If you feel you need advocacy with regard to any type of situation then please do not hesitate to contact the Advice Centre as we often negotiate with landlords. Generally
Deposits are generally one or two months rent that is paid to the landlord. There are two types of deposits in housing:
This is an amount of money paid to the landlord of a property by a prospective tenant in order to reserve the property for them. If the tenant then chooses not to move into the property the landlord may well be within their rights to keep the money.
This is an amount of money paid to the landlord against any damage to the property that is caused by the tenants. It is also held by the landlord against any rent arears that the tenants have at the end of the tenancy.
Part or all of the security deposit can be withheld for the following reasons:
- Any damage to the property caused by the tenants negligence
- Any rent arrears that are still owed by the tenants
- If the property is not left in a clean state
- Any missing items from the house that are on the inventory
If a landlord chooses to keep a deposit for these reasons you are entitled to ask for proof of what the landlord is spending the money on, for example, any quotes the landlord has for work which is going to be carried out.
It is unreasonable for a landlord to keep all or part of the deposit due to general wear and tear. There is no legal explanation with regard to wear and tear, however it can be explained as anything that is a consequence of the house being lived in, for example, a carpet getting worn at the front door where a lot of people walk in and out of.
There are steps you can take if you feel that the landlord is withholding your deposit unfairly. One thing to do is to write a letter to the landlord explaining your case, it is often better if this is done through The Advice Centre as a landlord is often more likely to take notice of letter from an official organisation.
If the landlord still withholds the deposit then in some cases it may be worth sending a second letter to the landlord.
If the money is still withheld then small claims action should be started. People often think that this is something quite daunting however it is actually quite a simple process and the Advice Centre can guide you through it.
Getting a landlord to carry out repairs can often be a challenge, however there are certain steps you can take to get the landlord to carry these out.
The landlord is legally responsible to carry out certain repairs in a property some examples of these are:
Boilers
Heaters
Broken tiles
Damp
Plumbing
Broken sinks and baths
Electric wiring
Any appliances provided by the landlord
Any problems with the exterior of the property
Guttering leaks or slipped tiles
You should first take this up with the landlord verbally, if the landlord still does not carry out the repairs then the next step is to list all the repairs and put this in a letter to the landlord, The Advice Centre can help you with this.
Collect evidence of the disrepair by taking photos this can be used as evidence if the situation goes further.
Give the landlord a reasonable amount of time to carry out the repairs but if this does not happen then there are further steps you can take. Please contact the Advice Centre for more information.
Nigel Cooke
(020) 7594 8067
IC Extension 48067
If you live in a rented property your landlord is legally obliged to make available to you a gas safety record for all gas appliances in the property
This should show that all appliances have a a yearly gas safty check by a gas safety registered engineer.
The Landlord should provide you with a gas safety certificate and a new one should be issued after a gas safety check every every year,this gas safety record should contain:
As a minimum, the record of a gas safety check must contain:
• Description and location of each appliance and/or flue checked
• Name, registration number and signature of the engineer who carried out the check
• Date on which the appliance and/or flue was checked
• The address of the property at which the appliance and/or flue is installed
• The name and address of the landlord (and the letting agent if applicable)
• Any defect identified and any action required or taken to fix it
• Confirmation of the results of operational safety checks carried out on the appliances.
You should ask for this when moving into any property, old gas safety appliances that have not been properly checked can run the risk of leaking carbon monoxide which is a poisionous gas that
Can actually kill.
If you are reading this and you feel your property may have carbon monoxide leaking from an appliance check for following symptoms:
• Headaches
• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Breathlessness
• Collapse
• Loss of consciousness
For more information on gas safety speak to The Advice Centre or have a look here Gas Safe Register