Bats in the belfry, windows are jammed - London flat renting, deposits & landlords

Well done mate. Still proper crazy. General practitioners are mostly very limited nowadays obvs.

you da man

I like "South Catford" - think I'll use that when I sell my flat. Good to see @amey fighting hard to gentrify Downham. Don't think it'll ever happen but he's doing his best...

After battling with multiple offers on a flat I really liked but didnt see how it could be worth the asking price ive officially signed for a 2 bed in Balham!

Originally up for £360/week got it for £320, really shows i should have been negotiating rents all along, this was the first place i didnt just take the asking price

Hey all, I moved into a place in August, which had a few problems (mould on the wall in a bedroom, sink hanging off the wall in the spare toilet, hole in the plaster in the stairs). The agents have been informed and are aware of these problems, and the landlord has visited the property to check these issues, but despite repeated emails asking when works would happen, nothing (and lots of "oh I haven't heard back from the landlord"). Any tips on what we can (legally) do to get them to act? I have looked at Citizens Advice, and am likely to soon report to the council and get a quote for the works to pass on to landlord, but any other suggestions/ideas would be gratefully received. Thanks in advance

Our flat (rented) needed work done to fix damp, so we moved out for a few weeks in december. Our letting agency agreed to 100% rent reduction and agreed to have the place cleaned for our return.

When we got back in, it was clear the place had barely been touched, cleaning wise. The dust from the plastering was everywhere and the floor was very dirty from 2+ weeks of laborers traipsing around.

We complained and had a 'sorry if the cleaners were poor' answer but no offer of a second clean, so we cleaned it ourselves.

In addition, the place was quite rough left from the building. Skirting not completed, walls no painted, windows and floor dirty with stuck plaster/mortar.

I asked for a further rent reduction for january, given the state of the place but have been shot down. I expected not to get 100% and was ready for an offer of 50% or something but they're refusing.

Am i wrong to expect further recompense?

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Got this from Generation Rent yesterday:

Are you struggling with housing costs in London and want to tell your story in the media?

Next month a major piece of research will be published, looking at the high cost of living in London, particularly for households on modest incomes. We want to make sure that the message is heard loud and clear that rising rents are a major problem for a large group of Londoners across the city.

Perhaps you've been forced to move because the landlord has put up the rent, or the gap between your wages and housing costs means you've had to put up with unsuitable homes, or just found it harder and harder to find anywhere to live in the city.

If you would be interested in speaking to the media about your experiences, please reply to sebklier AT generationrent DOT org by Friday 3 March, giving a little bit of information about the problems you've faced as a result of London's high housing costs.

Please do pass this on to anyone else you think might also be interested.

Thanks - together we can make the case for housing in London that is properly affordable for all the city's residents.

So, reservation fees.

I just about had enough to put down a 6 weeks deposit and admin fees.

Then I got hit by reservation fees of £250, which would put me out of pocket.

Anything I can argue about?

wtf is a reservation fee?

I've paid all sorts of random fees but never heard of reservation

To put it simply, it's a "dibs".

equal to two weeks rent, which take a large chunk out of my salary.

Is that the first payment? To reserve the tenancy?

If so that normally comes off the deposit

To put it simply, it's a made up fee to cover the Letting Agency MD's racket and champagne for that evening.

FTFY

Nope.

Six weeks deposit, then a month rent in advanced, then admins fees (£75 plus VAT).

And then reservation fees on top.

Insane, the upfront fee thats non refundable if you fail referencing is fairly standard, but its always been an amount towards the deposit once successfully

Actually if I fail referencing, the fees will be returned;

Should your references prove unsuitable, the fee will be returned, but you will be charged an administration fee to cover the costs of the referencing.

!

https://www.theguardian.com/money/blog/2017/apr/15/tenants-charged-835-new-name-contract-winkworth

Surprise surprise.

A lots of places I looked at end up being much more expensive to start out, which is frustrating.

The latest one that I have finally found a place is the cheapest with only a £250 bullshit reservation fees (on top of a £90 references fees).

Does anyone have a good contact for a forum/friendly lawyer that would be able to give a colleague of mine a helping hand with landlord issues.

The long and short of it is that each party (landlord and tenants) signed different rental agreements (differing only on rent value), with my colleague (AS) signing on a lower rent amount and the landlord signing an agreement with a different/higher value.

It has now come to pass that the managing agent/landlord (appear to be the same company despite trying to look separate before this whole palaver) has gone to AS and asked for all the 'arrears' to be paid. As far as AS is concerned, there were no arrears as they had been paying the rent as was on the agreement they signed.

After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, the landlord has now issued an eviction notice (not properly btw just an email) to AS and the other tenant giving them a month to pay up or get out.

It is obvious that the landlord/agent is trying bullying tactics to get more money out of AS and the other tenant.

Basically, what should AS and the other tenant do in this situation?

the landlord signing an agreement with a different/higher value.

Tell your colleague to sign a piece of paper that says the landlord owes them eleven billionty pounds.

#contractlawfor8yearolds

Basically, what should AS and the other tenant do in this situation?

Change the locks

Only half kidding.

https://www.gov.uk/evicting-tenants/overview

Read up on this and decide how much pain they want to inflict on the LL.

Were their deposits secured correctly?

No. No deposit protection at all. She paid the deposit value to a previous tenant that was moving abroad. If there's any money in a scheme it won't have AS's name on it.

Tbh, none of this has been done properly and I know it wouldn't stand up in court, but AS is easily spooked and needs confirmation from someone other than myself and our other colleagues. Hence my asking for a friendly lawyer to pat her on the back and explain that it will be ok.

I feel really sorry for her tbh, was going through a rough break up and just jumped at an opportunity to get out of her ex's flat. Which is why none of the paperwork is aligned, or even vaguely done right.

Well, it kinda won't be OK, because the LL wants her / them to leave. So in the end, they probably will have to. In the end. How long it takes and whether it happens depends on the tenants resolve, mostly.

Also:

She paid deposit to a previous tenant that was moving abroad.

Not really a great idea doing that. So she has paid a deposit, but received none of the paraphernalia which the LL has to deliver to the tenant by law I guess.

Anyhoo,

Her choice now is does she want to

• cut loses and leave
  
• negotiate with the LL for a new, properly done agreement, on the threat of both tenants inflicting significant pain on the LL because the agreement and deposit protection is shonky
  
• leave after a fight, and cause LL pain anyway
  
  

So AS and LL signed different agreements - but it's not clear if tenant B and LL signed different agreements? Is that the case?

Contacting CAB or Shelter might be a good start. Not what value a lawyer could now, because the rules are pretty clear and easy to understand. They might come in handy later.

https://www.gov.uk/evicting-tenants/section-21-and-section-8-notices

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/tenancy_deposits/tenancy_deposit_compensation_claims

Also:

She paid deposit to a previous tenant that was moving abroad.

Not really a great idea doing that.

Don't need to tell me that...

Not sure what the end result will be, but we've outlined the options you say there. I guess shelter is the best bet, but they're understandably very busy.

So... Now I'm being evicted.
Fan-fucking-tastic.

Your landlord didn't protect your deposit?

https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection/if-your-landlord-doesnt-protect-your-deposit

I'd think landlord stands to lose more than you.