I went to a viewing today at 1pm and the landlord said she would give us the flat. We agreed details like move in date etc. But at 4pm, 3 hours later, after paying the holding deposit I get a notification saying my application has been rejected and that the property is no longer available. Is there any way to get in contact with the landlord to see if a mistake has been made or to a least find out why my application was rejected?
Thanks.
If the landlord used the Openrent system of referencing/establishing financial ability to pay, then you could try contacting them directly. I understand there is something called CALC an automated system that estimates this, it maybe some piece of your info still needs to submitted, the systems lack the human touch! Also suggest you check whoever your referree was, to make sure your reference contained all the relevant information.
You can go to the land registry to find out who owns the property, but that will incur a cost.
Good luck
What exactly did the landlord say? Did he say the offer was subject to referencing or conditional in any way? Did he put anything in writing? Were there any witnesses to the offer?
Contracts can be verbal and this has all the hallmarks of a binding contract, but the issue would be proving what he said if he now backtracks.
That’s absolutely rubbish. Although a lease can be made orally there is absolutely no chance of anyone ever being able to enforce this in court.
An oral lease is contingent on offer and acceptance as well as fulfillment of terms. That means, the landlord must actively offer a lease and the tenant must accept all of the terms. The landlord must thereafter relinquish keys to the tenant and if the landlord had required rent to be paid in advance he must have received the rent.
A tenant can’t run off to court and make a judge enforce a “lease” when the tenant is not in situ.
I think your confusing a contract with a tenancy. I was suggesting that the OP may have a contract to supply. Clearly he hasn’t got a tenancy as he hasn’t taken possession. My post was based on the OP saying “the landlord said she would give us the flat. We agreed details like move in date” and then “after paying the holding deposit”. So offer acceptance and consideration. As I said, if the offer was conditional that would be different. Whether its worth their while doing anything about it, (other than demanding the holding deposit back) is a different matter. The thought also crossed my mind that this may be a scam.