My partner and I lived in a flat for 12 months where the bedroom and hallway were carpetted. We moved out 12 days ago. On the day of leaving, a man from Entwistle Green came to inspect the flat and said it was in "very good" condition - and it was! Now ,12 days later, we have recieved a call advising that there are carpet beetles and the new tenant who moved in on Saturday has reported this. We are now being told our bond of £500 will be needed to cover the cost of this. Surely this can't be allowed? We moved out on the 26th of October - it's the 7th of November! And from what I've read, carpet beetles can fly through windows, be taken in on shoes, a number of things. What can I do?

Hello, I hope you can help. On Nov 1st I moved into a room here in London. I saw it once before with furniture in the room. I was advised the landlord has the ladies deposit who was in the room and should I want to leave that I'd just ask him for it, or rent the room myself and collect my deposit that way. I was told there was no contract. Day's later I informed the landlord I had moved in and sent him my 1st month's rent. He didn't know I was moving in but thanked me for the money and said he would come over with a contract. I explained I was told there was no contract and I did not want to sign one. He told me there's a contract and that's that. My 1st day there wasn't very nice, now that the furniture has moved out of the room I see a large amount of mould growing up my bedroom wall and in the corner also. I found out there is a mouse in the kitchen which goes to the bathroom all over our counter top where our food is prepared. The house hadn't been cleaned by the current room mates, every piece of counter space was covered with dirty dishes, some dishes with food in them sitting there rotting. The fridge had rotting food in it that has liquidized. The floor was actually the bin, they have no bin so just piled it on the floor even food scraps on top of cardboard. Even more shocking is a large wall in the kitchen behind cabinets that is covered with thick green mould. Obviously this place is not a healthy or a hygenic place to live and I want to move out immediately. I told the landlord and he's said the old roommate has my deposit and not him. He's also said he doesn't think I should get my 1st month's rent back..which I agreed with. I said I would pay for the week I have lived there but he doesn't think I should receive the rest of that 1st months rent payment back. I'm at a loss of what to do. It turns out he isn't registered, doesn't use the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. He has some room mates paying in cash, other's paying in to different bank accounts all over The UK. This isn't legitimate and I need to know what I can do and what my rights are to fix this situation. I have not signed anything yet. Please, any advice would be most appreciated.

Hi! I have been living in Belgium for 5 months and took out the standard 9 year Lease in February. The landlord accepted 2 months deposit up front andthe apartment was unfurnished. After 5 months of living there I have lost my job and returned to the UK. When i took out the contract I provided the landlord with an address of my parents where i had been living prior and since then my parents have rented this property out and are living somewhere else. In order to break the lease I am required in the contract to provide 3 months notice and pay a 3 month rent penalty. Unfortunately I dont have the money to do this. The total sum owed if I want to leave is 16,350 EUR. I can only manage to get 9000 EUR together. I have also left all the curtains (5000 EUR) and a table (1300) all of which are brand new as I only lived there for a short time. Plus I installed light fittings. I have no Assets in the UK and I am planning to move to The Netherlands shortly. My questions are these: How likely is it that the landlord would get a CCJ enforceable in England and will there be any kind of debt collection issued at my parents address? If he does get a UK enforceable CCJ can this be issued at my parents address and will this affect me and my credit score when I return to the UK.. I am moving with my boyfriend so I dont know when but I will return to the UK at some stage and would like to own a property here at some point. The sum owed would be 7350 EUR after I pay him the 9000 I have raised. Many thanks for the assistance!

hi, I need some help here, I rented a room in a shared accomodation with the landlord and upon moving out the landlord failed to return my deposit for no reason at all. I told him verbally i would take him to court if he doesnt pay the debt within 8 weeks. Also i sent him 2 letters of notice urging him to pay up the debt, all these mails were recorded mails for court proceedings. After he didnt pay , i filed a claim which he defended saying he was not owing me money by responding to the court summons. To cut a long story short, a hearing was scheduled of which he didnt turn up. I won the case. Now he has filed for the case to be set aside on the basis that he was not informed of any court case. This is ridiculous since he actually defended the case and had 2 letters from me telling him he would be sent to court and also recieved all the court papers. A hearing for the case to be set aside has been scheduled. I want to know the likely outcome of this situation by the court. Thanks a lot for your responses.

