Here’s a query to the blog clinic from Debbie, who’s a tenant in England.
I’ve been served a piece 21 as the owner is promoting.
I moved in 14 years in the past with the assistance of the council, additionally they acted as my guarantor. I had no cash for a deposit, so the council arrange a cost plan with a credit score union financial institution. The owner by no means requested for the deposit in 14 years or about it till lately.
He’s now making an attempt to contact the council about it . As he by no means requested for it or protected it, can he declare something again?
Because the council had been my guarantor, can he declare from them? He’s a really tough landlord, we’ve at all times sorted property, however I can see him making an attempt to say each penny he can.
I additionally by no means had a hire information, epc certificates till lately.
He additionally has been late by as a lot as a 12 months in a single case with the fuel examine . He additionally was late with the electrical security certificates by a 12 months and needed to have in depth work finished to move the check. The place do I stand with this as am actually fearful he’s going to make issues very tough. Thanks
Reply
There are fairly a couple of points right here so allow us to have a look at them one after the other.
The deposit.
You say that the Council acted as your guarantor and in addition that they arrange a cost plan with a credit score union. Nevertheless, you don’t say whether or not you truly paid the deposit or not.
You additionally don’t say why the owner is making an attempt to make a declare. Have you ever damaged something or broken the property?
You probably have finished nothing incorrect, then the owner shouldn’t be entitled to say something. Nevertheless if the owner has a declare, then whether or not he can be entitled to any cash will rely
- on the character of his declare,
- whether or not you’re truly accountable for no matter he’s claiming and (in case you are accountable)
- whether or not the sum he’s claiming is honest.
In case you did pay a deposit, then your landlord ought to have protected this inside 30 days of receipt of the cash. If this was not finished (as seems out of your query) then:
- His part 21 discover can be invalid, and
- It is possible for you to to go to courtroom and declare as much as 3x the deposit sum
As regards claiming from the Council underneath the assure – whether or not he can do that or not depends upon the phrases of the assure and what precisely he can be claiming for.
Learn how to hire booklet and EPC
These are alleged to be served earlier than or in the beginning of a tenancy, and failure to serve them in any respect will invalidate a piece 21 discover. Nevertheless, if they’re served late however earlier than the part 21 discover is served, then the part 21 discover can be legitimate.
Nevertheless, the owner is weak to being fined by the Council for failure to serve the EPC on the correct time.
Gasoline and electrical energy checks
As far as part 21 notices are involved, landlords will need to have served a sound fuel security certificates on tenants earlier than they moved in – until the tenancy began earlier than 1 October 2015 and the tenancy has not been renewed since then (i.e. no new tenancy settlement or renewal type has been given to you).
It sounds as if that is so for you, during which case, though the owner could also be weak to penalties from the Council, the late service is not going to invalidate the part 21 discover served.
Electrical checks don’t have an effect on the validity of part 21 notices, though, once more, the owner could face enforcement motion from the Council if the checks should not finished and/or any vital work shouldn’t be finished.
Part 21 notices
As you’ll be able to see above, there are a variety of necessities that landlords will need to have happy earlier than a sound Part 21 discover might be served.
From the data given above it seems as if the owner could have breached the principles concerning deposits – though it’s unattainable to say as you don’t say whether or not or not you truly paid a deposit.
If the owner has breached the deposit guidelines then the one means he can serve a sound part 21 discover is by repaying the deposit cash to you earlier than he serves his part 21 discover.
And eventually
The truth that the owner needs to promote the property shouldn’t be (in the mean time) a authorized floor for possession. So in case you are not in arrears of hire, he’s left with no various however to deliver a declare underneath the ‘no fault’ part 21 process.
So you should examine to see whether or not he’s legally entitled to do that. My Renters Information web site has a helpful article here which seems on the numerous guidelines that landlords should fulfill as a situation of having the ability to serve a sound part 21 discover.
Most likely one of the best factor is so that you can get some authorized recommendation. The Renters Information has a useful article here which lists numerous recommendation providers, a lot of that are free. It is best to prepare to talk to somebody as quickly as attainable.
