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stop paying the rent

Started by Elly Jeon, June 24, 2023, 06:32:36 PM

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Elly Jeon

My tenancy agreement ends on 30 June 2023.
But all of a sudden I have a personal problem, and I can move on the 20th of August. I asked my landlord to extend the contract, but he refused.
He said he lives elsewhere and will be spending his summer holidays in this house with his family.
But I don't have anywhere I can take my children right away.

When I signed the contract 22 months ago, I gave the landlord two months' rent as a deposit.
I think my landlord won't return the deposit to me if I don't move after the contract ends.

So I want to forego my deposit and stop paying the rent for July and August. If so, can he charge me for late rent or take other action?

And my landlord did not carry out his legal obligations. These include deposit protection and giving relevant gas/electric inspection documents.

SUGARLIPS90

Only courts and evict you. And if he failed to protect your deposit he could not issue s21!

jpkeates

There are two different questions here.
Assuming you are a tenant on an Assured or Assured Shorthold Tenancy in England (the law is slightly different in Wales and very different in Scotland) your tenancy agreement might end on 30 July, but your tenancy doesn't. If you are still in possession the property at midnight on that day, it will become a periodic tenancy.
The only exception to this is if you (the tenant) has server notice to end the tenancy on that date - in which case, the tenancy will end.
If you haven't served notice, there's no legal way for the landlord to get you to leave without at least two month's notice.

Regarding rent. The landlord doesn't have to agree to use the deposit for the two month's rent. That's their choice and you can't insist on it. So, if you don't pay rent, the landlord can both take legal action to recover it and go to court to evict you for not paying it. Whether they'd succeed in either by the end of August is unlikely - but it might mean a terrible reference and possibly a CCJ on your credit record in future.

The not protecting the deposit and no documents make it difficult for the landlord to serve a no fault (section 21) notice, but don't stop them serving a notice for not paying rent.
The lack of deposit protection means you can claim a penalty from the landlord (or use a no win no fee service to make their life really unpleasant). It's a stupid thing for a landlord to get wrong.

HandyMan

Quote from: Elly Jeon on June 24, 2023, 06:32:36 PM
When I signed the contract 22 months ago, I gave the landlord two months' rent as a deposit.
...
And my landlord did not carry out his legal obligations. These include deposit protection...

Are you sure you gave two months as a deposit? A landlord can take a deposit equivalent to a maximum of 5 weeks rent.
Was the two months 'deposit' actually one month for the deposit plus one month advance rent?

Are you saying that your landlord has not protected your deposit and not given you the relevant deposit protection information (the so called Prescribed Information)? If they have not, then you have a claim against them for the return of the deposit plus a penalty of up to 3 times the deposit value.