as i learnt a new company would be taking it on i emailed them straight away to explain that i can only afford to pay it via monthly payments. I emailed them a few times with no response, and then at the beginning of Dec i received a pack detailing what i owed them for the remainder of last year and for this year. They said that i must pay them what i owe for 2012 by the 1st Jan 2013. Not having the money to pay what i owed in one go i again emailed them and said i would pay what i owed them plus 2013 payment via 12 monthly payments. I received a letter this week stating that i must pay everything that i owe them within 7 working days or face late payment fees of £45. So again i emailed them stressing i can only afford to pay via 12 monthly payments. I also payed this months payment as they had provided their bank details. So the next day i finally get the first email from them saying that this ground rent can only be payed off with one payment. So i wondering where i stand with this now? The previous company had no problems taking monthly payments, and i carnt afford to pay in one go so this is the only way i can do it All advice welcome???

I received a hand delivered letter today from Whyte & Co stating that I owed rent from the my last tenancy at a previous address (around £1000). I don't dispute the amount and I'd like to set up a repayment plan as I definitely can't afford to pay everything upfront. Based on my passed dealings with bailiffs, I have a feeling that they will reject a repayment plan since I won't let them in in to do an inventory of my goods. (I'm pretty familiar with what bailiffs can and cant do as long as I don't let them in). I also have a feeling that if I contact the council directly and try to negotiate a repayment plan, they'll tell me that I must deal with the bailiffs directly. I'm going to try the council first, I just wondered if anybody had an opinion on the best way to deal with this... Thanks in advance.

Howdi Folks I have a question and maybe you can put this in the right subforum. i pay £350 for a room in a house with a mother and her son... I love the house and its my home away from my hometown... Now when i moved in It was £350 per month all in. The goalposts have slightly changed. Crawley Borough Council sent a letter to my landlady saying that they are removing her 25% single persons discount. She has now asked me to contribute to this. (Apparently this is my issue, not hers) and pay an extra £25 a month for it in cash instead of through her bank account. Now I have thought long and hard about this and im not happy about it but i want to keep peace in the house. I want to pay equal to how much she is genuinely having cut from the discount and not to give her profit... Am i in the wrong for asking to view a council tax bill for this year with the amended amount?

Hi there, I was advised to post here by a tenant who had issues with the landlord before and got advise here and hopefully I can have some guidance. I owe the landlord 5 months rent and have explained to him that I lost my job and cannot afford the rent. Since then he has issued an S21 and S8 and the notice ends in July. I know this is entirely my fault but the landlord has been aggressive, trying to break into my room, forcing the key out of the door and trying to open it so I have to call the police just to get him to leave. In fact I applied for JSA and Housing Benefit but failed to attend the appointment a few months ago due to him harassing me and trying to get in. Simply put I know I owe him rent, he wants it but I barely leave my room in fear he will remove my items, evict me illegally or get violent towards me. He has police reports against him several times for this and the private tenancy officer contacted which he stopped for awhile and now is starting again being a few hours ago trying to gain access and threatening me he will come back in 2 days with men to remove my things. I cannot even go to the bathroom without fearing he will come in at that moment and try to enter my room. I have missed doctors appointments for my health issues because of this too. I emailed again today asking him not to try to gain entry as it is illegal and he replied being aggressive that he WILL receive his money next week and that he 'knows I work because I get stuff ordered to the house' which is true somewhat but that is because friends have been kind enough to buy me food and send me it. I am trying to find work and do bits and odds just to give him some money with no luck and I just do not know what to do as he will not stop harassing me and the police will not help and he lies to the private tenant officer (so he has said in an email that I lied to them when I have proof of the food orders and nothing else). He is also telling my housemates the situation and they make me feel like rubbish looking down on me and again just making me stay locked in my room. I have sold my possessions other than my computer to look for work just to get some food too. I owe the landlord £1600 and the S21 end date seeking possession AFTER 20/7/13. Sorry for the long post and I am not looking for sympathy, I know I am at fault here but I am becoming more depressed and feel highly threatened and he just doesn't seem to care. Edit: Forgot to mention that he has been putting bills in tenants names when all bills are included in the rent. One tenant who moved out 14 months ago knocked a few weeks back as landlord had put a £900 electric bill in his name then pretended to be an estate agent saying he cannot get hold of the landlord so when I gave the old tenant the landlords number it turned out the estate agent was the same guy and it has escalated to court. I am worried he will also try this.

