Apologies is this belongs elsewhere, but I can't seem to find the information I need. Effectively my question is "How long does a landlord have to decide whether they will be returning all/some/none of a tenant's deposit?". We moved out on the 31/1. I understand that once you agree with your landlord about the amound of deposit to be returned, they have ten days to do so, but how long can they take to make that decision? The management agency did the inventory report about 10 days after our tenancy ended and we moved out (which seemed a little late?), and the report showed nothing other than wear and tear. It's now 18 days since we moved out and the landlord hasn't given the agency an answer regarding whether or not they want to release the deposit. Are there any guidelines or laws concerning this?

Hi all I’m sorry to go ahead & just ask for advice on first visit but I have had one awful day that’s ended with the Police involved & being Friday night with nowhere open till Monday I could really do with some help? So I live in a private rented property, tenancy commenced 15th Oct 2012 and at the end of the 6 months agreement we continued month to month as per the original tenancy agreement. Rent was to be paid on 15th of each month, again as per the tenancy agreement. My rent has been on time, and no issues. However Landlady came to visit on Monday 17th Feb 2014 to give notice, however she gave me a hand written note on a scrap of paper without mine or her surname, no letter dated no reference to section 21 giving me six weeks notice. I.e. Myself to move out by 31st March 2014 (She is returning to live at said property ie where I rent off her currently). OK so I have been told this was illegal and she has to give 2 months also reference section 21 in the letter etc etc. However I believed her to have recently split with her partner & when I mentioned that I needed a legal document & not a scrap of paper she seemed perplexed! As I knew she had a definite move date in mind and I was now in conversation with local council to see if they could assist me they needed a definite section 21 notice to quit. So to mitigate time on both our behalf’s & knowing she really didn’t understand what I was talking about I said I would write up a section 21 for her and put all the legal correct info on it! And bring it to her for her to sign. (Big mistake). The section 21 that I prepared without all the flim flam stated that I would need to vacate by 15th May 2014. I had worked very hard researching the legalities and as far as I can tell with the 2 months notice required by law and ensuring the tenancy finishes on the final day ie rolling months on the 15th this was correct. After dropping a copy off with the council I received a call from the landlady stating that she wanted me out by the 31st March as she had nowhere else to go! I advised her that I was trying my best to find alternative accommodation however the council would not accept a notice to quit that wasn’t proper ie had a short illegal notice period! She called back a few minutes later saying she wasn’t happy and I advised her that I would return her signed copy and we would rip them up and she could provide me with her own official section 21 notice. We met at a local large branch coffee chain and her, and her mother and young daughter where there and whilst we disagreed on the 31st march issue and why exactly she needed to give proper legal notice to me and this wasn’t my doing or my choice it was required by law. I could tell none of this was getting through! I was then berated for trying to make a woman with 2 kids homeless. I ripped up the paperwork and left! A short time later the partner ex partner (I do not know now) of the landlady called me & made physical threats of violence towards me. I should have said earlier I am male but am in no way interested in physical confrontations with anyone let alone when all I was trying to do was expedite this whole procedure and mitigate anytime dilly dallying whilst she tries to make up her illegal section 21 notice. I placed a call to the police (On their non emergency line) to report this and was given a reference number. On arriving home The partner was outside the car telling me to get out & we’d “have a chat” I drove away and called the police and when they arrived at my property I returned to discuss what had happened, the partner had left the area. Just after the Police left my property they advised not to answer the door to either the landlady or the partner & report anything else. I am sure this was sent prior to them being contacted by the police but they have asked via txt if they can visit my property on Monday 24th February and discuss the end of my tenancy! I do not want them anywhere near me until I have found alternative accommodation do I have to let them in on Monday? Should I txt back and request that due to today’s events I would prefer all communication be via letter, and I will do the same? That Monday is inconvenient until I have had legal advice? Should I just ignore them until I get legal advice but I do not want them turning up at my door? Are my calculations indeed right? Guys any help or advice over the weekend would be greatly appreciated, I am a nervous wreck now waiting for the next episode & all I was ever trying to do was assist her with something she clearly did not grasp and get what I needed from her to give to my local council. thanks for reading.

HI all after advice again, I have been with my current landlord for 2yrs,it's a property management company, we have outgrown the house were currently in and viewed a property with our current landlord which at the time deemed like the one to move to, We put a holding deposit down of £250 + we paid one months rent and the deposit..in total we paid £1210. The day after for personal reasons we decided no it was not the house so we advised the landlord we were pulling out, we lost the £250 but the landlord charged another £60 for a tenancy agreement which in my eyes we would not of had until we moved in....is this correct? can he charge for a tenancy that we never took on? We got back £900. Plus our deposit came back from the deposit scheme(to the property management company) because as far as we all knew we were moving, now the landlord is saying the money goes back to the deposit scheme(which is fine) however there saying(property management company) if we find another property say in a weeks time and hand our notice in we cannot put into the deposit scheme to withdraw the deposit for 45 working days from when they last sent it...again is this true? many thanks.

