UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi, 5 weeks ago myself and my housemate found a house we wanted to rent, and as we have two pets we were asked to pay two months deposit (normal deposit is 1-1.5 months) upfront (19.5.12) to secure the property and were given a moving date by the estate agents of 2 weeks time (2.6.12). The house was going through a sale (by the same estate agents) and we were assured it would complete by the moving date given to us. The estate agent was aware my tenancy on my current property expired 5 weeks from the date we handed the deposit over (26.6.12), but he did not make us aware this would be an issue as we would be in the new property long before then. The moving date came and went, with the house still not completed. Over the next two weeks we continuously rang the estate agent for updates of the sale, to which we were given no help, just saying it was out of his hands. We are now at the point that the sale has still not completed and on Monday 25th June we are homeless if the house does not complete tomorrow (Friday 22nd June). We have lost money already as we booked a removals van which we had to cancel, losing our deposit, and we have both had to book Monday 25th off work (unpaid) in the event that we can use Monday to hold out to see if the house sells. If it does not we will have to put our belonging into storage and find a hotel to stay in until the house completes, as at 12midnight my tenancy agreement on my current property expires. So to clarify, the estate agent has had £1510 of our money for 5 weeks, with no offer of a refund until the sale goes through or receipt to say the money is in the DPS, therefore earning interest on our money (and we have lost it). We were given no forewarning that there was a chance the sale would not complete in time, as if we knew this prior to two days before we are homeless, we would have looked else where, as we needed assurance we would have a new home once the old tenancy agreement expired. Sorry for the essay and I hope I have explained it in a sensical way... We would be much appreciative of any advice or help on this matter, as in do we have a case to try and claim back expenditures? Are there any legal restrictions for an estate agent to advertise a property for rent before it has completed in the sale? Is the estate agent legally authorised to take the deposit from us before the sale has completed or should it have just been referencing fees and a holding fee? If yes is there a case to claim for misrepresentation? Thank you for any advice you can give

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