Witholding my rent AIBU

The OP is looking for any excuse to avoid paying her rent.

I don't think she has an HMO licence since she seems a bit ADHD herself honestly, she deffo didnt register my deposit with TDS so i doubt she'd have managed to sort a licence. But there are currently 2 of us with an AST and 2 randoms from airbnb that seem to change every few weeks/months

And this, people, is one of the reasons why landlords are selling up in droves. Seriously, who’d want to be a landlord with all this shite thrown at them?? I’d just sell the house, and invest the money in an interest bearing account. Too many unhinged people with zero moral compasses out there. You’ve no idea who you’re handing your property to.

And this, people, is one of the reasons why landlords are selling up in droves. Seriously, who’d want to be a landlord with all this shite thrown at them?? I’d just sell the house, and invest the money in an interest bearing account. Too many unhinged people with zero moral compasses out there. You’ve no idea who you’re handing your property to.

Maybe the landlord could get a job to pay his/her own bills.

I don’t see why I am being ridiculous? In my personal situation the judge sided with me and ruled that my medical conditions (epilepsy, therefore couldnt drive) trumped the LL’s (stroke but her husband could drive her) and I was able to have the court transfer the proceedings to my local court which was a 6 hour drive from where she lived. She hired a solicitor and barrister and it cost her an arm and a leg because of how many times her eviction notices and defences to my claim for the tdps compensation were thrown out and they had to start from scratch. It didnt even cost me a penny to make the claim. As a Veteran and a war pensioner, my income meant that my court fees for bringing the application were covered in full. I walked away with £11,000 and my deposit back in full and sent the bailiffs to her door while i was able to stay in my home unmolested by my LL who thought just because she owned the house she could ignore the law and turf me out. Lesson learned id say. The judge was certainly sympathetic to my medical situation and so it would be great if you could clarify what im being ridiculous about?

If council tax is being paid as a 3 bedroom and it's now technically 4 she's breaking the law and you could report her. I had a dogey landlord in Clapham who made us write that it was a 4 bed on the council tax form but actually we had 5 people living there.
£1200 is extortionate for a room even in London, I'd say £700 is more usual so maybe you could look on spareroom and see if there's anything else? Once relationships Sour it's hard to get them back on track, especially if you're suffering from depression.
Ps:don't withhold rent, it makes you're situation legally worse. Annoying as it is. What do the others in your house think of this new arrangement. If you all complain together it might be easier.

Don’t be ridiculous .

Wow who pissed in your porridge today? Got a tenant giving you trouble? Sometimes it can be quite fun to drop the tenancy delosit protection scheme bombshell on LL’s when they threaten eviction and watch the colour drain from their face as they realise you can take them for an absolute fortune if they continue to threaten your home and your entitlement to peaceful enjoyment of it. If they want to be LL’s then they have a responsibility to be good ones and know the legislation. Ignorance of the legislation is not an excuse and will cost them dearly. Of course the op SHOULD pay her rent on time. However references wont be too much of an issue since the LL is unlikely to be able to grt an eviction order without paying back her deposit in full and a damn site more in compensation allowing the op to pay a huge amount of rent upfront. Most LL’s will forgo references when faced with a year or more in rent paid upfront.

I have ADHD and often need to be reminded

My point is a direct debit literally does it for you. There's no excuse not to have one set up when you move in so you do not have to do anything.

All OP has done is made excuses and none of them excuse her from the very real face she is not paying rent on time and now doesn't want to pay at all... she is not a victim but is desperate to make herself one.

The wording in this section is odd and slightly misleading suggesting that it's up to the LL if the tenant stays beyond the fixed term.

The tenant is under no obligation to return the house to the LL at the end of the fixed term - only a court or a tenant can end a tenancy.

Currently, with S21, it is much easier for LLs to evict tenants outside of the fixed period but once that is gone, this AST would not hold water. They would have to evict on an allowable ground, such as rent arrears.

That is why withholding rent is NEVER a good idea because it will always give the LL power over the tenant.

Maybe the landlord could get a job to pay his/her own bills.

Im sorry but is your point here that you have sen and so because you can do it the op is just using her condition to make excuses? Hmmm. A bit like, i have a stress fracture of my ankle and i can still walk so you’re just using your compound fracture of the ankle as an excuse not to walk. They’re both broken bones after all. What a dilly argument to have made.

OP, given your struggles and ADHD, I am going to try to be constructive.

Firstly, you need to speak to Shelter. They are very busy so make sure you have as much relevant information to hand as possible.

Secondly, check all the tenancy deposit schemes to see whether or not your deposit has been protected. Yes, the landlord should have sent you the prescribed information, but let's not worry about that now. Someone linked that higher up this thread.

Thirdly, set up either an alert on your phone or, better still, a standing order to pay your rent monthly. That will save you from having to worry.

Fourthly, calculate how much money you should have paid for this current rental period and how much you have actually paid. You need to keep arrears down below 2 months to avoid a section 8 automatic eviction. Can you make sure that you don't owe anything by the end of this month?

You should have an up to date Gas Safety Certificate and Energy one (EPC?). Have you been sent those? If not, post here.

When you have done those 5, contact the housing department at your local council about whether or not you are living in a HMO. Maybe I misread your posts but it sounds like you might be. Rules for HMOs are stricter than normal ASTs.

Whilst withholding rent seems like the obvious thing to do, there is a very specific way of doing it. I don't think you are doing it correctly. Finally, this is not the best forum for housing advice. MoneySavingExpert's forum tends to be less judgmental and more constructive.

I have ADHD and often need to be reminded

We don’t know that the deposit isn’t currently protected or that op didn’t get the info. Most of the time now it comes via email and frankly someone who cannot remember to pay rent a bloody important thing I doubt remembers every email they received or checks their spam 😅