Am I right in understanding that they would need to serve a notice to quit, and once expired they can seek an eviction order? Or is there something I'm missing? Thanks in advance

Hi, I am writing this to see if anyone can help me with a problem I am experiencing with my fixed term tenancy agreement at my student accommodation. I suspended my studies at university a few weeks ago, and I lived at Malik Halls student accommodation, which is across the road from Bradford University. I left through severe feelings of homesickness and felt that I had to suspend my studies incase I became ill with the worry. I phoned up Malik Hall's offices and spoke to the manager, and I explained that i am currently unemployed, receiving no Job Seeker's Allowance as of yet, and neither of my parents are employed. They expect me to pay up the rent until they can find someone to replace my room, but if not I have over £1,000 to pay up. I am in no financial position to be able to afford this, and was wondering what I could do? Many thanks.

Hi all, I was wondering if you could help me. I split up with my partner a while back and I was living with her however, her tenancy ended up 20th so I had a homeless assessment done by the council almost two weeks ago and they allocated me a studio flat that is through a private landlord and is £148 per week, the council have said because this is not a normal private rent and because I'm on ESA the rent will be paid in full. I moved in yesterday and the place is freezing and thats an understatement even with two electric heaters on, i have health issues that mean i cant be cold, also the guy upstairs was banging around and making a lot of noise up until 3am, apparently the previous tenant complained about him. If I ever want to move out suddenly can I do so? A family member might be offering me somewhere to stay for a while as they were shocked by the place earlier today. Thanks.

Hi there - hoping to get some help with a slightly complex tenancy issue. I have done a reasonable amount of research on the web and have not yet found a definitive answer. For background: Assured Shorthold Tenancy in England 12m contract, with 6m break clause with 2m notice required after this period (i.e. min term 8m). We are currently 2m into this. Joint tenancy signed by the two parties living in the property Assignment clause in the tenancy stipulates: "Not to assign underlet (or) part with or share the possession of the Premises and not to permit any persons other than the person named as the Tenant or any other person approved of in writing by the Landlord to occupy or reside in the Premises. (Not to take in lodgers or paying guests) without the Landlord’s written consent which shall not be withheld unreasonably." While it's a joint tenancy, the landlords preference was for one payment to be received, so the other tenant pays me his rent and I pay the full rent to the landlord. Current situation: The other flatmate has announced he wishes to leave the flat asap due to personal issues, albeit acknowledging it will take circa a month to find a replacement tenant. I intend to stay in the flat. I have explained he has signed a legally binding contract, the fact we have a J&S guarantee etc. I have suggested an 'informal' two months notice period, on the basis that (a) the landlord is willing to accept the lease being assigned to a new party, (b) I will do my best to find someone within the two months and therefore reduce the time he needs to stay/pay and © this does not change the fact he remains liable for the next 6 months (i.e. we're currently 2m into a min term of 8m). While the other tenant has suggested he will try and get someone I like, their number 1 priority appears to be moving out asap. On this basis he has suggested it should be him advertising for a new flatmate in order to get someone in asap. I have suggested this is unacceptable to me and I should be the one advertising (obviously dont want to live with someone I dont like for 6m minimum!). So I have the following questions: My research so far suggests both myself and my landlord would have to sign an assignation document if he formally passes the lease to someone, i.e. I could refuse to sign. Is this correct? As per the point above, what right does he have to sublet his room in the event he gains landlord approval but not mine? In an extreme situation could I point blank refuse to have anyone else join the flat as a new tenant or as a subleasee of him? I'm conscious of the J&S guarantee and in theory would have the funds to cover the full rent for the minimum term and (regretfully) go down the court route to claim the monies I'm out of pocket back from him. Does my suggestion of 'informal' two months notice period with the 3 caveats seem like a fair compromise? My default position of any costs related to this should be for him to pay - I do not see why either the landlord or myself should be out of pocket. Is this reasonable / standard? Is there anything else I should be aware of legally speaking? Obviously hoping to resolve all of this amicably but need to know what I can and cannot do if he starts playing silly b*ggers! Kind regards!

Hi, two of my flatmates were living in two separate rooms. Now they are a couple and they are "hosting" a friend in one of the two rooms. They didn't tell me that they are subletting one room to this girl (they want to keep the money for themselves) but I firmly believe they are subletting and therefore breaching our tenancy contract. I don't want to have legal problems with the landlord and I have always respected the tenancy agreement and also also I don't want to be charged with complacency. What shall I do? Tell everything to the landlord. Kick the girl out? Please is there anyone that can give me any advice.