I do hope somebody can help as i am truly feeling harrassed now. On signing the tenancy agreement we were told that we cant get a copy and that it has to be signed by the L/l. Later we were advised that it was with head office. They said that the deposit and months advance has to be paid in cash as Natwest system was down. This was not true having spoken to Natwest that day. On moving in it came to our knowledge that the washing machine, tumble dryer and kitchen extractor fan was not working. The cupboard in the smallest bedroom which my toddler sleeps in has a cupboard with exposed wires. I put a big plastic box in front of it so she cant get access. For weeks i tried feverently to get these repairs sorted but they kept fobbing me off with excuses such as yes somes coming tommorrow to sort it out or that they had sourced a dryer its brand new and in another L/L's garage. They insisted that it had to be delievered on the day and when i agreed and told them anytime. They called to say that the L/l decided he wanted it. When i asked what make/style/or whether it even came with warranty they were not aware. This happened twice. Prior to signing we were told that a table and chairs and a fridge freezer is approved. I had also put this in an email that i requested this but the est agt did not reply via email.The fridge freezer that is currently there is too small it has less 2 1/2 shelves and no tray on the door to hold bottles. Now that that est agt has been sacked they are asking me for proof of confirmation. Around the 27th day of moving in they said that they want me to sign a prescribed information form for DPS. It cross referenced an old tenancy agreement (that they had asked me to sign for but i did not move in on that date as the boiler needed certifying). I said that i could not sign it as it cross referenced an invalid tenancy agreement. They then sent another tenancy agreement which had the landlords wifes' name on it. I refused on the grounds that it had to be the landlord contact details not the wifes. The est agt tried to pretend it was a mistake but it was evident by the fact that she had handwritten that she had gotten "his" consent to sign on his behalf on the last page of the agreement. On account of which she decided that she wanted to create a new tenancy agreement. I told her that I wanted all the paperwork associated with the tenancy agreement. In this agreement it states that the landlord will repair electrical appliances that are in the inventory. However, in the mutal agreement section she has declared that the L/l no longer wants an inventory. However, the day that rent was due he text me saying he wants an inventory done. I did not pay the rent. She took out the section relating to the landlord having landlord insurance and keeps the section requiring me to have insurance to cover £2k worth of content insurance. Since then the landlord has been sending an engineer around he is the fourth person to be viewing the property. I told the est agts that this is harrassment as they cant keep accessing the property and nothing effectively is changing. All of th engineers said that the goods need replacing, however this last engineer has said that the tumble dryer can be repaired and the extractor motor albiet is dead can be repaired. Please note no gas certificate was given until around 30days of the tenancy and when recieved it was dated 2010 then crossed out in different ink and different handwriting. I was legally advised to ask for alternative accommodation as the property was potentially dangerous. I was then advised that the est agt had contacted the plumber whom had the correct date on his ticket. The gas certificate said at the top Landlord so its not supposed to be my copy. I have checked land reg and it appears that he is the only landlord and it appears to be a residential mortgage as he is still registered at my address. Not withstanding i have contacted DPS and they have confirmed that they have registered my deposit but not sent the money and 30 days have elapsed. As i have not signed the last tenancy due to all the discrepancies can they argue that they were waiting for me to sign the tenancy agreement before they can actually send the money to DPS. I sent an email to the est agt and L/l stating that we want all the goods as per viewing of the property i.e. seperate washing machine and tumble dryer etc. I advised that if we are going to lock heads on these non-working items lets call it a day and come to a mutual agreement on leaving the property. I told her to send all correspondence via email. Instead she contacts my husband and advises that they are providing a washer/dryer that day. My husband agreed. I told him to contact them back and advise that we required the items as seen as per viewing and to send all correspondence via email. 10mins later theres a knock on the door and its the landlord with the engineer. She sent the email 10 mins before but never mentioned to my husband that the landlord was coming too. Can they do this? I have stopped replying to her email now as i felt that was the last straw as this is feeling like harrassment. I dont mind paying my rent once the repairs are done. However, est agt keeps emailing me asking me to sign, i have told her that i am seeking legal advise due to all the discrepancies in this case. The day rent was due (i did not pay) i recieved a reciept for window cleaning, i checked the windows they were not cleaned recently. However, I found smugged writing on the window upstairs stating " D**d I can" I feel really harrassed. I was told that the appliances were in working order and that table/chairs and fridge freezer were agreed from the est agt that has subsequently been sacked for embezzlement and i am being asked for proof of confirmation that he said it was agreed. Can I get out of this agreement? If i remain how can i protect myself from harrassment and what protection will i have for any further repairs that may arise? Sorry for the long email just thought i should give most of the facts.

