Landlord asked me to leave, what compensation to ask for?

[Whooo]

I’m in my 20s and moved to London 5 years ago for work - renting the same apartment since.

My landlord wants to sell the apartment and issued an invalid Section 21 notice. I don’t believe this notice is valid as my deposit isn’t protected, so I mentioned it to my landlord in confusion. I added that I am happy to negotiate as ultimately I don’t want housing stress over my head.

They basically came back with a response to say, they really want vacant possession asap and are really wanting to avoid court. they have asked me if I’m willing to move out this month and essentially help them out so they can sell the property immediately as they need the money from the sale. As a starting offer they have said they will immediately refund the deposit.

I’m willing to engage with this but I am also thinking this isn’t enough. What would you ask for to facilitate this?

• for example, Royal Mail redirection costs
• I work fully from home, and to get my internet switched over will lead to me not having service for 3 days which will impact on my ability to work.
• Costs of moving my furniture/belongings and having to potentially put into storage as most places come furnished

just wanted to get feedback on if there is anything else I have missed, as it’s a stressful situation

I think you’re being a bit CF to consider those three categories valid costs - you’d be incurring them even if everything was valid.

What does your contract say about notice you need to be given to leave?

How much is your deposit?

They can be forced to repay you up to 3x the deposit if you go the legal route, so asking for double the deposit to make their problem go away sounds reasonable.

Check out Citizens advice info, if the Landlord doesn’t protect your deposit you can claim 1 to 3 times the amount back.

Sod that. Ask for 4 x the deposit.

This is the minimum 3 x deposit so work this out. How much is the rent and how much is the deposit?

I would then ask for more as you are in a strong legal position

How would I be incurring these costs otherwise? I am essentially doing them a favour, they haven’t acted legally, have they? A court hasn’t given them possession, has it? I wasn’t intending to move, was I?

I assume he wants vacant possession before the new rules come in in May. Your landlord is being very unfair to spring this on you and just expect you to agree (and I say that as a landlord). If your deposit isn't protected then you can claim up to three times the amount and I don't think he can evict you until it is protected. He then needs to serve a valid notice but you aren't obliged to move out to suit him and you should ensure you find somewhere suitable and get a decent reference. I think you should speak to shelter 're the deposit (or google, there are lots of examples) and then ask him to confirm that your deposit will be refunded in full, your moving costs will be covered and I'd push for a months payment towards your new home as you're helping him by moving out.

I don’t believe this notice is valid as my deposit isn’t protected
How do you know this and why didn't you bring this up 5yrs ago?

You should ask for all you have considered plus a months rent in advance and removal costs

thats what chat gpt said was a reasonable offer to get rid of a tenant when I was considering buying a tenanted property at auction. This is what put me off as it was going to cost £8-£10k.

the key point it made was the tenant is under no obligation to leave and it would take at least 6-12 months to reclaim the property

To be honest, I’m still in my fixed term. I’m not entirely sure what the notice is as no break clause, so I just assumed it would be a month before the fixed term ends.

It totally slipped my mind because I’d rather leave asap and agree a pro rata refund of any rent if needed so I’m not paying for 2 properties simultaneously. I think given he’s asked for immediate possession, he’d be fine with that.

But if she did that she wouldn't be accepted by future landlords.

Thanks for this, I totally forgot about agreeing a reference.

To be honest I’m a high earner and will be able to buy my own house soon, so I don’t particularly care for other landlords. If I had my way, I would have stayed put until I saved enough. This interim move is totally unwanted and a waste of time/money.

How do you know your deposit isn't protected?
And he can simply put it in the deposit protection scheme now and serve you section 21 again. Then you will still have 8 weeks to find a new place.
If you are still in your fixed term then he can ask you to leave and you can say no. But when the contract runs out that's it. He can start court proceedings immediately.
It depends how nasty you want it to get really.
Things to think about:
References.
Your credit history.

I do think he’s done this in a timely manner, given the upcoming law changes. Weirdly in his email, he sent a paragraph about his personal issues in depth. I think he was wanting me to feel sorry for him to offset the huge stress & inconvenience caused & to apply pressure on me.

I know this sounds unfair, but if I saw a reference saying that a tenant had been difficult about moving out and taken the landlord to court over deposit protection I would factor that in to any decision to let them a property.

The issue here is that the landlord appears to have failed to lodge the deposit with a protection scheme. Are you sure of this? How long have you known? Did you take any steps to get them to protect it? Do you have any reason to believe that they will unreasonably fail to return it? Other than the deposit issue, have they been a good landlord? You have stayed for 5 years and wanted to stay on longer so I am assuming they are at least OK. What is your relationship with them? I think you need to factor all of this in to any decision you make.

We can all follow the exact letter of the law and exercise all of our legal rights. But behaving reasonably often brings better outcomes in the longer term. I would go for return of the deposit plus removal costs and a small sum to compensate for the upheaval.

Don't mess about with a private arrangement.

If the deposit isn't protected, you're entitled to what others say upthread - just do that and cut your losses. I think it could get very, very messy otherwise.

If you’re keen on buying anyway, can you do this now? I’m not sure what the market is like at the moment, but renting is always lining someone else’s pocket so even if you want to get £x before you start looking, can you do this now? I’m know it doesn’t help with the immediacy, so for that you could negotiate staying there til it’s sold or bite the bullet with a short term rental and ask for some compensation for those things you would need to re-setup / moving costs etc

When does your fixed term end @Whooo ?

https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection/if-your-landlord-doesnt-protect-your-deposit

If they want you to get out then they need to pay you. I think 3 x the Deposit would be fair in these circumstances. If they refuse then take it to court , in this case the law is on your side, he didn't protect the deposit and wants to get you out.

He can put it in the scheme now, but it won’t make a difference legally.