withholding rent

[monkeybarry]

so my landlord has decided to sell up (which is fair enough and not a surprise) and have given us two month to move out

does anyone have any experience of withholding the last few months of rent under the current system (deposit protection scheme). i know a lot of people used ot withhold on the basis they didnt trust the landlord (LL) to return the deposit which is the reason the deposit protection scheme was brought it.

that isnt much of an issue for me tbh.

the issue is, that now the LL has decided to sel up we are faced with moving and therefore the costs associated (fee's and finding a new 1.5month deposit)

now the fee's, that sucks, but that just life.
having to find 1.3-1.5k however, well that doesnt grow on tree's!

does anyone know of any legal (or any) precident whereby i would be perfectly entitled to withhold the last 1.5months rent (equiv to deposit) on the basis that its the LL's actions that means I require the money to make moving possible.

i could then sign over all the deposit held so the LL does miss out on rent and then pay for anything that needs "deducting" (which will be nothing)

any thoughts, advice etc?
(disclaimer - nothing posted below should or will be treated as legal advice)

 

[Baleforce]

firstly if you have rented through a decent agent or well prepared landlord you have probably already signed deposit protection forms stating that you understand the deposit cannot be used for a final rent payment so you could be opening yourself up to legal action, also i'm not sure if this is tracked or not but its feasible it could affect any future reference checks when you rent another place

as for them kicking you out i suppose it depends on the contract, if you have signed for a year for example and they kick you out early you may be entitled to some compensation for breaking the contract, if its a rolling contract with an agreed 2 month notice period then you might be out of luck

i'd give your contract a thorough going over and speak to your agent if you have one as you might get lucky there, i was in the same situation last year but our letting agent was decent enough to find us somewhere else without any fee's and move our deposit across for the new place

 

[monkeybarry]

cheers galeforce

no issue with them serving notice - they had the place valued 6months ago so i assumed they be looking to sell
as i result i asked for a year contract, they insisted on a 6month break clause - which is where we are at now. no issue there.

good point re; the deposit agreement - i know part of the reason these schemes became law was to stop tennants not paying the last few months rent incase the LL screwed them over

what is annoying is i have to move (and find a way to fund it) as a result of the LL decision (there would be no issue if i had given notice!)

i cant remember - do LL do reference checks anymore? i thought they only checked credit history and asked employers to confirm salary
(and letting agents on here able to confirm?)

 

[monkeybarry]

oh, if anyone has any knowledge re; how an S.21 notice works let me

LL has given 2 months notice - what happens if i want to leave before that?
(that is the area that seems to have the most ambiguity. i think the S.21 is just a notice to leave BY end of 2 months, so i can leave earlier without further rent liability - but cant find anything definitive)

 

[monkeybarry]

firstly if you have rented through a decent agent or well prepared landlord you have probably already signed deposit protection forms stating that you understand the deposit cannot be used for a final rent payment so you could be opening yourself up to legal action, also i'm not sure if this is tracked or not but its feasible it could affect any future reference checks when you rent another place

as for them kicking you out i suppose it depends on the contract, if you have signed for a year for example and they kick you out early you may be entitled to some compensation for breaking the contract, if its a rolling contract with an agreed 2 month notice period then you might be out of luck

i'd give your contract a thorough going over and speak to your agent if you have one as you might get lucky there, i was in the same situation last year but our letting agent was decent enough to find us somewhere else without any fee's and move our deposit across for the new place

luckily the recent contract i signed, which includes the break clause, states the security deposit can be used to cover any rent or monies not paid by the tennant

 

[DHSF]

I thought I would put it in here.

The ****s living above me got a treadmill and use it an hour or two a day - feels like a train is above my head. The noise doesnt bother me so much, ....I'm more concerned about the structural damage it can cause - anyone experienced this before? Can a treadmill cause any cracks to the ceiling below i.e. my ceiling?

They didnt ask or didnt request permission from the landord.

 

[scaramanga]

I thought I would put it in here.

The ****s living above me got a treadmill and use it an hour or two a day - feels like a train is above my head. The noise doesnt bother me so much, ....I'm more concerned about the structural damage it can cause - anyone experienced this before? Can a treadmill cause any cracks to the ceiling below i.e. my ceiling?

They didnt ask or didnt request permission from the landord.

Get a pet tiger.

 

[NickTB]

I thought I would put it in here.

The ****s living above me got a treadmill and use it an hour or two a day - feels like a train is above my head. The noise doesnt bother me so much, ....I'm more concerned about the structural damage it can cause - anyone experienced this before? Can a treadmill cause any cracks to the ceiling below i.e. my ceiling?

They didnt ask or didnt request permission from the landord.

They'll soon be using it as a wardrobe