Can anyone advise please? Have a normal mortgage, no problems, left a few years ago due to a previous partner and I was scared so I rented the property out privately, thinking I would go back eventually and it would only be a temporary situation, I should have changed the mortgage over at the time to landlords mortgage but I know this sounds daft but the time just went on and now I believe I never will return there to live, but my problem is although I do want to change the mortgage, will the mortgage company want all the back payments of the 1% extra interest which would have been the extra I would have been charged? I feel in a no win situation and even though I want to do it right I'm worried what the mortgage company will do if I tell them. Any constructive advice would be appreciated.

Hi Sorry about the length of this post. I've rented the house I live in for over 36 years. When my first wife and I first moved in, 1976, I asked the landlord for an agreement/contract. He said "we won't bother with that". We did get a proper rent book. So I have a Protected Tenancy. The years passed and I always kept the property in an excellent state of decoration and have promptly reported any structural/repair problems. It's a large house with large garden, was built in 1825 and I've always been happy living here. The original landlord died over 25 years ago and his son took over. He lives in another part of the country. Everything was OK, no problems, we paid the rent and considered ourselves to be first rate tenants, who looked after the property and kept it in a good state. In 1995 when my first marriage broke down and I got into short term financial difficulties, the landlord was understanding. In July 2011 a woman knocked at the door and said she was from the landlords agents, a local estate agent, that she was with the owner of the agents and they were inspecting the property next door as it was vacant. They were looking at what renovations/repairs were needed there. The same landlord owns that house as well. She asked whether we had any work that needed doing and I said no. She went away, then returned about 20 minutes later with a man and asked if they could come in to look around so they could "understand the layout of the property next door." I said OK and showed them round. They were very pleasant and went on their way. Then the work started next door. To say we were driven nearly to desperation by the noise is an understatement. It went on for over seven months, finally ending in March this year. I complained many times but the agents told me to complain directly to the company doing the work. I complained to the local council who were useless. In September 2011 we were a couple of days late paying the rent, no more than that, we'd had a family upset and had been away and been otherwise occupied. The agents sent a man round who literally jumped over the front gate and started peering in through the windows. When I opened the door he said he was from the agents, handed me a mobile phone and said they had been trying to contact me. I spoke to them and when they explained what it was about I explained the situation and said the payment had been made, which it had. I asked why they had sent this man round to harrass us about this when they could have written a letter. They ignored me. Then last October, 2011, we got a letter from the landlords agent saying that under the terms of our contract we had to allow them to inspect the property. We were confused at this, I called them and said we'd never had an inspection before and didn't have a contact. They said they'd made a mistake about that, but the landlord had asked them to start these inspections. That they would take place annually in our case. We felt that we were being treated as though we were untrustworthy, but I agreed to the inspection. There were no problems. In May this year the agents called us and said they needed to measure the property as the landlord was distributing some of his property between his children. After the upsets of the last eight months we were getting fed up of these intrusions and I told them so. However I agreed to the visit. The owner of the agents arrived and was pleasant and civil while he carried out his measurements. Now they've sent an email telling us our "three monthly inspection" is due. I sent them an email saying that the inspections are annual and offered a day/time for the inspection. I am prepared to accept that the amail may be a standard one and they've made another mistake. It is almost a year since the last inspection. So far I haven't had a response as they sent the email on Friday tea time. We've nothing hide or be worried about, but I would like to know whether they can just decide to start these inspections out of the blue after so many years without doing any. We haven't received any letters or proper confirmation that these inspections will be required or their frequency. I could seek professional advice but don't want to create any problems unless necessary. I feel torn between thinking there's a hidden agenda to all this and that there's nothing to worry about. After the last 14 months we no longer feel secure or safe here and are making plans to move in April 2013. Are we over reacting?

