Leaving a room in a shared house when there is no contract

[aleto]

Sorry this is going to be long!
DD recently left home (and moved a long way away) and needed a room at very short notice. She visited a house where there was an empty room as the previous tenant had moved out. She was shown the room by another current housemate. She agreed to take the room (during a phonecall with the current housemate) but there was no mention of length of tenancy or contract.

She was asked to send 3 weeks rent to the previous housemate whose room she was taking but the cheque was to be made payable to the landlord. This cheque has still not been cashed.

She has now met the landlord but he made no mention of contract or rent. He just wanted her to pay a quarter of all the bills for the previous 5 months, which she refused. She offered to pay one months share.

She has only been there for three weeks but became so unhappy in the house due to the dirtyness and unfriendliness of the other tenants as well as the strange attitude of the landlord that she has moved in with a work colleague for a few weeks and will be moving into a new house with work colleagues in a few weeks time.

The landlord is trying to say that she had a verbal contract, but as she never spoke to him or the previous tenant about tenancy, nor did she sign anything can she be held accountable?

[TheArmadillo]

I would very much doubt he could hold her to anything.

It's worth contacting shelter for advice here as they are a charity specialising in advice on all aspects of housing.