Have you seen this post: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/residential-commercial-lettings/130859-rented-house-repossed-tommorow.html#post1376063

OK, then all my previous advice is redudant. That will teach me to ask right questions! You are a licencee, not a tenant. please see this link: Shelter: Eviction of excluded occupiers

I know, this "two months" term confused me a bit. But what do you disagree with Planner? Lenght of notice? TDS application?

This post may be helpful: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/residential-commercial-lettings/50506-statutory-periodic-tenancy.html#post1375264 It is clear to me that the notice given to you is not correct. It needs to expire on 1st of March as your rental periods are monthly, commencing on 2nd and ending on a 1st day of the next month. This is because your term started on 2nd and notice cannot provide for less then one month. I a not sure whether TDS would apply in your case. I hope other posters will be able to help. Just one more question: does the landlord live with you by any chance?

I like your approach :grin:

when did the tenancy start, and when was it originally suppose to expire? When do you usually pay your rent? In other words: what is the fixed term of the tenancy? Or maybe the fixed term has already expired but you stayed on? Did you pay deposit? Did you receive information about Tenancy Deposit Scheme from the landlord? What we are trying to establish is whether you are within the fixed term, whether you have AST or periodic tenancy. This will help us to answer your questions. I can tell you one thing though; a small typo like "our" instead of "four" is inconsequential.

even better if it's all in capital letters....

Have you seen any official documents or did you just speak to the agents today? You ned to find out which bailiffs are involved; private? court appointed? Then you need to call them straight away and explain your situation. Do contact the bailiffs first and then let it rip into the agents and the landlord for not letting you know earlier. This is very helpful reading: Shelter: Repossession by a landlord's lender Edit: I have assumed that this is a mortgage related repossession. I may be of course wrong. Speak to the agents and ask to be told exactly what is going on and then tell us. Not paying "their bills" doesn't somehow sound like a mortgage provider's repossession though...

I think this post has landed here by mistake....some gremlin or shall we blame barracad as per usual?

You are welcome, sistenumber1. We are mums in a similar position so I understand your situation. I hope you will be awarded DHP and that you will find a good source of help locally.

Good question. In my opinion, as there has been no formal renewal after April 07, there will be no obligation to enter into TDS. I will try to find out. What others think?

As I said before, little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Posters' own, singular experiences need to be qualified with a proviso: "this is what happened to me, it doesn't mean I am right" So, welshnutter, you are right, rent can be increased at any time, but only if the tenant agrees to the increase. There you are, straight fro the horses mouth: Shelter: Private tenancies

Just to explain; I appreciate that you have given quite a lot of information about your daughter together with various amounts but calculating entitlement should not be done without or instead of proper advice session and I will personally whip anyone trying to do so. There is simply too many variables and there is a significant risk of a mistake, which may lead to underclaim or unmanageable expectations.

sisternumber1; your daughter can ask for the decision to be reviewed and also for a written statement of reasons. She needs to write to the local authority within one month of the latest decision letter. It could also be that her whole rent was not taken into consideration; sometimes there is a difference between the rent which is taken into assessment and the actual rent, if the latter being higher then the "eligible rent". For example, the local rent officer has decided that the maximum rent for this particular home, in this particular locality should be £450. And all the calculations will be conducted on £450 rather then £600. So you need to find out what is the amount of rent taken into consideration. You can find your local housing advice provider in Shelter: Advice services directory And finally, your daughter can always apply for discretionary housing payments. Shelter: Discretionary housing payments DHPs are discretionary; means that you are not guaranteed anything but depending on your circumstances, you may be awarded. They are designed to help with housing costs in cases of severe financial hardship, vulnerability etc. Your local authority may suggest that your daughter moves into a cheaper accommodation- this must be pre-emptied in a personal statement which can be attached to a DHP application. Because of a discretionary nature of DHP and the fact that we are nearing an end of financial year and the local authority coffers may be nearly empty, you either lay it on really thick about how difficult it would be for your daughter to cover the whole rent herself or how real the threat of homelessness, or impossible to find cheaper suitable place to live or especially high costs due to disability; or wait till mid April, when the local authority's finances are better. Do not forget charitable trusts which you can also approach adviceUK : Charis – But Lots More Available!

CuriousCat, the following post contains the correct, up to date info: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/residential-commercial-lettings/116868-rent-increase.html#post1175486 As for wanting a month notice at the end of tenancy: they may want one, but you do not have to give one. End is the end; the tenancy agreement already stipulates the end, there is no need for superflous paperwork. Check your tenancy agreement; does it have a clause about increase? If not, the increase can only be actioned by you formally renewing tenancy. You may be put in an inconvenient situation whereby you would like to know whether to renew or not, depending on whether the increase will be manageable. I am afraid there is no obligation on the landlord to tell you but most landlords would like to know too if the tenant will be staying on- they'd want to avoid a vacant property at all costs (well, nearly all costs). So you really need to speak frankly with the landlord. Research first the market; is it going to be easy for the landlord to get a new tenant? Is the market saturated with empty properties or are the tenants vying for very few properties available? Then you can tell the landlord: look, you are going above the local rent market, let's cut the deal. Or you may find that your rent was below the market level and you may have to put up with the raise.

