Hiya all,

Need some help for my brother ( as people were very helpful before )

My brother has a rental contract that ends on July 2nd, he has signed a contract for a new house which he is due to move in on September 1st- it is cheaper- he has two children a one year old and a three year old.

He has rental arrears of £2250 but has put a plan to the LL which would see these gone by September 1st when he moves. This was rejected by the LL and the last correspondence was that he had said he would try and see if he could get the September date earlier, he has just returned to full time work following suffering severe depression following an attack on him ( that has been investigated by Police so has a ref ) I am of course worried about him from a mental state point of view

Yesterday he received a possession court date for July 20th ( request made on June 1st )

I am going to offer my help in his defense but have a few quick questions now ( as unsure ):

- Can a possession movement be made when he had a letter from LL stating for him to move on July 1st ( dated 05/06 so after the possession order application was made )and we are not at that date yet? He has not refused to move as the date has not been reached

- Is it likely he will be made homeless bearing in mind he will be moving out by September 1st and the rent arrears will be paid by then?

- The LL did not protect his deposit on time and lied in writing to him he had before admitting he did it 200 days later than he stated, is it worth putting in a letter now asking for the deposit ( in full ) + compensation is taken off the arrears owed? Is there a template letter for this?

Many thanks

I suspect the landlord has gone for possession due to the rent arrears.

I will move this to the repossession forum.

Thanks for the reply,

It is also worth noting that he has issued 4 seperate moneyclaims for the same arrears and that the section 8 that mention July 1st as the date is for a higher amount than the current possession order total

The other thing he said ( which I dont think makes a difference but not sure ) is that the contract is signed by two people ( husband and wife ) but order is put forward by one person - I don't think that makes a difference

If worse comes to the worse and I pay the amount before July 20th would that stop all action anyway?

If there are no arrears then there can be no claim for possession on the grounds of arrears, but if the tenancy ends on 1st July then he would have to leave anyway ?

So if stays beyond July 1st but with all payments made he is likely to be made homeless on the 20th July ( as assuming nothing can be done before the court date ) even though he has a move in date of September 1st for his new place?

he has a tenancy that expires on Jul 1st. After that the LL can ask for possession (has done) or offer a new AST or allow a rolling (periodic tenancy) contract on a month by month basis. It is the arrears that have put a fly in the last options' ointment, not sure what the purpose of the 4x moneyclaims are other than harassment but they should be responded to separately and try to avoid tying them to the end of tenancy issue. He should also consider a claim for the non protection of the deposit, that will certainly take the wind out of the sails for the court claims but wont affect the possession order. Again, make this a separate issue rather than as as counterclaim on the other matters as it could be detrimental to tie them together and will certainly be confusing.