Hi. I apologise in advance for the long post but I dont know what else to do. Myself and my husband moved into our current rented property in July 2011. The flat is a converted house (3 flats and 1 retail shop) and our flat was a main room and a conservatory (this was used as a bedroom) Everything was going well apart from our landlady always coming round and snooping round the outside of the building (looking through windows etc) which was a tad annoying. We were told that we could not adjust the heating temparature (had to leave it on 18 all of the time) We noticed more when the winter was approaching that the flat was getting very very cold. As the heating was only on for 1 hour am and 1 hour pm, we had to invest in some oil electric heaters. They took the edge off especially since I have to get up for work at 6am and the heating did not come on until 8am! We got a telephone call rom our landlady around Feb 2012 asking if we had changed our electric habits as she had a large bill in (rent includes electric) We stated to her that due to the winter we had to have these heaters. She was not happy about this but what could we do? Freeze in our own home? Even as I write this, I have a couple of layers on. We noticed that the conservatory window was coming away from the walls and noticed a few other defects (alot of damp and black mould creeping up the walls) this mould has also ruined alot of our belongings over the time no matter where we put things. The windows in the conservatory were also warped letting through drafts. When it came to renewing our tenancy this year, we pointed out all of the defects in the flat and asked for these to be repaired. 3 months on, we had no contact from the landlady at all. My husband has major back surgery in August 2012 and has been off work for the last 12 months. Regardless the rent and bills have been paid by me. One day it got to the point that my husband was in so much pain due to the cold that he investigated where the drafts were coming from in the bedroom. He pulled back some of the corner wallpaper and was horrified to see daylight! The conservatory wall was not actually fixed to the rest of the building. It was at this point we took lots of pictures and I called the landlady. I advised her that the problem was getting worse and she needed to get someone out ASAP. She was very uninterested about doing this and asked me to arrange someone to have a look. So I did! A few days later, a conservatory repair specialist came out to have a look at the property and was horrified at the condition. The conservatory was not safe and he recommended that it was replaced as it was beyond repair. I telephoned the landlady (from work where calls were recorded) and advised her of this. She was less than happy with what I was saying to her and almost disbeliving. As she was so non committal on the phone, I felt that I had no other choice but to call my local environmental health department. They were lovely and reassured me that I had done the right thing. Later the same day, the landlady left a message on my home number (where she knew I was not at home) stating that she was coming round with her builder to "see what he says" the tone of the message was not only accusing but very patronising. I arranged to have the time off work to be at the property with my husband and I called the landlady back. When I spoke to her to state that I had arranged the time off, she stated that I did not need to do that and as the property was hers and she would be paying any bill that I should not be concerned. I said that as I rent the property, I would like to be there (and also that I dont trust her as far as I could throw her) she responded with "well thats your choice" I was disgusted with her attiude then reminded her that as the landlady of the property it is her responsibility to maintain the property which she has not done. She then accused me of intimidating her as I was asking for the work to be done. I was not forceful, agressive or rude on the phone to her. (this is why I call her from work as all of the calls are recorded) She said that she was not continung to discuss with me and she put the phone down. It was at this point that we moved our bed (or at least our mattress) into the living room so we now only have 1 room that we can use (even that is freezing) When she arrived with her builder a couple of days later, she did not utter a word to me at all and only spoke to my husband. Her builder agreed that the conservatory needed replacing and had been built incorrectly with incorrect materials also. She did ask him if there was anyway to "just fix it" and he said no there wasnt (smart builder). Environmental health arrived a couple of days after this and looked over the whole property. He was not impressed at the condition and went away to write his report. This came back just before my husband and I went on our belated honeymoon. This report was also forwarded to our landlady. The environmental health report stated that the proerty sufferes from extreme cold, has been split without planning permission, she does not hold correct licences for a house of multiple occupancy (as it is now classed) The fire safety is not in place for other flats and no smoke alarms, the damp & dry rot is all over, the conservatory is unsafe, the heating should be controled by each flat and not set temp or times with other issues too. The landlady has also not held our deposit in a deposit guarantee scheme. When we arrived home yesterday, we were greeted by a nice solicitors letter on behalf of the landlady. She has instructed them to contact us regarding the environmental health report and the repairs. The landlady would like us to terminating the existing lease voulentarrily with some form of compensation. The finanical situation of myself and my husband is that I am the only wage earner, my husband is in receipt of ESA and is not going to be fit to go back to work for at least a further 3-6 months. The coldness is not helping his recovery at all. We cannot afford to move, we cannot afford another deposit, we cannot afford the removals costs either. We have had to send my husbands son back to stay with his mother as it is too cold here for him also and we are on the council waiting list (very low down tho) Sending his son back was heartbreaking for both my husband and I. Although we desperately need to get out of here, we just dont know what to do. If I were to give her the property back, what sort of compensation should I ask for? I have 8 months left on the tenancy @ £545.00 per month. All the other properties in the area are a min rental of £650 per month plus bills. All I can afford each month is £800 inc all bills. I am working all hours just to keep our heads above water (50 hours per week). Any help and/or advice would be appreciated.

hi, im having some issues with my previous landlord i moved out the end of april and still have not received my deposit back. they have advised because they live out of the uk they do not need to use a tenancy deposit scheme however on research i have found that does not matter. i am being blamed for alot of damage that was present in the property when i moved in. can i make a claim at small claims however id they live abroad? do i need to give them so much notice also? since i mentioned the deposit scheme they have went silent but before i advise i will be raising a small claims case i need to make sure i can take them there due to there location. i was gonna send an email stating please take this as 14 days notice. if the issue surrounding the deposit is not resolved then i will be taking the case to small claims where i will pursue the maximum compensation for non use of upto 3 times the deposit amount and legal costs. they also wanted me to call then and stated im not giving a gd enough reason as to not want them to call but i refused and stated email only so i have a paprr trail of all communication. its been nearly 3 weeks is there any timeframe on how long they have to return my deposit? all helps appreciated.