Hi, I moved out of my rented house two weeks ago and my landlord is witholding my deposit of £1800 as he says that there is damage to the property that needs rectifying. The damage he refers to is a small chip in a glass door that occured when we fitted a new, secure lock to the back door and some scuff marks on the wooden floor. Whilst we do not dispute that this damage is there we are concerned that our landlord is making what is quite minor damage sounds much worse than it actually is and is trying to get more money from us than is necessary. Our landlord asked us to move out for 5 weeks over the Olympic period as we lived near to the stadium. He and his wife moved in for this time and undertook some work to the house. He saw the damage to the floor and back door when he was living there and mentioned it to us when we moved back in but didn't seem overly concerned by it. When we moved out in July and then back in again at the end of August no new inventory was carried out. Would he be able to prove that the damage was caused by us when he lived there for 5 weeks? We think he is being greedy; on moving back in he increased the rent by £300 pcm so it wouldn't be out of character. I hope someone can offer some advice! Thanks, Nicola

Help needed .... brief summary below We (the tenants) signed a three year lease with no break clauses. The lease was signed by ourselves (the tenants) and the agents (on behalf of the landlord). The landlord and the agents have subsequently fallen out and we are now having to deal directly with the landlord (we are now 4 months into the tenancy) The landlord has phoned us today to say that the lease that we signed is null and void as it is not the lease that they agreed to as they wanted a six month rolling (so basically the flexibility to get rid of us when they want - I have a feeling they now want to move backto the uk) They have now proposed a new lease - six months rolling We are not happy about this as we moved here for three years as we have 2 young babies and are looking at buying land to build on to move out into the new home after three years and this has made me feel very unsettled! We have paid £3000 on decoration as we did plan on staying for the three years So my question is - is the lease now null and void? Any help would be gratefully received - with 2 babies you can imagine how I feel! Thank you!

I am in disppute with my landlady and the state agent that is holding my deposit. The quibble is over what amount of heating oil should have been left by me. My landlady says that the tank holds 1350 litres and that she personally filled this up before we moved in [Nov 2008]. On the not very detailed inventory all it states i 'Oil reading = Full'. Neither her nor I have a photograph or any proof at what level the tank was full to when we moved in. She did however give me a receipt that clearly shows that 1100 litres was delivered to the property in July 2008. My argument is that I should only have to fill it to 1100 litres as this is the only evidence available to confirm an amount of oil that was in the tank when we moved in. My other argument is that me contract clearly states that i should have been notified within 10 working days of any deductions that were going to be made from my deposit - i did not receive anything in writing or in fact even verbally from her until after the 10 days. Not sure where i stand with this. Some advice would be appreciated on where i stand. Thank you

Hi All I reaaally hope someone can help me. I have been living at a flat through a housing association for over 3 years now. From November 2011 until March 2012 I wasn't able to pay my full rent every single month due to some financial issues I was going through at the time. Since April 2012 things have been better for me financially so the housing association agreed on a repayment plan to clear my debt. I have not defaulted at all since then, however 2 weeks ago I received a letter shoved through my door from a company called Churchill Recovery Solutions Limited and that letter was typed on a letter head from my housing association. It said that they came on behalf of my housing association to carry out a Tenancy Audit It was even signed on behalf of (Housing association) with a photocopied signature. Beside that signature is another photo copied signature from a Field Sales Manager of Churchill Recovery Solutions. I am very confused and a bit worried because they have just shoved another letter through today. I hope someone can give some advice. xxx

