UK Landlord Forum / Life

My son took a 6 month AST out in October 2018. 

In April 2019, the management agency advised if he wanted to stay in the property he needed an extension to the agreement, and charged him £90 for the priviledge - although they gave him nothing in the form of new paperwork.

Whilst I am aware that such charges are now not legal, I question the legality of such at that point, as surely in an AST when it is due to end the tenant still has to give one months notice and the landlord two months notice - this was detailed in the AST he signed in October 2018.

Why am I raising this issue which he has only just advised me of ? 

Simple, the flat he lived in suffered seriously from damp which was creating mould spores. This had been covered with fresh paint, prior to his tenancy starting and no mention made to him. When the problem surfaced, neighbours advised these issues had been present in his flat for several years and the owner refused to get matters resolved.

This had a detrimental effect on his health being asthmatic, and to our deep concern we found his matteress which was only two years old was black with mould spores nad needs replacing. This was advised to the agents who refused to act on these complaints at all.

Consequently my son gave notice and has ended this tenancy.

Why the issue now you may ask - simple the Management Agency conducted their exit inspection and have really nit picked with issues. Many of which he had brought to their attention verbally (sadly) as they were only a hundred yards from the flat. These included faulty fittings, marks on walls etc. One fault they raised was that the bathroom smelled !!!  This was attributed to another complaint raised, in as much as the shower was a wetroom and the pump to drain it never functioned properly and water often remained either on the floor or in the pipes.

They claimed that grouting and tiles were dirty, skirting boards dirty and so on - this we know to be a total lie. They have not provided any photos etc, but we know from our own experience trying to photograph a tiny bit of dust is nigh on impossible.

They also claimed a bit of dust on top of a storage heater was unacceptable and they needed to get cleaners in - my wife who cleans properties professionally had helped my sons mother, clean the flat extensively a week prior to their inspection which they held after the keys had been returned to them and he had left the area. The week prior to the cleaning, the agents had inspected the property whilst showing would be tenants around and had commented to my son that the flat was in very good condition, when my son again pointed out some of the issues previously raised, they verbally said not to worry as that would be deemed wear and tear in anycase.

We are opposing their claim with regard the Deposit and I wonder how many of the other points I can be justified in raising, particularly as to the integrity of this Agency, who seem to be endeavouring to get money in any way they can, now that previous means have been made not legal for them to charge.

Thanks for any guidance offered - I only wish he had informed me of all the issues back well before he paid money to them in April.