Hello. It's been a while since I last posted on here, but troubles have arisen once again! This dates back to January this year, I have only just gotten myself back on my feet, so feel au am now ready to tackle this. This is very complicated, I'll do my best to explain. There was a lot of naiveity on my part, as I was new to the situation. But overriding this was a huge amount of deception and lies being told by the third parties. So, in September 2012, I contacted a number on a sign displayed outside a small commercial unit, with a view to leasing the property. I hastily arranged a meeting with a man claiming to be the landlord (this will make more sense as I go on). He told me to meet him at his 'office' which turned out to be his car in the car park of his car wash. He brought with him a tenancy agreement. I had a good read through, although it seemed very generic, it did make direct reference to the property. A deposit of £600 was agreed, with a monthly rent of £600 to follow. I paid this fee in cash later that day, and was handed the keys. I immediately set out to purchase relevant equipment. I was opening a two bay car service and repair workshop. I purchased a brand new hydraulic car lift, a compressor and various tools at a cost of approximately £2500. I also purchased various signage and livery at a further cost of £600. Additional costs were incurred in the form of insurance, advertising and various legal costs. Things started well, and business was picking up. I arranged to fit my main sign above the unit. Once fitted, I got a very informal 'text' message informing me that the sign needed to be taken down, as the 'main' landlord disapproved. I questioned this, as it was the first time I had ever heard of the main landlord. He gave the impression he was the property holder. This aroused my suspicions. After a lot of back and forth conversations, it was agreed, that if the words 'servicing, repairs and Tyres' were removed (leaving only my business name) then it could remain. He then revealed this was due to a garage on the same estate complaining I had taken all of his customers. To this I thought, what has it got to do with me? Why are you intervening? Anyway, desperate to continue, I failed to comply, and the sign remained.it was as I erected more signs the problem got worse. I was having a torrid time (with all of the sign issues, the confusion over who the landlord was and also parking problems). Out of the blue one day, the guy who owned the other garage came to me, at first there was tension, but after he explained what was going on I completely understood. It turned out, the whole estate (compromising of 3 buildings and one outdoor use area (another car wash ) was owned (under a 99 year lease) by the same company. A very large property agent in my area, 'lex Allen'. When the garage owner took out his lease over 20 years ago, it was under the proviso he had exclusivity of any motor trade use, meaning my unit could not be used in any way related to the motor industry. He also detailed that at the time of his lease, the estate was bigger, but the council opted to build a bypass straight though the middle of it. The council gave the land a covenant (or something along those lines) saying that there was only certain permitted uses of the land, ( meaning that it couldn't be bulldozed to make way for a KFC). A few days after this, I receive a letter from Lex Allen, telling me to immediately vacate the property. As you can imagine, this was difficult, as all of my equipment was installed, and I was in utter shock! Anyway, I left the unit, and arranged a meeting with Lex Allen. He told me that he had a conversation with the man who he leased the property to (who sub-let it to me) he gave him express permission to let it to me, provided it was not in conjunction with the motor trade. Obviously, it is now clear the man who sub let it to me completely disregarded his instructions, and continued to let it to me. In the lease contract he gave to me which fortunately I still have, it was clearly written that the property was to be used for the purpose of maintaining and repairing cars. He refused to return my deposit of £600, stating that it cost that to dispose of two bin bags of rubbish (which weren't even mine) So, was left jobless, penniless and completely disheartened. I had put everything into that business in the 6 months I was there. I am so sorry about the long story I have told. I suppose the question I want to ask his, where do I go from here? Do I take one of them or both of them to small claims court? Should Lex Allen have made more checks? In trying to contact Lex Allen, he is refusing to sign for my letters, and will not arrange another meeting. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

My assured shorthold tenancy was entered into on the 5th July 2012 and I was of the opinion that this automatically expires on the 5th July 2013and therefore there is no need to provide notice to our landlord that we would be moving out on that date. We have found a new flat and intend to move in in early july, however when I phoned the rental agency he informed me that we need to give me 2 months notice? how can this be when there is nothing in the contract stating this and we have a section 21 letter from the landlord (sent to us when the contract was originally signed) stating that they will require possession on or before the 4th July 2013!