I hope someone can help me out. Basically, I've been accepted for an apprenticeship and I'm due to start on Monday. I live with my dad, who has been informed that once it starts they want £20 council tax and rent from me. Bearing in mind I have £25 board and lodgings to pay, £5 petrol for my motorbike, insurance of £3 a week and dinners whilst I'm there I'm going to be no better off. Actually, I'll be worse off! I was fine with having £50 a week, but £28 is a joke. I get £56 now. Before anybody says anything about my motorbike, it's cheaper than the bloody bus. I don't want to turn down this apprenticeship but I can see no way of it working. Is there anything I can do? . I've been unemployed quite a while and I was so happy. This news has ruined my day to be honest.

Hi everyone, I need some advice! Ok, basically we have some outstanding council tax and rent that needs to be paid. This was a bill 2 years ago and we know that they have sent the ballifs to our old property which we left and most likely got evicted for not paying rent. Now at that time when the ballifs were sent, we were out of the country due to an unforeseen circumstance. My question now is: i am not sure if there is a court order as we have been abroad since, have been trying to call yet to no avail, would i be able to bypass the court order and just go directly to the council and agree some sort of installment payment or must i go through court to settle the payment. :???: Oh and i am assuming with rent and council tax, the debt comes up to roughly 2000 pounds. I am also hearing that the Bailiffs add their own fee's to things, can i not pay that and just pay up at the council. Would they force the bill on us straight away and if unable to pay it, jail us? I know my mind is playing games but i need to make sure and plan ahead. Any information would help as i need to come back asap yet worried what would happen at the other end. Thanks!

Hi Please help and explain if a landlord can legally increase monthly rent by £150. A bit of background. At the end of August we will have been in this property 4.5 years. When we moved in back in 2009 our rent was £850. almost 2 years later I mentioned to our landlord that we were expecting our second baby due around the 2 year anniversary of living here. We then received a letter stating that the rent will be increased to £900 which is what we paid consistently. Earlier this year my husband who works on a commission basis received salary of £960. His lowest ever. All our other direct debit went off and the biggest amount (the rent) didn't go off as we didn't have enough. Initially she wanted to evict us if we didn't come up with it in a weeks time. And then finally agreed we could split the £900 over 3 months and therefore pay £1200 for 3 months which the last one would have been paid end of June. Luckily for us after paying the first £1200 we managed to get help of £600 to pay her the rest and we were therefore upto date with her rent and been paying £900 since April now. Earlier this month we received a letter stating that the rent would be increased from September to £1050. My immediate thought was that she wants us out now as she is fully aware that we just about covering our monthly bills. Her later stated that we need to increase our standing order if not to take it as our official 2 months notice and vacate. Now the problem is in our area we cannot find anything cheaper. They all similar priced. We were looking into putting money slowly away to move by next year before our 5 year anniversary in the property as we really cannot afford the deposit, rent and credit checks upfront at this time of the year. We also think that increasing it by £150 is really really high and it is her way of getting us out because of having problems before. Can she do that. The first 2 years we signed 1 year contracts but have never signed anything since. She also stated that she has never increased the rent before which is not the case. And rental properties with the value of £1050 in our area are all semi detached with dining room or conservatory or something additional which hers isnt but a small mid-terraced property. Thanks

Hi. I have been in rent arrears for the last 3 years. I am now in serious arrears of £700 which is 10 weeks rent after housing benefits. I have been to court 2 months ago (1st appearance after notice of seeking possession) and made an agreement of £55 per week. I have now missed 1 payment and will be missing this weeks as well due to no money. I can pay £100 weekly from 15th June which is my first wage since starting new job. Basically I am asking what can happen and also if they go for repossession how long have I got to clear arrears. By the way I can't borrow or get access to any money till payment inc friends and family. Thanks.

ive been informed by the HA that they are going for possession of my house.. oh joy.. at least it will be a day out.. i owe £110 and pence after this weeks HB is taken off.. they want the lot within 7 days or they go to court. sure ill magic it outta my arse. it will be around £70 owed when i pay 2 weeks rent/Bedroom tax this week ( i get my esa every 2 weeks) Ive had no notice of possession and they say they are applying to the court in the next 7 days if i dont pay up which i cant. My current rent is 18.18 a week including water rates now im no mathematician but im sure im under 8 weeks arrears so am i right in thinking they should not be taking this to court? and is it 8 weeks full rent arrears without HB or would it be 8 weeks of 18.18? i owe £174 odd pence but that does not include this weeks HB of £67odd any help guys cheers mcjordi