OK Background. I rented a house off Gumtree from a private agent on 01.05.12 The rent is £450 pm and I paid £450 deposit. The house is fully furnished. Ive had problems with the landlord from day 1. I dont know how to deal with her, she is very nice but very passive agressive and I dont want to anger her but Ive got a feeling im going to get reamed when I leave (1 yr tenancy). So I am preparing myself now. Upon moving in, I was never shown safety certificates. But managed to get her to pay for some electrical repairs. (the copper pipes have not been earthed which was advised when I last had an electrician in) I also was not given an inventory which I was worried about. She came round one day and asked if she could have her pyrex, I told her there was no pyrex when I moved in, and she found mine and insisted it was hers. I told her where to stuff it because It was given to me by my grandmother and eventually she left pyrex-less. But she has done this numerous times. (1). If there is no inventory there is no way for her to try and claim my stuff? the majority of things i have reciepts for but some heirlooms i dont and im worried. (2). A few things (lamps) were broken when I moved in, she cant charge my deposit if there is no inventory? The major thing for me is the deposit. I dont think she has protected my deposit in an approved scheme. (3). When I have rented previously I have had letters from the scheme telling me they have recieved my deposit. I havent this time, is there anyway I can check? This woman really is a nuisance, she used to let herself into the house whenever she felt like it, until my partner argued with her. Even now she still lets herself in if she thinks no ones home (I have hidden upstairs once when I suspected this). And she has let herself in when my partner has been sleeping off nights. I know she doesnt have a front door key (her son does but wont let her have it), so I started leaving the back door key in the lock at an angle so she couldnt open it and she even had the cheek to bollock me for doing that! She comes round my house at 5am on bin days and puts my bin on the kerb because she is convinced I wont do it. Because one week i didnt put the bin out - it was empty. Advice please?

Where do I start.. I am a sub tenant of a Housing Association property?? I have been letting a 2 bedroom flat from my landlord for about the last 14 months and then I had to put in a claim for Housing Benefit about 5 weeks ago but unbeknown to me he didn’t have permission to sub let it to me as the housing officer turned up and said I have a month to get out. I then get a letter through from housing benefit saying they are declining my claim I HAVE ASKED CORNWALL COUNCIL 7 TIMES SO FAR why they awarded me Council Tax Benefit but not Housing Benefit? I still haven’t got a straight answer from him but this is his reply. Dear Mr , In regard to “it has been interpreted that your tenancy is not enforceable or would be difficult to enforce by the landlord if terms were breached”, this can refer to a tenancy not being set up in a way in which the landlord is able to enforce. Examples of this are such as: Arrears of rent are not pursued or the tenancy agreement has been drawn up or come about whereby it would be difficult for the landlord to legally pursue for arrears. The landlord could be a tenant themself and subletting and not have the permission of the actual landlord to sublet. It has been demonstrated that terms in the tenancy are not enforced and change with out notice and there is not a consistency of rent changing hands on a regular basis between tenant and landlord. As per previous emails on the 26th September 2012, you have a right to ask that any decision we make is re-considered and you can also follow on from this and Appeal. Any re-consideration request and Appeal must be in writing within a calendar month of the date on the decision notice that you do not agree with and you must give clear reasons why you do not agree. In the first instance, the case will be re-considered by a member of our staff who has not dealt with your case before. I strongly advise you do this if you are unhappy with the decision made I have also been paying Cornwall Housing direct each Friday by debit card and they still wont me let me stay here as Housing Officers argument is this should of been allocated to someone else even though I am on Band D but hopefully soon to be Band B due to sleep apnoea that I suffer severely from. I am on Employment Support Allowance for my illness and have actually got an assessment by ATOS on Wednesday, so no doubt they will kick me off ESA as they are incentivised to get people off the sick so to speak. I sent the owner of this flat called Cornwall Housing an email after he hand delivered a letter to Steve (the chap I rent this flat from, However Steve the Landlord doesn’t occupy here and therefore I was wondering if this will be considered served? You cannot be allowed to stay as you have not been allocated the property through the Local Authority and are illegal occupants. Any payments you have made are considered mesne profit and not rent, as the rent is due from Mr Frazer. I reiterate that you are not able to stay and will not become tenants of Cornwall Housing in these circumstances. If you speak to Housing Options on 0300 1234 161 then they will make an appointment to see you and assess your situation regarding homeless status. I realise how this situation is disappointing for you, but I urge you to take productive steps to remedy it, and not try and remain in the property as an illegal occupant. HOUSING OFFICERS REPLY when I told him that I was declined Housing Benefit but accepted for full Council Tax benefit? You cannot be allowed to stay as you have not been allocated the property through the Local Authority and are illegal occupants. Any payments you have made are considered mesne profit and not rent, as the rent is due from Mr Frazer. I reiterate that you are not able to stay and will not become tenants of Cornwall Housing in these circumstances. If you speak to Housing Options on 0300 1234 161 then they will make an appointment to see you and assess your situation regarding homeless status. I realise how this situation is disappointing for you, but I urge you to take productive steps to remedy it, and not try and remain in the property as an illegal occupant.

