We have been served a notice to leave by our landlord only because he wants to sell the property. He has gave us til 12th January 2025 to leave and we got served the notice middle of October so he has been more than reasonable on this side of things.
However we have two small children under age of 5 so our focus has been on getting another house to stay - I have asked this landlord if he can keep my deposit for the last months rent which is protected by safe deposits Scotland as we need to pay a full deposit and a full months rent for the new property - the letting agent has refused this and said we need to pay the months rent - where can I go with this - I wanted to leave earlier so as not to inconvenience the landlord so he can sell quicker rather than us waiting til January - I also want to note we have always paid the rent on time and never caused any issues for the landlord - we also had to have a repair to our shower door which the landlord/letting agent said that I would be charged £30 to get fixed too which I paid to the tradesman - any advice would be appreciated
It is normal for ll/agent to reject this type of request as deposit is to cover potential damage to the property so if used for rent then there isn’t anything to cover the damage. You cant force ll to accept this.
However, if you dont pay the last months rent there isn’t anything a landlord could do other than deduct it from your deposit which is effectively what you want. It could impact your reference but unlikely given ll wants you out to sell.
Technically, the agent is right, although I hate it when Landlords ask tenants to leave, and then are not able to be flexible, to provide some assistance during what will be a difficult time for you, especially moving out over Christmas.
I’d say it is more important to secure your new house, so if you don’t have enough money to pay the existing rent & the advance payments on your new tenancy, then you have to prioritise your new tenancy.
That said, do you know who your Landlord is. It might be worth a chat with them directly rather than via the agent. Invite them around to show the condition you have kept their property. If they are re-asssured there will not be any damage to deduct from the deposit held, they might be more willing to be flexible.
Yeah I know I’m trying not to be unreasonable at all. The new property has our references from the letting agent - the only other option I can think of is setting up a payment plan because it’s a lot of money for us to pay out especially with two young children - thank you for your advice
Thank you, yeah the new house is secured we have paid the deposit and will pay the months rent when we are moving in - I’m not trying to be unreasonable but with two young children and moving costs it’s hard. We do know who the landlord is and what his address is, however there is no phone number for him in the lease only the letting agent and I would feel really strange just turning up at his address when he hasn’t met me personally if that makes sense
