Deposit - thoughts on where we stand

[Guest troubles]

I moved into a shared flat in 2009, rather than pay my deposit directly to him the landlord asked me to pay back the deposit of the lady who I was replacing in the flat share. I raised some concerns about this but agreed nonetheless and signed a tenancy agreement for 12 months, at the time I was not provided any details about the tenancy protection scheme neither was a itinerary taken.

 

I have now lived there for 6 years in that time a number of different people have moved in and out (3 in total) where a new contract has been signed but no itinerary taken and to my knowledge the landlord has not withheld or taken any deposit to pay for damage that has accrued within the flat during that period.

 

In the last move I moved into the biggest room and the landlord asked me to send him extra money to top up my deposit in line with the increased rent from being in that room. We are not on a rolling contract out 12 month tenancy having ended at the end of last year.

 

The landlord has recently upped the rent by £700 and me and the other tenants have told him we cannot afford this, so have decided to move out and each of us have made our own arrangements.

 

There are a few issues with the flat I'm aware of, some of which I'm not sure if they have been caused whilst I have been living there or before, cosmetic damage to the bathroom, staining on the radiators, grubby walls and one of the bedroom windows is cracked due to a gust of wind.

 

I am moving out in two weeks - but how far is it reasonable to the landlord to expect damage to be repaired where he can't substantiate that anyone currently living there caused the damage? There are issues we are aware of and will hold our hands up about but some of them are historic and it doesn't seem right that we take the brunt of that when previous tenants have moved out without giving up their deposit.

 

I'd be grateful for any input.

[citizenB]

Did you make a note of any issues/damage at the time you moved in ?

 

Apologies... I just noticed "no itinerary"

[Guest troubles]

No, we did not agree an itinerary - I took some photographs of the issues in the room I moved into a few years ago, just cosmetic issues with one of the units (a wax mark I think) and a chip on the toilet seat. I have no idea on when and who caused those issues though.

 

I'm just wondering whether we ought to make good what we can, and otherwise list the remaining issues (not fixable by ourselves) which we believe it is reasonable for us to be held accountable for and those which we do not. Do you think this is a reasonable approach?

 

I think we will end up in a dispute about this anyway but I don't want to write my whole deposit off because the landlord has been lax about reviewing the property every time a new tenancy has been started.

 

Obviously, I'm aware we should have paid more attention to this as well.

[Steve__M]

The landlord has recently upped the rent by £700 and me and the other tenants have told him we cannot afford this, so have decided to move out and each of us have made our own arrangements.

 

Has the landlord used the correct procedure to raise the rent - i.e. issue a Section 13 notice? Other requests to increase the rent could be ignored by you.

 

This may be a moot point if you have already made arrangements to move out.

 

Do you have adequate evidence of the existence of your deposit?

 

Your landlord should realise that he is at risk of a claim from you for his failure to protect the deposit. Alternatively you could sue him just for the money.

 

From what you say, it is unlikely that the landlord has the required evidence to lawfully deduct money from your deposit.

[Guest troubles]

Has the landlord used the correct procedure to raise the rent - i.e. issue a Section 13 notice? Other requests to increase the rent could be ignored by you.

 

This may be a moot point if you have already made arrangements to move out.

 

Do you have adequate evidence of the existence of your deposit?

 

Your landlord should realise that he is at risk of a claim from you for his failure to protect the deposit. Alternatively you could sue him just for the money.

 

From what you say, it is unlikely that the landlord has the required evidence to lawfully deduct money from your deposit.

 

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

 

We did not receive a Section 13 Notice, when he indicated his intention to increase our rent we attempted to negotiate but it became clear that we were still a ways apart, and subsequently made other arrangements. I certainly think he can get more money for the property than we are currently paying or would be prepared to pay.

 

In terms of your last point, when a previous tenant moved out he left having damaged a light fixture in his room, the landlord tried to withhold his deposit but he was later order to release it because he had no evidence of the damage being caused by that tenant. I'm just hoping that this doesn't all now come back on us!!

[mariner51]

itinerary = inventory/condition report.

 

 

If you have a room-only + common areas AST and Ts not 'joint and severally liable' for whole property, then LL will have difficulty deducting your deposit for previous damage, though he prob had a case against prev T who damaged light fixture in his room.

Were replacement Ts added by Deed of Assignment or general acceptance? Did they have a room-only AST?

[raydetinu]

LL cant increase rent unless current contract allows that as a provision! or at the start of a new one.

Have you given LL written notice that you are vacating with the correct period, or is it at the end of the contract.

[Guest troubles]

Okay, following my last post I sent an email to the landlord asking for the TDP scheme details again and suggested he had failed to meet his legal obligations.

 

I then received a tirade of emails with other faults he had found with snide insinuations about behaving like a little boy and suggesting he was going to charge me for his costs for dealing with the deposit, including fuel costs. Obviously trying to intimidate me like I'm a young lad rather than a full grown adult!!

 

This didn't answer my question so left it- he then wrote back a few days later saying that the estate agents hadn't dealt with it properly and he would be getting back to me. At the start of last week I received a TDP certificate suggesting that the deposit was registered following the end of my tenancy - spoke to the TDP scheme a few days ago who said that if it was registered after the end of the tenancy it was not valid.

 

So it looks like court is the only option which I wanted to avoid and now means I have to front up additional court costs and take the time and stress to see this through- which leads me wanting to go for costs, I don't want to be a leach and receive money for doing nothing, all I wanted to achieve was a fair amount of my deposit back, but this issue is now starting to take up my time!!

[raydetinu]

well just ask for him to return the deposit in 7 days or you will start court action for the its return and non-protection.

hopefully he will see sense and do that, saving you the time and stress involved in the court action.

but, if he does not respond you must continue with your claim.