Help needed please - can I end tenancy?

[C&D]

Hello

 

I really need some help and wondered whether anyone on here may have some advice please.

 

This may be a long one to get all the information in so please stay with me!

 

In November 2008 me & my boyf moved into a privately rented property for £650pm. We paid £650 deposit as this was what he requested. In April 2009 I had a baby and am now therefore on satutory maternity pay & getting tax credits etc. Around the middle of June, me and my boyf decided that things werent really working out and we needed a break so he moved out. Unfortunately I had been (stupidly) relying on tax credits being backdated to pay my rent in July but they didnt as they keep a lump sum back due to my income only being estimated. Because of this and the fact that boyf had gone, I couldnt get the money to pay my rent. I tried everything before contacting my landlord - asked for help from social fund (rejected), asked family members (noone could help) & I begged the tax office to pay out the lump sum (rejected!). I also went to the local council to see if they could help but they couldnt and said that all they could do was help me with the landlord if he said he was going to evict me.

 

I told the landlord I didnt have the rent and that I had been though all options etc and obviously he wasnt impressed but he was sympathetic to my circumstances and he let me pay the rent using the £650 deposit he was holding. I was soo grateful and I said I would pay the deposit back at £50 per month starting with the following months rent. He said this was a bit low but that it would be ok until I knew where I stood with benefits as a single mum etc and I said that I thought the most I would be able to pay a month would probably be £100 - he seemed fine with this!

 

I text him the other day to say that I think the bath is leaking and that the shower keeps losing power and he said he would pop round on Friday and have a look. He then said he would bring a letter confirming that he had used the deposit as rent. All fine I thought but ohhhhh nooo

 

Tonight I had an email with a copy of the letter attached.. its long but is basically saying that he received my first £50 payment but now wants the rest in two installments of £300 starting on 1st September - I cant afford that!!

 

Our tenancy is one of the ones from WH Smith and the most recent one doesnt have a guarantor signature or a witness signature on it.

 

Am I able to write back to him and say that I am not happy and that I therefore give one months notice and will move out?! I am really worried that as he is now being funny, if I give him the £600 he will make some excuse as to why he wont give it back when it comes to moving out.

 

The carpet in the lounge, on the stairs and on the landing is minging and has been since we moved in. He was really nice and gave us £220 to get it replaced (my mums boyf is a carpet fitter so could get it cheap and fit for free). Due to one thing and another, we havent yet had this done and he is now saying he wants the carpet down by the end of the month or his money back - I am going to give him the money back as it was doing him a favour getting it cheap with free fitting and I dont see why I would help him now! The problem is whether he would take money from our deposit if I pay more back saying that we ruined it when we havent!!

 

I am sooooo angry & upset. I thought he was really nice and what makes it worse is that I actually hate living here anyway - I hate the house, the location & the neighbours but we had no choice but to live here as my parents sold the house and we had nowhere to go!

 

Im really sorry for the rant, I needed to vent..

 

Any help and advice would be gratefully received....

 

C x

[Planner]

Well, after reading your post, your landlord does sound really nice. As far as I can tell he has been accomodating and understanding at every step of the way. Hes allowed you to use the deposit for rent, pay it back over a number of months, been prompt with repairs and given you some money to have carpet replaced.

 

In return, you have done nothing with the carpet money, moan because you percive he his being 'funny', threaten to give notice and move and accuse him of finding an 'excuse' to keep the deposit you have yet to repay.

 

Sorry C&D, you havent filled yourself with glory in this post. While there maybe other issues not alluded to in your post, you have come across, to me at least, as a spoilt demanding tenant who is more than happy to take take take, but comes on here asking how to break the contract as soon as the landlord asks for something in return.

 

Whether or not you can give a months notice will depend on how long the contract you signed in November was for, 6 or 12 months? If it was 6 months then you can serve correct notice (1 full calander month ending on the dame date in the month that the fixed term came to an end).

 

If it was a 12 month contract with no breakclause, then all you can do is ask our LL if you can leave early. If he is sensile, he will say yes, although he is under no obligation to do so.

Edited August 5, 2009 by Planner

[C&D]

Planner.

I appreciate your honesty in how you feel I am coming across but I can assure you I am not a 'spoilt demanding tenant'. We were extremely grateful to the landlord for letting us take the property and for getting the money for the carpet to us so prompt. I wouldnt have said previously he was a bad landlord atall, infact far from it but I am frustrated that when I spoke to him he was really nice, caring and sympathetic and he agreed that I could pay the deposit back in £50 per month payments but then I get a letter changing this with no phone call to discuss the matter first. it therefore came as a complete shock and as i am on maternity leave and now single, I can not afford to pay out an extra £300 per month.

 

We signed a new contract in May for 6 months so I believe we can give one months notice in October to leave in November - this is what I will do as I appreciate the landlord is worried that i may not be able to afford the rent in the future but this is not the case now as all my tax credits etc have been sorted.

 

I wouldnt consider myself a bad tenant as we have deorated the lounge for him along with his spare bedroom as the previous tenant let her child draw all over the walls. We have also looked after the property and when I tell him about the bath / shower etc, its not actually for my benefit as it doesnt effect me but if he is aware, he can sort it whilst its a small problem if he wishes before it escalates.

[johnhowell]

If your new contract ends in November and you want to leave on that date in November - you do not have to give a months notice. It is the end of the contract, the assumption is that is the leaving date. If you stay beyond November the tenancy becomes periodic and you will then have to give a months notice to the Landlord and he has to give you two months notice.

 

Good luck,

John

[C&D]

Many thanks for that. I will tell him in plenty of time so that he can find someone else but useful to know.

Thanks again x