Witholding my rent AIBU

The livingroom isn’t part of your ast so it’s not a reason to withhold rent.

I expect you’ll be given your notice to leave very soon anyway as you sound like a pain in the butt as a tenant regarding never not once paying rent on time. You’ve been there 5 months and been late every month and one of them you skipped entirely and paid the month after.

You’ve got bigger issue than the livingroom now being a bedroom. A issue you created yourself by being unreliable.

Op it seems like you have a lot on your plate but you are in a very vulnerable position here. You don't have any leg to stand on with you holding rent. You really can't be making demands or having an issue when you are at fault here too. She most likely will be serving you notice, and also you will get a bad reference if you need further rental. So best you speak to her about this, contact shelter or start looking for something else immediately as well.

OP has already confirmed there's no mention of communal space in the AST; she just rents a room, has never paid rent on time and is now refusing to pay rent because she is no longer able to use an area to which she has no legal right.

You sound like a very problematic tenant. Every month there is a reason it’s late or you can’t pay? If you struggle paying bills set up a direct debit so it’s done on pay day. I never side with landlords but you seem to be full of excuses as to why you can’t pay on time, none of which are anyone else’s problem.

So the issue of you not paying the rent came first... so you can't claim you're withholding the rent because of the air bnb in the living room

I’m sure the landlord does pay their own bills on the property they live in. Why would they pay bills for other adults?

Your anger is getting in the way of your critical thinking.

I don't think you RTT properly @StormingNorman

Her "LL could get a job" comment was in reply to a post from a PP, and made perfect sense.

This.

You really cannot be complaining that the lounge area is now being rented out.
You are now not paying rent and every single month you have paid late.

I'm sorry for things that have happened recently in your life but you have responsibilities. You manage to hold down a job and be responsible and you have a responsibility to pay your rent on time. Now you have decided to not pay at all. This really is not acceptable behaviour on your part.

nothing stopping you setting up a standing order so you don't need reminding to pay rent

I would speak to shelter

contact your local council private rent department - as you are not happy with your living room being removed from use. They should be able to act as a type of mediator

check the property has a licence, gas certificate - without these you can't be evicted but the LL could and would face a hefty fine

check council tax is included within the "bills included"

Actually you can if the landlord has broken the contract ie there was a specific clause stating that the living room was long term tenants use ONLY. If a clause is broken, the contract is nullified and therefore you can withhold rent until it’s resolved.

I think you sound like a very problematic tenant. In fact, you are lucky that she hasn't evicted you as yet. You are a grown, adult that had responsibilities and commitments. Harsh but whatever is going on in your life is not your LL problem- they just need their rent paid. I really can't see how you can have an issue with her renting out her own space when you aren't even paying rent on time.

You will be on a Room-Only AST. Your deposit should be in a protected scheme

You are expected to pay your rent on time, every month.

Having ADHD is not an excuse, set up a standing order.

If you feel the room is no longer worth £1200pcm due to losing the communal area, then open a discussion with the Landlord.

I let out a home, I very rarely feel sorry for landlords, but in this case I really do.

You've never paid on time and now you aren't paying at all? Your landlord shouldn't have to go through anything to be able to get you removed.

Have you kept the money to one side that you should have been paying?

You need to set up a standing order right now @littledragon99 then it will just pay itself! It can be done online I’m sure. If not pretend you are going to work and go to the bank. Then it’s one less worry for you.

You must pay your rent on time, or you will have no leverage. If you were a reliable tenant, you'd be in a much better position to negotiate a reduction.

I think you are going to have to like it or lump it.

£1200 a month all inclusive is not bad, but if you move elsewhere in London you can get a better deal.

Your thoughts about this aren't as helpful as confirmed information.

You need accuracy on this matter if you've any desire to follow GoodLordy's roadmap and assuming you're correct about the TDS. I don't know if the financial return on that would be sufficient to cope with the stress of going through this, particularly if ADHD might interfere with your execution of it. There's also the possibility of a hit on your credit record given the recency of your recent overdraft issue. And there may be consequences for your future ability to secure a tenancy.

After these events, would your boss be willing to be your reference again, after learning that you've been defaulting on your rent?

How long have you lived there? So every month except one (month 3-which you paid early) you have paid late?? @littledragon99 with all due respect, I can see you are struggling but you need to pay your rent.

the overdraft caused the problem the first month, then you paid for two months upfront what happened all the other months??

So it's nothing really to do with your mum dying at all is it? Or you having ADHD. You just feel hard done to that you have to pay to live in someone's house so you think you should try to get one over on her every month.

I have ADHD and have always managed to pay my mortgage on time. That's just an excuse.

Speak to Shelter but they will advise you not to withhold rent - this is a one way ticket to making yourself homeless.

Set up a standing order. ADHD is not an excuse to not pay rent.

I think the poster's point was that if you had been notified once she 'panicked' and lodged it, that would give weight to your though process that she hadn't done so initially. But you haven't been notified now, so chances are that it was logged all along.

It was you that said the CAB said you should be notified in the first place!

@littledragon99 Okay so what I'm trying to say is:

You said that CA told you that you would have been notified if she put it in (I always have been, the estate agents I have dealt with always gave the certificate to me).

So what I was trying to say was if you think she's put it in the last 30 days then surely you would have been notified?

If I were you I'd get in touch with them and see, there are only three so it's easy to find out.

If you aren't paying your rent then she will need the extra income to cover her costs... you're not helping yourself!
She does sound inexperienced (not lodging deposit and contacting your employer for direct payment which I'm not even sure is a thing!) but you need to speak to her and suggest a more appropriate rent. If you just stop paying rent you have to expect her to have an adverse reaction as you are affecting her livelihood.

So how long have you lived there and how many months have you been late/not paid?