Hi All, I rented a double room in a shared house in April 2010. All was fine until Nov 2011 when my estate agent told me and all other house mates that the property had been sold and he wanted us to move out immediately. He wanted us to settle in other properties he was managing, whereas I wanted to stay in the same property for the notice period and then move to a private flat. The agent promised me that if I left immediately, I could continue looking for a flat and leave the new room on 3-4 days notice only. This was a reasonable deal so I agreed to stay in one of the other properties he was managing. I stayed there from 27/11/2011 to 07/01/2012, and continued paying rent as normal. When I found the new place on 28/12/2011, I called this agent to tell him about my final plan to leave. He was on holiday but his mobile was answered by a colleague of him (working for the same estate agency). I told him about my plans that I will be leaving on 07/01/2011 (10 days notice). I did not discuss anything about deposit on this occasion as this person did not know my background. After moving out, and when the main agent returned from holiday, I called him to discuss about my deposit. He told me that he was surprised by me vacating the room without any notice. When I reminded him about the deal we agreed to (3 days notice) he asked me to give him a ring the next day and hung up the phone immediately. After that, I have been trying to get in touch with him, leaving voice and text messages, but he won’t answer my calls. Furthermore, as per the contract, the deposit was to be registered in one of the tenancy deposit schemes called “the Tenancy Deposit Scheme”. I contacted this scheme and the confirmed via email that my deposit was not registered. I need advice from the expert people out there. 1. Is this a good case for a small claims track? (He owes me £390 (433 - 3 days rent @100 per week). 2. Should I make this a case of not returning my deposit or not registering it with the tenancy deposit scheme? In this case, can I claim the deposit due plus three times the original deposit? 3. When I write a pre-court final letter to this agent, what is the minimum number of working days I have to give him to return my deposit? Any help will be most appreciated. Happy to answer any questions the readers might have. Thanks, Ali

I have recently moved out of a property after 7 months (initial fixed term of 6 months). I discovered late in the tenancy that the landlord ( he is the cousin of the owners and manages the property for them) had not protected the deposit. I have repeatedly asked where it is - he has avoided the issue, blamed it on the letting agent and even given me a bogus reference number for the TDS (think this was for one of his other properties). I have now established that it is not protected in any of the 3 schemes He has tried to make spurious deductions for cleaning, despite us leaving the property in a good and clean state. he provided no inventory, no check-in or check-out report. He wouldn't even meet me to inspect the property on moving out and insisted I drop off the keys. I have told him that if he does not repay it in full I will pursue a claim for non-protection of the deposit but he doesn't seem to care. I have a few questions: 1. Do I have a good case to claim the 3 x deposit penalty? 2. Iss there a chance I could lose, or just get the deposit back and have to pay costs out of this? 3. If he returns my deposit in full, does that prevent me bringing a compensation claim for the 3 x deposit? 4. Can reclaiming the deposit itself and the compensation be done as part of the same claim or do I have to lodge these separately? Your advice would be appreciated, along with any tips on submitting the N208 claim form and what to include with it.

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.