Hello LL’s, I’m the tenant in question.
My LL has sold house (stc).
I have found another house through EA after extensive searching and enquiries, it’s not my first choice for location but I would rather this than having to go through the whole council thing, both for the sake of me and my children and the LL having to go through the eviction process.
I’m probably going to get shot for this but the only way I can get out now to avoid the delay in house sale is to ask that LL keeps my deposit ( not protected) and I ask to keep the last months rent to help me pay towards new home. I have kept the house immaculate and it’s in the same if not better condition than when I moved in, given these circumstance how would you react as a LL to this request? Thank-you, I’ll get my coat!
Personally I wouldn’t have a problem with this if i was asking a good tenant to leave to sell a house.
What you could potentially do to make it more amicable is to offer to serve your notice in exchange for deposit covering last months rent. The benefit to the landlord is your notice automatically ends the tenancy whereas the landlords notice needs to be enforced by courts if you dont leave. This would help secure their sale and a sensible landlord should accept this.
Thanks Richard, yes this was my intention, I just have to be careful that new tenancy is set in stone before I commit to ending existing tenancy! But as soon as I have keys in hand this is what I will do.
Given that its not protected, I think youre being more than reasonable. If the landlord baulks at this, tell hkm you cant move without it and he may then lose his sale.
Thank you David, I hope the landlord understands.
… well if he doesn’t, then he’s an idiot if he’s not secured your deposit. That gives you huge leverage.
You sound a very reasonable tenant. I hope everything works out well for you.
Thank you, hopefully the new ll wants to keep their house for more than a year.
I’m an landlord, but I have no time for other landlords who don’t do things right, so I’m going to say what everyone else seems to have avoided saying: If the landlord hasn’t protected the deposit, it is likely that a court would rule the S21 notice invalid.
The landlord would then need to return the deposit to you and re-serve the s21, which would waste months. You could pursue them for compensation of up to three times the deposit.
Having said that, it’s better to leave as soon as you can on good terms, because they’ll get you out eventually and you could end up having to pay court costs etc.
But the landlord doesn’t have a leg to stand on - if they want you to leave, they need to be very accommodating to you since you could make their life very difficult, and lose them their sale. So, they would be stupid to refuse your request. And if it were you, I might be tempted to ask for your deposit back now and not to pay the last month’s rent either in return for leaving quietly and not taking them to court for not protecting the deposit!!!
Thank you Cath.
I would hope ll will be ok with my proposal, If I had no where to go and had to stay put for council/social housing it would be a disaster fir us all, aside from the deposit there is no GSC and no gas checks going back years before and during my tenancy of 15 months, also no other prescribed info has ever been shown or given, so ll should see this as a lucky escape because im sure there are some tenants who would make life very difficult.
If there was no gas check prior to you moving in, then the LL can never serve you a valid S21 and you will be able to stay there as long as you like.
This gives you the trump card. You have absolustely no obligation to do anything you don’t want to do in this scenario.
The ll turned down my proposal and insists on last rent as I will be breaking the contract, also told me they may return some of the deposit prior to me moving out, even though I’ve said I will have to stay as I need the money for
new ll before moving in. Was my request unreasonable? I went out of my way so ll could sell, keeping property spotless, buying paint and painting the fences and re-coating the walls, as they where poorly painted when I moved in allowing viewings booked for early morning the night before ect,
I don’t get it. You’ve got all the cards. You can take this LL to the cleaners if you want to over the deposit alone, let alone the fact that he can never serve you a valid S21.
Write an email to LL stating clearly that “in light of the fact that the deposit is unprotected and that a valid Section 21 can never be served due to the lack of a valid gas safety certificate upon check in” you would like the LL to a) return your deposit in full and b) allow you to forego the last month of rent as a goodwill gesture for your cooperation in enabling him to sell your home and not pursuing him for an unprotected deposit.
And if the LL rejects this, DM me for the details of a no-win-no-fee lawyer who can get you compensation for the unprotected deposit at absolutely no cost to you.
You need to start playing hardball. I would be giving the landlord a weeks deadline to return the deposit to me or I start a penalty claim against him for failure to protect it.
Okay thank you, I’ll let you know how I get on.
I’ve tried to be as nice as possible and never complained, wind blew over fences due to rotting posts, uneven patio and steps to house laid directly on mud and I’ve corrected myself at my expense which I have no problem with as it’s for my benefit also, but it does seem being nice gets me walked over.
that kind of attitude unfortunately simply lets LLs like yours continue to fail in their obligations. Now you have a chance to address that.
Don’t I/we hate it when a cxxp LL gives the of us (90%) bad press.
Stephen tell him to pay up or you’ll get legal help.
He needs vacant possession band a few grand is peanuts.
If they’ve turned you down, I would be pointing out that they’ve broken the law multiple times and can’t serve a s21 and if they want you to leave, they need to make it worth your while. And you now want your deposit back in full and letting off the last month’s rent.
If they don’t agree, tell them that you are going to take them to court to claim up to 3 times the deposit in compensation, and you get the deposit back on top of that.
They are idiots if they don’t give you some concessions because they are completely in the wrong here and you are trying to do the right thing.
I am myself surprised that LL isn’t budging 1 inch considering the house is sold stc and mortgage company won’t lend until I’ve signed a deed of surrender, but now the LL has chosen the wrong path I believe as I will now have to remain, I would of thought they would of jumped at my offer considering.