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

If a landlord deems protecting a tenants money in a deposit scheme, a simple process and an important law, as onerous then good riddance.

If basic law had been followed then landlord wouldn't be in this mess

Ignore all the bootlickers. Ask for £10,000 and you'll leave next month. If not, they can try and evict you legally and it'll take upwards of 6 months to a year.

But that's not the only way in which he's breached his legal responsibilities - far from it!

I was about to say something similar. Ask him to make it very worth your while and you'll play ball OP. You hold all the cards. What's the property worth?

This! What’s with all the poor landlord shit! We’ve known about deposit schemes for well over a decade. Do illegal stuff - face the consequences.

their offer is ludicrous!!
Settle for 3x deposit plus some for inconvenience plus good reference.

I agree. 10k paid up front and you agree to move out on his time frame. He's a joke.

Why? The app has done nothing wrong! This is on the landlord not the OP. If you want to be a landlord then you have to play by the rules or face the consequences.

There is a really shitty attitude towards renters in this country. As though they are somehow lesser or second class citizens for not having had the luck of being able to afford to own their own home. Madness!

So because your landlord wants to take possession of the property that they own you are trying to find ways in which to fleece them. I am very grateful you are not one of my tenants.

How about you focus your energies on finding somewhere to live, if you haven’t trashed their property you will receive your damage deposit back and can use that towards the damage deposit on your next property or for the spurious costs you have suggested in your post.

Get in touch with whichever companies you need to and inform them of your new address thus removing the need for a redirection.

See if you can work from the office connected to your job for the 3 days you mentioned.
Most rentals do not come furnished unless you are in a student area, so this is a red herring. You are responsible for moving your belongings not the landlord.

Another one surprised that you are on a fixed term lease after 5 years. When is the term
up?

I agree that saying “mail redirection, three days of internet” etc is too much detail. The amount that a court would give for the unprotected deposit plus an inconvenience payment of a month’s rent might work?

I agree you should ask for x4 your deposit as you will get 3x deposit awarded by the court anyway and this way they will avoid legal fees and can sort the sale quicker than going through the courts

Oh and I haven’t read the full thread but definitely don’t take into account advice from @MauriceTheMussel

Deposit plus three months rent in lieu of notice.

If the Section 21 is invalid then you can have your way and stay in the property until the landlord rectifies the issues.

In terms of deposit, my understanding is that if the landlord returns your deposit they can then re-issue the Section 21 (assuming all other requirements have been met). If you know your deposit wasn’t protected you can file a separate claim for damages, which as others have said, is 1-3 x the deposit amount.

Absolutely this. He wouldn’t be in this position if he was a decent landlord, so tell him you want £10k or you’ll stay, given you do actually want to stay. As PP have said, he can’t be bothered with basic legally required admin to protect you, so why should you do him any favours. The law lets you stay, for this very reason.

Oh, and I’m a landlord who spends a load of time dealing with red tape. It’s frustrating that others are short cutting this and then turfing their tenants out illegally.

ATM it’s all hearsay as you have no evidence to say they haven’t protected your deposit.

I’d email and ask him if they have secured the deposit, when does your fixed term end?

You are under no legal obligation and cannot force you to move until your fixed term ends, so atm, the S21 is pointless.

I agree with this. Stay put and let the legal process run its course.

Because you’d be moving eventually, to buy as you say later on.

The penalty for not having a valid notice isn’t “ooooh pay some moving costs”, it’s an arbitrary multiple, so ask for that. Absolutely zero point in quibbling a sodding £50 here and there. Waste of your time. Waste of your energy. Waste of everything in a highly competitive London market. I had 30 people want to view my flat within 24 hours of posting an ad.

OP isn't trying to find a way to fleece the landlord. If anything, what is considering asking for is really moderate given that the landlord is looking at potentially having to repay three times the deposit.

Landlord could have protected himself perfectly easily by complying with the law.

That’s not true. If he has protected the deposit then he was obligated to give those details and a certificate to the OP. He hasn’t and therefore the lack of certificate is proof that he has not protected the deposit.

I feel like everyone approaches every situation with 'what can I get' these days...

Disagree.

What rubbish! Renting a property that you own out is a LEGAL CONTRACT giving the tenant use for a specific length of time. You cannot unilaterally change the LEGALLY BINDING CONTRACT without occurring some penalty. You clearly know absolutely nothing about the realities and legalities of being a landlord so I really hope you are lying and are not a landlord!

The OP is not the one in the wrong here the cowboy landlord is.

It’s always baffling to me on these threads how many ‘LL’ come out the woodwork that seem quite happily gloss over illegal behaviour on the part of a LL yet shout loudly about properties being left ‘in a state’ even if it’s clearly not relevant to the thread...
almost like they have an agenda to derail.

It was in her interest to do so.

if you are a high earner, then why are you arsed about the cost of mail redirect etc? I get that out of principal you might want them to cover the cost but not sure i could do with the hassle of arguing over it if i had the money.