Has it become normal for the landlords to try and appropriate the deposit by threatening legal action for more than the deposit? My former landlord has come up with a spurious (in my opinion) list of charges and claims I owe him 2x the deposit but he will be kind and accept just the deposit if I write a letter saying it belongs to him and not sue me. Anyone seen this before?

Hello, I have a query. MIL lives with us in AST property. She lives in an annex room. Her name is on the tenancy agreement, but she did not sign it (my husband and I did), as she separately and verbally agreed with the LL (she is 89) that she could stay here until her death or needing to leave the property for health reasons). She contributes to the rent. We received (just me and husband) a Section 21 notice, giving us eight weeks to move. They put her name on the Notice, but it was not addressed to her. And she did not sign the tenancy agreement. I think the LL thinks it unneccesary to give her a notice of any kind and she will just move with us. The trouble is, since we moved here 2 years ago her mental condition has deteriorated although we know she does not want to move. Her carers who come twice a day, etc, are known to her. If we moved it would be very detrimental. We are prepared to fight her corner and stay here under the conditions she agreed with the LL, but she is not mentally capable of representing herself. Can we do this on her behalf? As she didn't sign the AST she can't be served a S21 notice anyway and therefore it would come down to what they agreed. The LL will, needless to say, lie. We live in the country and the LL wants the house for immigrant farm workers. She must have some rights with regard to this situation even though she is not able to do anything herself. Grateful for any advice!

Hope someone here can provide a little advice. I recently left my rental property after ~5 years. My landlord did not take a deposit when I moved in, nor did they conduct an exit inspection with me present prior to me moving out (I requested that the landlord do this when I handed my notice in, but they did not get back to me about it). The landlord now wishes to charge me for some damages and cleaning which I am happy to pay for, as I simply ran out of time before I had a chance to clean the entire house to the standard I would have liked. I have a few concerns though: I believe the landlord may charge an unreasonable amount for cleaning, as they are undertaking the job themselves I believe the landlord may try and charge for as-new repairs, when I know that the damage could be remedied with, for example, spare parts rather than a lock-stock-and-barrel replacement The landlord also wants to charge for a broken appliance that I know for certain was working when I moved out, but not having gone through an exit inspection I don't know how we can get around a situation of my word against theirs. The landlord has also been bombarding me with picture messages of each (small!) item of cleaning they have had to do, and has been on the phone to me accusing me of lying and trying to pull a fast one, even though I have always made clear that, deposit or no, I want to make things right. So what are my rights here? What is the landlord's legal standing given the lack of deposit or exit inspection? I'm happy to pay for reasonable cleaning and repairs, but could this get protracted and horrible if, as I suspect, the landlord comes back with a bill that includes an unreasonable amount of work and some downright fabrications? Am I within my rights to send them a cheque for a reasonable amount along with a covering letter justifying it? What should I do if the unprofessional abuse via phone and text message continues? Thanks all.

I moved into this private property, a single room on 21st March 2012 where I paid one months rent of £240 and £80 for a deposit on a three month agreed tenancy. All bills were included and with the following two payments for rent after that I paid £80 each time to pay a full deposit of £240. My contract having ended three months later I explained to the landlord I will stay another two months which has now turned unto three months until 21st August 2012. I have signed no new paperwork and was simply told to change the date on my original contract which I assume he has done so, however, I have not signed anything to state the new months I had stayed. I have just checked the three deposit schemes and can find no record of my deposit in any scheme and I have contacted asking him about this to no avail. I moved into a small room due to desperate measures of a bad ending to my engagement where the room was a complete mess, mold all over the walls, carpet had stains, mattress was in bad condition and the double socket was broken all to which I had informed the landlord but he never done anything about it. I replaced the double socket myself having been in the building trade to which he agreed to remove the cost from my rent. I have since moved into a free room downstairs which is £325 and as I have not been paid yet have not paid my rent due on 21st July 2012. I originally had pictures of the state of the room but having my phone break I lost the images so cannot prove it was in that state when moving in. My rent at times had been late however had fully been paid up to date apart from the one due for 21st July - 21st August. Furthermost, the landlord fails to repair things or when he does it is weeks later, the shower has leaked for months and after his many failed attempts at repairing it another tenant did it with a slight leak still. He had informed me on repairing the issue in my old room but never did forcing me to move to the room downstairs for the final month. Finally unless showing someone around the house there has been several times when other tenants in the shared house has felt threatened when the landlord called them out for lieing which I know they never did as it was the landlord who signed the tenancy payments himself, he comes into the house whenever he feels like it without notice or does maintenance on other rooms to rent out without notice at all and we constantly feel pressured by his behaviour. Any advice would be welcome on what to do about the rent (will be paid up to date next week when I get paid) and about the deposit and me not signing an updated contract and the other issues. Thanks!