Hello everyone, I'm getting tangled with a bit of a situation with my estate agents over the professional cleaning of the property my flatmate and I have now vacated. The contract says: "To return the property and the contents at the end of the tenancy in the same clean state or condition as they were at the commencement of the tenancy and to ensure the property and all fixtures and fittings have been professionally cleaned. A copy of the professional cleaning invoice may be asked for as proof." The estate agents suggested we let them deal with the professional cleaning after we moved out, calling their cleaning company. Since the estimate they presented seemed more expensive than the average tariffs proposed by other cleaning companies, we arranged our own professional cleaning team to come in and carry out the cleaning before we vacated the property. However, the estate agents still disputed the "cleanliness" of the property. We were not provided an official list of what further cleaning was necessary and, although our cleaners were available to come back and complete the cleaning for free, the estate agents arrange the further cleaning with their company, without letting us arrange further cleaning from our cleaners. This happened despite the fact that I went to talk in person with the estate agents right when I was notified that further cleaning was required, in order to arrange our own cleaners to come back. I was made to wait and could not speak directly with the property manager as she was apparently too busy at the moment. While I was waiting, they arranged for their own cleaners to come and clean, which I was notified only when they had already started cleaning and I was told that telling them to stop cleaning then would incur into a service canceling charge that my flatmates and I would have to pay anyway. This seems quite unfair to me, especially considering that we respected the contract. I was wondering if anyone had some advice on how to proceed on this situation. I am afraid that the estate agents will want to charge us with the further cleaning, taking the amount out of our deposit, so there won't be a way for us to stop this payment. This is my first post here, I'd like to thank everyone for their help, I've read a few threads and this community seems to provide an invaluable service to people who encounter this kind of problems.

I was just wondering if someone can give a friend of mine advice. She let a lady move into a 2 bedroom terrace property wich she owns, for a very low rent. She has lived there for years for next to nothing but has now been complaining constantly over everything. She has also only been paying rent every 2 or 3 months instead of monthly, but my friend just let that go. My friend has had enough now and wants her to leave and find alternative accomodation, so she can sell the house. Can she just tell her to leave, or does the lady living there have rights. There has never been a Tenancy Agreement, or contract given to her. Thanks in advance.

Hi all, Just a quick question regarding my tenancy deposit held by the Letting Agency as Stakeholder (the deposit is registered with the TDS as well) : Does this mean that the Letting Agency is holding the money in Trust in a separate bank account? I was under the impression that in general tenancy deposits should be physically forwarded to one of the Deposit Schemes. Please advise. Many thanks for your help in advance.

I rented a property in January 2007 and paid the deposit. As it was prior to the new rules of deposit schemes, the landlord held the deposit. After being tricked into leaving in October 2007, the landlord refused to give the deposit back. I have tried sending requests to return it, but get ignored. I thought i would try moneyclaim.gov.uk, but i cannot use it for tenancy deposits. Is there any other way to claim for this money? I am also claiming part of October's rent too. Any help would be appreciated.

I moved out of my old property at the end of June, and am having issues with my landlord making charges. To set the scene, I was sharing this flat with a friend and it was a real state when we moved in. Very old furniture, dirty bathroom, floors, walls, a real state. The only good thing was that the kitchen had just been refurbished, but the flat was in a real state of disrepair when we moved in. We reported everything – to their credit they did send someone to repaint, but the cleaning was totally up to us. We replaced the shower head and rod and tried to make good what we could. Problems continued throughout our tenancy – some dealt with, some not. One thing I reported the very day I moved in (unfortunately over the phone so not in writing) was that my bedroom window was stiff to open and close. Now, 2 months after moving out, he wants to charge me £140 for fitting a new hinge, and says that the window does not close. I pointed out that I lived in that room for a year, including one of the coldest winters I can remember, and that I wouldn’t have been sitting there with the window open! I do not remember seeing an inventory when I moved in – I asked him to forward me an inventory with my signature on it; he has sent over the inventory from before we moved in which I had never seen before and not signed. My old flatmate signed on check out, which I’m worried will be a problem. I worked really hard to try and make that flat livable with no support from the landlord, who always seemed to resent spending any money on it. We had leaks and a pest problem for the whole time we lived there. He has also never given me DPS details, and I am worried we may no be protected as I cannot find anything on the DPS site. I’m not entirely sure where to go from here, as I don’t want to pay for a problem that could have been sorted had they gotten their finger out earlier. Any advice much appreciated!

