I paid a holding deposit on a flat. I passed referencing.
Both the landlord and myself signed the tenancy agreement. I asked if I could pay the full deposit on payday at the end of this month. The landlord agreed and we both signed a statement to this effect in writing.
The landlord text me this AM to advise he was "pulling out " of the agreement. No reason was given. The contract does state it is not binding until deposit is paid. The landlord says he has instructed open rent to return my holding deposit but it is not clear if it will be returned if I (as advised to do by open rent) cancel the tenancy. The landlord has cancelled the tenancy on their end
I have emailed Openrent asking what happens to my holding deposit under these circumstances and am waiting for a reply. I have wasted time and money on this and lost opportunities elsewhere. I now also must request that my employer ( who is providing me accomodation) allow me to stay for longer than planned. I am potentially facing homelessness because of this landlord. He wanted to conduct this agreement outside of Open rent which made me suspicious.
I should have gone with my instict.
I’m not sure about the route to resolution of this but you do have a contract. I would get a solicitor involved asap. It is not unusual to conduct all agreements for a tenancy outside of Openrent. I do it all the time as I complete my own checks and use a different tenancy agreement.
Thank you for your response.
Do you have any recommendations for a solicitor specialising in this area? I am not in a position financially to pursue a futile complaint. I will contact citizens advice if I can ( I have very little time at work during their opening hours to contact them)
I paid my holding deposit to open rent. The landlord says they have instructed them to return my deposit. But emails from open rent in response to my query about my holding deposit are evasive at best. They just tell me to surrender the tenancy. As I have told open rent I’m concerned that doing this will forfeit my holding deposit. I should not be losing this money because I did not cancel the tenancy, the landlord did but open rent have been no help whatsoever.
The basic rule is that for a contact to be enforceable, consideration (ie. money) has to change hands. If you had paid your deposit initially, you would be in a much stronger position.