I have recently found a place to live after being homeless since January. I went to view the property and it smelled really bad of "dogs". There are carpets in there but they are in a terrible condition. Although I may accept this property, can I force the landlord to replace the carpets before I sign the lease and move in? Thanks in advance

Hi there hoping for some advice. We recently got a phone call from our landlord saying someone has put and offer on our flat and has been accepted. From this we asked if we could end the tenancy early if we found somewhere say in a week or two. He said yes. We have signed for a new flat and told the landlord who is saying he didn't say it and wants 2 months notice. I'm guessing we're in a bad situation, 2 months is on paper and the 2 week notice was only a verbal agreement. Am I correct in thinking this? This leaves us in the awful situation of potentially paying for 2 places for 2 months - which neither of us can afford, I used all my savings for the new deposit! What are our options, we're considering formally handing notice stating 1 month as agreed, but he's not going to like it and dispute this... We could cancel our standing orders for the following month - but i'm guessing he'll chase our money. Upon investigation we have found our deposit is not in any of the 3 DPS and when asked he said its in his own scheme... Hmmm... is it still true that we can go to the small claims court and get this deposit back and 3x? Can this be done after the tenancy or has it to be done before? Anyone got a quick heads up? How do we stand, i'm worried to tears! Whats the best course to take? I feel sick that he has done this after 3 years of renting from him and being perfect tenants. Help very much appreciated.

Hey guys, I'm shortly ending my tenancy, but it has been blighted by a leaking conservatory for over a year. This is not a new problem either as my dealing with the letting agency has revealed this problem to date back to 2009 and has subsequently got worse. Basically it leaks, quite bad, whenever it rains, and depending on the direction of intensity of the rain is seems to leak in different places (4 or 5 I've counted). I complained about this to my letting agency last Xmas and have since taken numerous photos and have also revisited the complaint many many times. I've been visited by 4 different people (arranged by the letting agency and landlord over the last 9 months) and all have advised it needs replacing. The party line is "we're speakling to the landlord" or "waiting for a guy" or some other bull**** and I've been quite passive to it up until now, but it has ruined a brand new dining table that we bought when we moved in as well as a sentimental item of my girlfriends which has upset her. I have tried to resolve this amicably with my agents, who just seem completely dismissive to it as if they don't want to hear what I have to say but now I am keen to proceed more formally to recover costs as I believe they are in breach of their agreement to keep the property in good condition. Their argument of "well you could have moved your stuff" doesnt really wash with me as I'm effectively paying a premium for a room that is completely unusable, so I should be entitled to a rental rebate to the sum of the price of a room for the duration of my tenancy. In terms of ammo; I have some (I think)...my landlord has regularly visited (hes friends with my neighbours) to "collect mail" but has always tried to get me to go around the letting agency with regardsto any issues so he doesnt have to act upon anything in any formal manner, letting it slip off the radar over time. I haven't said anything to anyone, but he shouldn't be knocking at all given its a managed property. Anyways, any advice would be greatly appreciated. We're moving into our first house so minimal stress would be great! However I have a feeling it wont be the case...