Hi all, Hopefully someone will be able to help with our situation - I seem to be getting so much conflicting advice! Sorry this may turn out to be a long one... I currently live with my husband in a rented house. Our fixed term AST came to an end on 1st August, and as happens every year, the lettings agent pushed for us to renew the tenancy. As we are in the process of buying a house, we requested to move on to a periodic tenancy so we are not tied to a fixed term. After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing the LL agreed to this. All well and good, we thought - however, the agent still demanded a 'renewal' fee for us to move to a periodic tenancy under the same terms as our AST. This we reluctantly paid, which I now realise may have been a mistake. When we have rented before, after the fixed term came to an end, the contract automatically became Statutory Periodic, with us needing to give one rental period notice to leave. We assumed this would be the case with our current tenancy but, now that we are nearing exchange on the house we are buying, the letting agent now says we have to give 2 months notice, as per the terms of our AST. I gather from what I have read that if challenged they will argue that by agreeing to the 'renewal' of our tenancy, and paying the fee, that we have now entered into a Contractual Periodic Tenancy. We were hoping to exchange and complete on our house purchase in September, but if we are held to this 2 month notice period then the earliest we can leave this house is 1st November, meaning a very long crossover period which we would find very difficult to finance. So my question is, have we actually entered into a Contractual Periodic Tenancy? We have not signed anything to say we agreed to the terms the agent set out, nor have we had a new contract. It is just the fact that we paid the agent's fee that is niggling at me, otherwise I believe we have a strong argument for saying we now have a Statutory Periodic Tenancy, in which case we are able to give one month's notice, not two. If in fact we are in a contractual agreement, this is the clause in the original AST to which the agent are trying to hold us: 'Tenant's Break Clause: The Landlord agrees that the Tenant has the right to terminate the Tenancy after the first Twelve Months by giving the Landlord not less than Two Months notice in writing to be sent by first class post or hand delivery to the address specified in the clause 1.1 of this Agreement, to end the Agreement. To avoid any doubt between the parties it is agreed that the notice period cannot commence any earlier than the rent due date of month Ten and cannot expire any earlier than the last day of month Twelve. Such notice must expire at the end of a relevant period, being the day before the Rent normally falls due. Upon expiry of this notice this Agreement shall cease except that either the Tenant or the Landlord can pursue their legal remedies against the other for any breach of any rights and obligations under the Agreement apart from the right to a fixed term contract which is subject to this break clause.' Can this clause still apply now the fixed term has ended, given that we have not signed a new agreement? I have been referred to Section 5 of the Housing Act 1988, in particular clause 3e - but I'm not sure it applies in our situation: 3. The periodic tenancy referred to in subsection (2) above is one— (e)under which, subject to the following provisions of this Part of this Act, the other terms are the same as those of the fixed term tenancy immediately before it came to an end, except that any term which makes provision for determination by the landlord or the tenant shall not have effect while the tenancy remains an assured tenancy. Or, do we now not have a legal leg to stand on after paying the agent's fee? Do we just need to suck it up and either delay completion on the house or pay the agent's Early Release Fee of £558 (no I didn't miss a decimal point!) for them to remarket the property early? Any advice on the above would be very gratefully received from someone with a bit of legal know-how, or has come across this situation before. Sorry for the essay - well done if you're still reading! Many thanks in advance.

Dear All, Could you please advise on what would be the most optimal course of action in the situation as per below in order to claim against the non-compliant landlord with Housing Act 2004? The situation in few bullet points: 1. We have signed a 12 months fixed term AST with a private landlord starting from July 30th 2011 and then renewed with a new AST contract on July 30th 2012 with a new increased rent and the second fixed term has ended on July 29th 2013. The deposit of £1,494 has been paid in July 2011 to a letting agency (property was let as LET ONLY) and the letting agency has transferred it to the private landlord. 2. Shortly before the end of the second fixed term (ended on July 29th 2013) we have run into a disagreement with the landlord over his long overdue flooring repairs which he hasn't completed before the agreed date July 5th 2013 (we have vacated the property for two weeks to allow him to complete the flooring repairs affected by a damp occurred long ago and before our initial tenancy started back in 2011) after which we were due to return back from holidays with two small children (4 years old and 6 months old). Upon our return the floors were missing and their condition has been totally unsafe for little kids which has later been confirmed by the Council Environmental Officer who visitted the property and confirmed a tripping and feet laciteration hazard in an official HHSRS report. 3. After I have threatened a legal action to complete the floor repairs - the landlord become somewhat 'unstable' and 'emotional' (exact quotes of his series of messages from him were: 'don't tempt me you stupid little dick' and 'I will come over, punch you in the face, cut your head off and will **** into the hole' - all these have been reported to local police shortly after') and he has served Section 21 to evict us as soon as possible despite the the fact that the AST fixed terms is to end within less than one month. Since he threatened that 'he holds my deposit and will not return until this matter is resolved' I have started to look around to understand what the story about the deposits and finally found out that the deposit should have been protected with one of the Tenancy Deposit Schemes and that the certain prescribed information has to be served to me within 30 days after the deposit has been paid or 30 days after April 2012 when when the new Housing Act 2004 amended legislation (I think it's called The Localism Act 2011) has come into the force. 4. Shortly after discovering this fact I have searched through the various schemes trying to find my deposit and also requested the confirmation in writing from each of the schemes. All schemes have come back to me by email and confirmed that this property has not been registered with them and I was also not able to find it through my own searches on their web sites. 5. While I was still a tenant (on July 11th 2013) I have sent two postal (recorded) letters to the landlord requesting to provide the status of my deposit protection and to protect the deposit if it has not been protected yet. These have been ignored / unanswered. 6. At this moment the tenancy fixed term has ended (on July 29th 2013) and we professionally cleaned the property throughout (have an invoice) and have moved out from the property 7. Since there was no inventory check-in, the landlord has asked me to simply had over the keys to a letting agent and said that the deposit with all the deductions will be returned after 'inspection'. Shorting after end of tenancy I have sent the landlord another recorded letter (template has been taken from shelter) to request of the return of the deposit within 14 days. I had to track his new home address (or rather an old home address as he seems like moved back to his original home which he used when purchased the lease on the property he rented to us) through the land registry in order to get this letter signed for by him as the initial letter send to his mailing address specified in the AST contract has returned with 'Gone Away' sticker. ----------------------------------------- 8. Now as I am writing this I am waiting for for a postal letter from the landlord with a cheque for the remaining sum of the deposit after deductions which are unknown as of yet (hopefully the breakdown of costs of repairs will be in that letter) - although I fail to understand what damages he have come up with as a 'revenge'. The question is as per the first paragraph of this post and in particular I would like to understand what is the optimal step forward here: 1. Accept the cheque and all the deductions (whatever they are) and then take him to county court for 'Failure to comply with Housing Act 2004': i.e. to claim just for 3x Deposit amount which would be £1,494 * 3 = £4,482 and is below £5,000 limit for small claims procedure or 2. Don't accept the cheque and take him to the county court for deposit return and for 'Failure to comply with Housing Act 2004' and therefore claim for deposit return and 3xDeposit: i.e. to claim for £1,494 * 4 = £5,976 and which is above the limit for small claims procedures which might mean that I would be risking to end up paying his solicitor's costs if I lose this case (for whatever reason) And in addition to this - are these still valid concerns in terms of potential appeal against my claim? - Because of the fact that the tenancy has started before April 2012 - can I still claim after my tenancy has ended - i.e. I am no longer a tenant and in Option 1 above the deposit has been returned back to me? I.e. Can the landlord appeal here to a precedent appeal court ruling (can't recall the particulars of the ruling) that 'non-tenant that have deposit returned cannot claim for return of the deposit again' and that claiming just for 3xDeposit compensation isn't allowed? - Does the new legislation (The Localism Act 2011) that came into force on April 2012 actually apply in my case? i.e. my first tenancy in this property has started before April 2012 and before the new legislation and contract got renewed in July 2012. If I am not mistaken the new legislation states that 'all tenancies commenced or in effect on or after April 2012 should have deposit registered within 30 days after April 2012'. I would really appreciate your thoughts and opinions on this. All I am trying to make sure is that whichever option I go with from the above - I will not end up going beyond 'small claims procedure limit' and that the landlord has no option whatsoever to appeal against the claim/court ruling based on past precedents 'that ex-tenants can't claim if deposit is already returned'. Many thanks, Alex