Relying on TDS here is dangerous. TDS has nothing to do with allowing you to leave early. You can se it as an informal leverage to force the landlord to agree for you to leave early but what if the landlord doesn't? Even if you are sucessful in your TDS court action, that will not terminate the tenancy. Talk to the landlord; this tenancy can be terminated by agreement of both parties (in writing, needless to say). Talk to Shelter and your local community support coppers. As far as I am aware, rowdy and scarry neighbours are not landlord's responsibility (unless s/he is also their landlord- check it out!) so you cannot blame the landlord. Are drugs an issue? If premises are being used for the production or use of drugs the police can issue a closure notice. A closure notice can lead to a closure order, which means that the house must remain unnoccupied for a period of time. And finally, the **** neighbours' landlord (who may or may not be your own landlord) can take action against the behaviour. Their tenancy agreement may contain an express clause prohibiting certain types of behaviour, for example, harassment, drug dealing or noise. Breach of the tenancy agreement may constitute a ground for possession. This is not going to be straightforward andyour action needs to be directed at as many agencies as possible: police, environmental health (noise), local private housing advice office. Good luck!

I don't think this is about "tax credits" as they were not introduced till 2004. I think OP is referring to income tax. I am sorry, I wish I could help but this is entirely outside my knowledge.

Speak to the council tax office. Ask them to check whether double payments were made. Ask in what category this property is registered with the council. Keep all your Council Tax receipts safe and if your deposit is not returned to you, come back and we will help you to kick butt. In the meantime,you can send a short, innocent note to the landlord to give him a heads up that he better plays fair and to pre-empty all the confusion about C Tax. For example: Dear Mr X In preparation for the expiry of my tenancy agreement, I would like to ask you to confirm what conditions would have to be satisfied in order for you to refund my deposit I intend to speak to a housing adviser myself to make sure that I fulfill all my obligations properly. I will also submit copies of all my Council Tax payments receipt as according to the tenancy agreement it was one of my responsibilities. I will also check with the C. Tax office to establish that all payments were received OK. I hope that you will be satisfied with this and refund my deposit in full. Regards. Good luck

Congrats. Thanks for the update

If your friend is a housing association tenant, he may have been issued with a tenancy agreement (TA). In your friend's TA there should be a clause with regards to upkeep of the garden. If there is one and it has not been fulfilled by your friend, the landlord (housing assoc.) may get frustrated but this would usually not be a ground for eviction. The condition of the garden would have to be truly awful. I wonder therefore if there are any other issues that we are not aware of. If there is however a distinct threat of legal action, your friend needs to speak to specialist adviser or seek advice from Shelter http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/residential-commercial-lettings/118005-great-links-housing-associated.html#post1196695

Why suddenly this post Aequitas? You do seem to be very moved by the issue The question "what happens if I leave early" is a typical one in welfare advice sector. The adviser would then run through possible consequence, invariably including the issue of liability for rent and landlord being able to pursue it through the court. And then the "sweetener": but the landlord would have to show that he was making a reasonable effort to mitigate his loss by re-letting. It was a standard drill. And then Reichman and Dunn v Beveridge and Gauntlett arrived and we now have been issued an errata for older versions of our booklet which states: If the tenant has a fixed term agreement, s/he must comply with its terms. S/he will be liable to pay rent for the whole period, unless the tenancy agreement allows her to leave early or the landlord agrees to this. If the tenant leaves before the end of the fixed term, the landlord can take legal action to recover the rent for the rest of the period and does not have to mitigate her/his loss, for example, by trying to re-let the accommodation The advice before was definitely of landlord's duty to mitigate, and now it is clear that such duty has been removed. The above quote comes from CAB's information system which is made available to all advice groups belonging to an AdviceUK network; so pretty much all your "certified" welfare advice agencies are using it. Whatever you may say about particular advisers (some are great some are not), the information system (a regularly updated series of CDs) is prepared by top specialists. So, coming back to your post, where you say that in your 30 years of practice you have not encountered the "duty to mitigate"; it was out there, in NFP advice sector, very much alive and kicking, oft quoted and now it is gone.

The contact details of the scheme where your deposit is/was kept should have been made available to you within 14 days after the deposit was handed in to landlord or agents. The legislation is clear: 213(5) A landlord who has received such a tenancy deposit must give the tenant and any relevant person such information relating to— (a) the authorised scheme applying to the deposit, (b) compliance by the landlord with the initial requirements of the scheme in relation to the deposit, and © the operation of provisions of this Chapter in relation to the deposit, as may be prescribed. (6) The information required by subsection (5) must be given to the tenant and any relevant person— (a) in the prescribed form or in a form substantially to the same effect, and (b) within the period of 14 days beginning with the date on which the deposit is received by the landlord. Housing Act 2004 (c. 34) So this is the first issue to consider. If the above obligations were not fulfilled, next sections of the Act talk about implications. If the landlord has fulfilled his obligations, the contact details of the specific scheme should be easy to find (tenancy agreement?) Of course. First of all- you paid for cleaning and can provide receipt, secondly check out charges were hidden and therefore unfair. Refuse to accept anything you don't agree with- it's your money and they need to justify retention. Please see a template letter in http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/residential-commercial-lettings/117572-unfair-deposit-deductions.html#post1188882

But OP is not in receipt of disability bens.

How true, but with help of experienced adviser, can be bearable. Wouldn't wish to put off anyone from claiming IB but this is definitely one of the jobs that you may need help with.

rockhag; I am sorry about the other poster. Mod has edited his post so he may have had reasons to do so. You have been very helpful. There is perhaps an issue with PMs and personal details- we need to be careful with liability and all this business. I am going to call the customer services and hope to speak to someone as nice as you.