Hi there, We've got a contract for a privately rented place that's got about five months left to run. We do however have a number of problems with the place. 1) Damp. Although we were told this would be fixed it hasn't been. There's mould growing on the wall. The council have sent someone round to look at it, and there is scaffolding on the side of the building. We haven't been informed of any work, meanwhile it's continuing to spread inside the flat. 2) The bath is broken. It leaks water into the flat downstairs if we use the shower. The landlord is refusing to get it fixed as the bath actually moves when someone is in it and it "requires major structural work". 3) None of the gas applicances have been checked in the last 12 months. 4) The fire alarm for the entire building is faulty. It last went off about 30 minutes ago. It goes off every couple of weeks without warning. Furthermore none of the other electronics stuff in here shows any sign of ever being checked. 5) We got no inventory for the flat when we moved in here. The landlord then used this as an excuse not to fix the white goods when they started to fail (that supposedly came with the flat and that it was advertised as having). 6) Our deposit is not protected under the deposit protection scheme. We want to leave. The landlord is refusing to re-advertise the place insisting that we see out the entirety of the contract and saying he'll sue us for damages if we do. What can we do?

Hello, New to the forum but would like some impartial advice from anyone willing. We have lived in a property for a year now and paid rent every month - we paid a deposit when we moved in which we never received clarification that is had been secured. We checked with the DPS and they said they have registered the details of the deposit but have not secured the deposit under the terms of the housing act. We wrote to agents and asked them why it has taken so long to secure and could they confirm the details - we explained if they failed to do this by the next rental due date we would withhold one month’s rent until the matter was resolved and seek legal advice. The letter was ignored and when the rent was due they called and asked why it had not been paid we referred them back to the letter and the asked for another copy which we duly sent. We received a letter back stating that the deposit was protected and if we didn't pay the rent they would instruct a debt collection agency to recover the months’ rent. We replied stating that we have conformation in writing that it is not and can they please sort it out. We paid the next month’s rent on time. The landlord himself turned up asking for his rent. We explained about the deposit and he said ' Not my problem, I just want my rent' get your deposit back off the agents. But pay your rent tomorrow. We then receive another letter from the agents in the morning again asking for the rent and again threatening debt collection agencies. There is no reference to the deposit in the letter. Today they ring us up and ask for the rent, we ask for conformation of the deposit, Now this this evening we get a letter with a section 21 serving notice saying the deposit has now been registered and it was not protected because of an admin issue with the TDS. We still have no clarification that the deposit has been protected yet they have served a section 21, surely this is bullying… We are thinking of taking the case to court….. Would we stand a chance?

Hi everyone. It has recently come to my attention that the landlord entered the flat I am renting a) without my consent, he was showing potential new tennants around the flat so therefore he must have also opened my locked bedroom door, again without permission. b) he only gave me 3 hours notice, which was an answer phone message - not a direct call. Also, the voicemail was not left by him but by either his wife or a work associate. If it was a joint tennancy, would he only need permission by one tennant? I was not in the property at the time. On one other occassion, a door was left open in the flat, either by my flatmate or by a worker - which once again I was never informed about. As this is a breach of contract, would I be able to end my joint tennancy, (which is a year long) with immediate effect and would he be able to take me to court. Thank you in advance for answers.

Hi, I gave in my notice to quit my flat, as required, two months prior to leaving. My landlord has now advertised the property with various letting agents. However, the landlords have also given out keys to the property to these letting agents, and when asked how many people now have keys to the property, they replied that they don't know, as many of the letting agents are subcontracting advertising of the property over which they have no control. Now letting agents are calling up (mostly with an hour's notice) asking to show people round and saying that they don't mind if we can't be at home, as they have keys. I know that I have the right to refuse if not given 24 hours' notice, but it's more the principle that they have given out keys to unknown people without my permission. Is this against the law? It seems a bit much to change the locks with only 3 weeks on the contract left. Thanks. Franklin

Hi all, Had notification on Monday of an inspection this Friday of the house I rent by the letting agent on behalf of the landlord. I am midway through painting the property, colours I chose and have agreed when I said I was painting, I would paint back to white when I eventually move out if the colours aren't suitable, mind when I moved in there was a bright pink wall in the living room. My main worry is that I am doing this painting alone and the ceilings too high in my bedroom for me to complete on my own, waiting for my boyfriend to come over so he can paint the tops of the walls so my bedroom painting wise does look a mess at the moment. Will the letting agent have any problems with how my bedroom and the rest of the house looks bearing in mind its midway through painting? Also what else should I expect them to look at and maybe pick up on? Its a home I clearly live in, its not a mess but its not tidy either, I have books all over the place as I am a bookworm. The house was unfurnished except for a washing machine and fridge freezer in the kitchen. Any help and advice welcome. Thanks