Hi there, i'm in need of some advice. I am a current student in Cardiff and Just moved house at the start of July. My previous tenancy agreement ended on 31st June. In my tenancy agreement is says; "2.5.1 The Member (letting agent) will tell the tenant within 10 working days of the end of the tenancy if they propose to make any deductions from the deposit" On the tenth working day after the end, i received my closing inspection which stated; "If there were any issues found on this inspection that could be deemed tenant responsibility, we will firstly review evidence such as previous inspections / inventories and correspondence throughout the tenancy that might concern the item/issue. This will allow us to ascertain if there is any tenant liability and if so, to ensure that a fair and accurate charge to your deposit is proposed. We will contact you if this is the case and there are any charges to apply to your deposit." So they have not proposed if they are making any deduction or not within their stated time scale. Where do I stand or what can I do? I did question the letting agent about this but they said any contact including the closing inspection counts as a proposal?! Sorry for the long first time post but I really need help. Thanks, Craig

Hello, It seems all my problems are coming at once. I'm coming to the end of my 12 month letting agreement with Countrywide. I don't want to move as I love the house and the area. However, Countrywide want a £125 fee to extend for another 12 months as well as putting the rent up, which is exactly what I do not need right now! I heard that I don't have to sign an extention and could just let it continue into a periodic tenancy. I contacted the landlord directly and he said that he's fine with it rolling over into a periodic agreement and, in fact, he gave instructions to Countrywide when he first signed with them that this was exactly what he wanted to happen. He also knows nothing of a rent increase, despite the letter saying "We are please to inform you that your landlord..." I called Countrywide after I spoke with my landlord and said that I did wish to stay but on a periodic tenancy. The person on the phone got immediately on the offensive and quite agressive saying that it wasn't possible to go onto a periodic tenancy unless the landlord authorised it. I explained that he was fine with it and they said that they'd contact him and get back to me. My landlord confirmed it with Countrywide and now Countrywide are saying it's a £90 fee to renew on a periodic tenancy! Surely this is incorrect as I'm not signing anything and they don't have to print anything, it's just the same agreement. Can Countrywide charge me this or not?

Hi everyone, hope to get some advice regarding the problems faced by us. We had spoke to our letting agent to rent out our house for 6 months and maybe extend the tenancy if we do not move in ourselves later. They told us it was possible to rent it for 6 months and we just have to give two months notice before hand. Hence we decided to go ahead with it and was sent the tenancy agreement and asked to sign it and return back asap if not it would delay the tenancy. However, later we decided not to go ahead and called in to inform we changed our minds, but were told that the tenancy has already started. So we thought ok no problem we'll just give a 2 months notice later if we decide to move in. Now when we told our agent to give the notice, they told us its not possible as the tenancy is a 1 year agreement and we can only move in when it ends. The question is we have not signed the tenancy agreement so will that tenancy be valid? How and what can i do to complain as we are totally stressed as we might be homeless in about 2 months time as we have been informed we cannot get a council house and housing benefit as we own a property. We have 2 small kids and OH has been made redundant so with no job and no housing benefit too, we can't seem to find a property to rent. The other thing is we have not received our rents for the past 2 months and when inquired, was told housing benefit paid into the wrong account and they are still waiting for remittances sent out by post to be received before they can release us the money. They tell us that they are on constant chase with them and still waiting but how long does a post takes to reach them. Its been almost a month. However, we did receive first 2 rent payments so can't figure out why suddenly money was sent in the wrong account. Do you think I should ask them to forward the emails they communicated with the housing benefit people or a copy of the housing council mentioning it has been paid in the wrong account? ??

