Seeking Compensation From Landlord

[Peace Lover]

Hi,

 

I'm a newbie on here, so any help would be appreciated. Its a bit complicated so bear with me.

 

We have been dealt a blow by our landlord in terminating our contract. We handed in our notice 4 days after the contractual period notice deadline ( last day of the month), offering to pay for the additional days we would be here. We understand that legally we have to pay the rent up until the end of the month. We had assumed mutual surrender as he did not inform of us this when we first served notice, and listed the property with two letting agents as the being available from the 1st September, suggesting that he accepted us leaving the property and him having time to make the appropriate repairs and retouches that needed to be done on his part. We placed a holding deposit on another property and gave him and letting agents free access to the property to show potential tenants around whilst we were away on a weeks holiday. We can only assume he has done a survey of the property in our absence. He pulled out lavender bushes and fiddled with the guttering, so he used that time to do some jobs ( without our consent) He waited 16 days to draw our attention to the clause stipulating his right. We understand that it is not mandatory for Landlords to highlight contractual clauses, but it was misleading, underhand and has put a total blow on our finances, having to cancel the removal services and do the removing ourselves, because we simply cannot afford it. We are a family of 5 with 3 young children. It's really disappointing as it has been a home that we have been very happy in despite the tardiness of the Landlord in the properties maintenance. (Part 2).

 

Obviously we have to pay the rent up until the end of the month otherwise we will incure all the nasty charges he has put into the new contract ( £5 per day for late payment, £15 charges for letters sent etc). We would also lose our deposit if we failed to pay the rent and he can still come after us for damages to the property if the cost exceed the money held in the deposit scheme. This is the position he has us in legally. We of course want to protect anymore money being lost through the deposit holding scheme.

 

Problems with the Property.

 

Whilst we have been living in the property, we have been living in damp drafty conditions. We made him aware of this, but he chose to do nothing about it. We have lived with rising damp (salts and mould spores appear on the wall, with wallpaper / plaster peeling and rotting away) and falling damp ( failure to clear the guttering from the slate residue). We have 3 small children, one of which ended up in hospital suffering from Pneumonia in 2010, and more recently, this weekend my husband also came down with Pneumonia, hospitalised for the night and is physically unfit to help with the moving of the house ( which we have to do ourselves, see above). Would we be in our rights to claim for compensation for ill health caused by unfit living conditions?

 

There is a gap between the floorboards and the skirting board in the bay area that caused a considerable draft to the single glazed property in the colder months, with astronomical heating expenses. Again we made him aware of this, but he said we had take the property as seen and that the weight from our storage units had caused the joists to bow. Is this relevant to his obligations in maintaining a livable temperature ( It was literally freezing in the house with the heating on). We have proof of our bills - can we claim expenses on lack of proper draft exclusion?

 

On Mice: Who's responsibility is it to sort out problems with mice? The tenant or the Landlord? Because when we asked, he said it was our responsibility and that we needed to ring the council.

 

We have written him a letter offering and asking for an explanation to the circumstances surrounding the date of our notice. He has not responded. Does he have to respond within a certain time? He still has not made it clear whether that he does not surrender the property, his correspondence simply draws our attention to the clause, but does not request that we remain liable for the property until August 31st. He is still advertising the property as available 1st Sept after telling us we are liable for the property? This is confusing.

 

We have used our discretion as tenants, allowing major jobs on the property that would improve his rental chances in the future, but never did any of the jobs that would have looked after us. Feel like fools.

 

Any help would be appreciated, as we are due to move very soon, and have limited windows to come to some negotiations.

 

Many Thanks

[mariner51]

It is a bit hard to comment as you provide no dates and don't specify what you mean by 'contractual period'.

So please

Type of T & duration of fixed term

Date of commencement of T in AST

Frequency of rent due dates

Date your NTQ was sent and by what method

Previous experience of renting

 

Until provided any advice is guesswork.

Your NTQ does not per se does not signify 'mutual surrender'. The key word being mutual.

[stu007]

Hi

 

I have to agree with mariner51 we would require the information being asked to better give you the best advice.

[stu007]

Soz miss posted!!

[Peace Lover]

T - Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement - 31/10/10 for 6 months

 

After the 30/06/11 there after on a contractual periodic tenancy.

 

Rent is paid on a monthly basis on the first of month

 

NTQ was sent by letter on 5th of July ( letter was not dated or signed) although we have evidence of it being generated. We had previous communication withhim him via text and him notifying us of needing it in writing.

 

Our previous experience of renting has been that we served notice and paid the owing days over the rental period. This has never been a problem before, as landlords have been amenable.

 

We were handed a letter on the 16th July neither confirming or denying mutual surrender, just drawing our attention to the clause, but again not specifying in writing that we are liable for the property rent until the 31st August.

 

Hope this helps.

[Peace Lover]

The contractual period starts on the first day of each month.