UK Landlord Forum / Life

Dear forum users,

I have moved into a new place about a month ago, in Tulse Hill, London. When I went to see the property I met a nice young man named Edward, who showed me the house and informed me. We agreed on a price and that I would move into the house with him and a nice girl that had just moved down from Manchester.
The night I moved in I met Edward's mother, Liz. I soon found out Edward was not the actual landlord, she was the landlady and she was making the decisions. Since I have moved in, she has been coming round to the house almost every day with builders and electricians making quite a bit of fuss and noise. But hey, the house was almost done I thought, just a means to an end really.
Last week I went on a little trip, to Cornwall. Saturday afternoon I returned, and found the house to be tidied up, even my room and also the rooms of the other two tenants. Turns out the landlady has decided to try and sell the property. Since then she was been in our rooms multiple times without our permission, touching our belongings and has been hiding our toothbrushes in the bathroom to make it look like nobody lives here for viewings. Today was my only day off from work, and I spend most of my time hiding in my room from all the people walking in and out of the house. I felt like a ghost, like nobody acknowledges that I live here and pay rent to live here.

Here's another thing. I have not signed anything, none of us have. We were told she was still sorting out the paperwork, and we did not push it because none of us thought that this was going to happen! I feel so deceived and used.

I have paid a deposit, and I don't know if my landlady has put it in the tenancy deposit scheme. My guess is not. And honestly, I don't want to give her any money at this point. My rent is due right about now but I feel like I just want to tell her to keep the deposit and that I will move out in a month. Would it be a good idea do to that or will I then lose all of my rights?

I would really appreciate any advice! Thanks...

My housemate asked me to ad something to my question:

so the landlady's son lives in the house and his name is on the possible contract we are going to sign but haven't signed yet.
In text messages and when I speak to her I get the feeling that she is holding him responsible for things that she should have done. He did not know about her plans to sell the property, and has been lied to as well. Now if he holds the responsibility to carry the name of landlord, will she be able to get away with all the stuff she is doing to us now?

I really hope somebody can help us...

This is the sort of "Landlady" who gives the rest of us a bad name.   

The first thing she should have done with you once you decided to move into the property was go through the tenancy agreement with you, check you were all happy, then get it all signed up.  Then the normal system I have always followed is to take the deposit, plus a month's rent in advance.  That means I can secure the deposit, as legally required, very quickly.  As things stand your "landlady" (I use the term very loosely) has you under no particlular contract and is wandering in and out at will.  It is unclear what has happened to your deposit.

As you have no written contract, I am not sure quite where you stand legally on this.  It almost sounds as if there would be nothing to stop you just walking out.  However, before taking any action I would strongly suggest that you and your housemates seek advice, perhaps from the Citizens Advice Bureau.  Explain to them everything you have said here, and hopefully they will be able to advise you what you can do.

If you paid a deposit and your landlady failed to secure it in one of the government approved schemes within the first 14 days of the start of the tenancy then the penalties for her can be severe.  Redress would be via the County Court, and she may end up being ordered to return to you a substantial sum in compensation (often several times the value of the actual deposit).  Again though, the lack of a written contract could be a big disadvantage to you, so you need legal advice, either from a solicitor or from the CAB. 

My guess is that she did not issue you with any receipts once you paid your deposit??  Probably just walked off with it and used it to pay her builder.   

Quote from: Lidewij on April 11, 2012, 10:24:55 AM
My housemate asked me to ad something to my question:

so the landlady's son lives in the house and his name is on the possible contract we are going to sign but haven't signed yet.
In text messages and when I speak to her I get the feeling that she is holding him responsible for things that she should have done. He did not know about her plans to sell the property, and has been lied to as well. Now if he holds the responsibility to carry the name of landlord, will she be able to get away with all the stuff she is doing to us now?

I really hope somebody can help us...

From my experience the landlord/landlady cannot carryout such work since this is a matter of health and safety and they must make sure the property is empty. If you have paid the deposit via bank transfer and she failed to protect it within 14days then you can fill a court order for her to pay it back (usually the court will request the landlady to pay back three times the amount for failling to comply with the law) but the moment she recieve the court papers (you dont go to court) she can still protect within the time limit given so she dont have to pay you that extra money. I was also told that if the landlord failed to protect the depost, they cannot kick you out easily but the problem you have is that her son live at the property so they have more rights when it come to kicking you out compare to landlords who does not live at the property.

My GF use to rent with a private landlord and she complained to the council as the landlord refuse to carry out work and keep coming into the property without notice or without ring the bell. He also changed the front door locks when the council served him final notice to carry out the work. Now she has filled a court case with the landlord and waiting to hear from the judge.

My advice is to speak to a lawyer as they tend to offer free advice via email and also make a complaint to the council so you have a record incase she try to kick you out. Make sure you keep a diary, pay rent via bank transfer to show that your paying rent because eventhough you dont have a contract, this illustate there is an argreement between you and the landlady. Usually when a landlord want to kick someone out they serve Section 21 notice giving 2 months notice to leave but this may be different if the landlord's son live at the property unless he is also paying rent. In most contract they cannot kick you out in the first 6months unless both parties agrees.

If you call the council they usually have contact details of external housing advisors who is aware of the law and write to the landlord behalf of you so you can try this as well but make sure you keep a record of everything.

If you have the time can you spear 2 min of your time to fill out a questionnaire for my dissertation. It is based on the experience of the tenants in the private rented sector and the condition of their rented property.


The questionnaire is anonymous and the link as follows:


http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LP3NWXQ

Thank you.