Dr Elk

Doesn't his situation depend on the tenancy pre-dating the mortgage, or it being a BTL mortgage?

not to mention the cost and infrastructure for getting rid of waste water.

I always used to think of her as some old matron, but apparently she was only in her early 20's when she wrote it.

Hi Keef Take this with a big pinch of salt as I don't know if its true.... If its a BTL mortgage and/or they have permission, then I think they will honour the tenancy agreement. If the tenancy predates the mortage then your contract will have priority. I think it takes a couple of months to get all the court proceedings done and/or they may have to issue a section 21 which gives 2 months. The fact they know your a tennant suggests its a BTL mortgage, but best worth contacting them.

I can't comment on if that's true or not. But it'd make sense if many of the IB claimants had industrially related diseases from heavy industry, coal mining, textiles etc as the areas where they were traditionally strong employers are generally the most deprived.

If the public sector people are only paid a net wage it will make them insensitive to tax rises felt by the private sector. At least this way when people are taxed more its also directly and quickly reflected in their pay packet too.

I know you're a bit bitter from losing your seat, but at least give them a chance to try and restore some of the many freedoms labour shat on.

You have been angry since you lost your seat.

And send a Letter before action (titled as such) to the address in your tenancy aggrement, if the address in the aggreement is wrong, you don't owe any rent; Letter before action Dear [landlord] Re: [flat/house xxx] With reference to the above property Between [start date] and [enddate] we were tenants of this property. During this time we have never missed a single rent payment and believe we have been good tenants Since vacating the flat we have provided receipted bills to your agents to show that we have discharged our obligations with regards to utilities etcetera. The property, as per our contract, was left in the same condition as it was found, minus fair wear and tear. Your agent has been less than reasonable in their dealings with us of late so we are writing directly to you to demand the immediate return of our full deposit of ££££. If this money is not received in its entirety by the [some future date, say a month from now] we will be making an application to court to obtain a county court judgment (CCJ) against you for this amount plus any court costs we accrue in the process We look forward to receiving full payment of our deposit presently. Yours Sincerely

You're only obliged to leave it in the same condition as you found it. Minus fair wear and tear, which after 5 years can be considered an awful lot. They need to prove any deductions they make, there is no burden of proof on you. They will still try and screw you, just ignore it and start the procedure for small claims court. Don't pay for an inventory, don't reply to any item by item lists of deductions (they are trying to trap you with this).

I'm happy with a healthy -11.7%/quarter in the High Peak, Derbys.

If he can prove he overpayed, then small claims would seem the route forwards for the overpayment.

Contest absoulutly everything to teach them for being greedy fockers. 1. Not in contract, not enforceable. Don't honour any verbal agreement with them as they apprently don't know the meaning of the word. 2. They have to prove any deductions they make, an inventory signed off saying 'its ok' will make it very diffcult for them to suddenly turn round and claim its not. They've already lied on one inventory, who says they're being truthful now?

I think tim is correct. You'd only ever use a section 13 when the tennant didn't agree for the rent to be raised. If you don't like it you have to go to some rent advisiory comittee or leave. If he raises it and dosen't get your consent or use a section 13 you can't be evicted for non-payment (section 8?). In principle they're not allowed to raise it to unpayable levels to make you leave but I have no idea how it works in practice. I guess the bottom line is treat as a negotiation and be prepared to walk away, if he play's hardball inform the landlord that he can sodomise himself with a large iron pole.

Hi Zeb He can increase the (asking) rent by issuing a section 13 notice. I think it would only be a month's notice (after the fixed term ends). You can apply to a rent assement committee to contest it (whatever the hell that is). But I think the main point is if he needs the rent more than you need the place (as seems to be the case) then just tell him no. Elk

I would always assume a letting agent is wrong/lying. You can buy two houses, why on earth couldn't you rent two.

Agreed. We can talk in cliches till the cows come home.

Well as you've lived there 4 years, a magistrate would probably consider anything short of major structural damage to be 'fair wear and tear'. Just say you don't consent to any deductions, as its all FW&T. Remember a landlord has to prove deductions, not the other way round. If you don't have an inventory then its perfect, but even if you do then you should still probably get it all back. Give them a few weeks to return it in full, and if its not returned then send a letter before action. Do this for any deduction, no matter how small.

Hi Sparkie Its exempt as it pre-dates the scheme, although they may have put it in the TDS and not told you. My previous rental was in that position of predating the TDS and they were trying to withhold. They generally pay up once you threaten court action. If you want more advice on how to do it there are several threads on it, or you could start one for your specific case.

If you're feeling vindictive you can check the land registry to see who the mortgage is with and tip them off its been let out. If he's a reluctantly landlord he might not have permission from the lender. And maybe tip off HMRC too.

They sound like complete towels, so you should probably contest everything. The Burden of proof is on them, not you. Just write to them telling them you don't consent to any deductions and then get the TDS in.

On a related note, there's a saying that the best mathematician is a lazy one.

Hi Batgirl In this thread http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=143652 someone is having trouble selling a non standard construction house, so its something to bear in mind if you're going to end up moving in the future.

And remember you can always take her to the small claim court to recover any unpaid deposits. She would have to prove any deductions she maid in court.

And when you sue a landlord, at least you know where they keep one of their largest assets!