I have seen plenty of these sorts of posts but can't seem to find the answer i need. here are the basics: -my ast started on 30 June 2011 (I paid deposit on this day and have receipt) -tenancy ended on 28th June 2013 -deposit was protected on 18th January 2012 -Letter from DPS to confirm this posted on 23rd Feb 2012 - received a couple of days later -There was no prescribed information sent by landlord, only DPS confirmation with log in details -Landlord claiming it was Human error, therefore they were ok to deposit late. -DPS letter states tenancy start date as:18th january 2012 - not 30 June 2011 I am sending a letter before action to the Landlord, but want to be sure that if I have to submit a claim to county court that I am using correct legislation: -should i use section 213(5) housing act due to failure to protect in required time and also failure to submit prescribed information? -is section 214 futile as tenancy has ended, or is it relevant due to failure to send prescribed information? -The landlord claims "human error" - i know they are landlords of 4 properties, surely they should know better? -they lied on protecting deposit - saying tenancy started n 18th January, is there any weight behind this as an argument against them? -our original ast was 12 months, we signed an extension on 29th June 2012 - should the deposit have been protected again (dps letter states tenancy for 6 months I(ending 18 june 2012) If all of these are grounds for a claim - which is the route to go down. Also, as tenancy has ended, is claiming for the 3x fine going to succeed or not? thanks in advance

Hi All I started my 6 month tenancy earlier this year and have recently been given s21. notice to leave at the end of the 6 months. I believe the notice is not valid as the landlord has not registered the deposit (I have checked with all agencies recently and they are in the process of sending written confirmation) however I want to leave anyway as my baby is due soon and I do not want the landlord to register the deposit and then re-issue the notice as by that point I will have a newborn and no way of moving. The deposit was 3 times a months rent (my entire savings!) so I have withheld this months rent already as I cannot afford to move out otherwise. I plan to leave at the end of the 2 months notice (having withheld 2 months rent) - obviously I will be taking the landlord to court for my deposit but is it best to do this once I have left or before? Also how much should I be claiming for? I understand that he may counter claim for the overdue rent and I accept this but don't want it to jeopardise getting the rest of my deposit back. Please be kind I know that I shouldn't be withholding rent but I need to do what is best for myself and my children (I already have a 3 year old) and am going through a horrible break up and I don't want to end up homeless so I need to withhold money now so that I can afford to move. Any advice would be appreciated - Thanks

Hi. I am new to this forum but at an absolute loss as to where to turn with my problem. Basically I signed an assured shorthold tenancy with a friend of mine in June 2012. My friend having never paid rent abandoned the property at the time and I had entered a period of depression. I was being hounded by the landlord about his arrears as they couldn't locate him. Neither could I. In January I had a friend who was eligible for DSS offer to move in. I contacted my landlord and at the time they would not change the lease to his name without us paying £250 which I couldn't afford. I was issued with a notice seeking possession of a property let on an assured tenancy on January 25th 2013. In the end after Citizens advice had tried to work out the situation of getting my friend on the lease and my landlord did not respond to their letters my friend had to leave the property due to my landlord telling me I was in breach him being here. I tried to reason with them saying my original co tenant was not returning and his rent would never be paid. Even if I paid my side of the rent which was £300 I was still gaining £300 a month arrears which if my friend was not found would have made me liable so I was advised as I am soon declaring bankruptcy to stop paying my rent as this would all be included in my bankruptcy. Come March 2013 I was suspended from work after becoming extremely stressed on shift and in April was officially fired from my job which is still under appeal. I am currently on ESA signed off with a Doctors note for depression and anxiety. I have been told by my landlord that on June 27th when my tenancy ends they will be here to collect my keys. Now I have been told by citizens advice and shelter I do not have to leave on this date as when my tenancy ends it automatically switches to I believe a periodic tenancy and the landlord must apply for eviction in the courts. Does anyone for sure know if this is accurate. Also how long would this procedure take. My landlord also now wants to start viewing the property with prospective new tenants and I informed them that due to my current medical condition this is not possible as I currently suffer anxiety attacks supported by a doctors note and I am on prescription Valium. After a heated email discussion with my landlord today I was informed they have the right to enter with tenants and will do. I informed them that a text at 2 pm today for a 12pm visit tomorrow is neither 24 hrs notice and also not written to which they informed me to stop being pedantic. Any advice would be much appreciated as in 9 days I fear I face homelessness and housing associations told me if I leave when the lease ends I am volunteering being homeless. My landlord is telling me I must leave. I feel its all making my medical condition worse. Thank you for any help and sorry for the long post but I wanted to include all the information.