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

Legal action won’t necessarily go the OP’s way. It’s an expensive risk I would caution against.

Poor landlord. Maybe we could have a whip round for the poor hard up fella 😂

And if he has no money? Legal action could take the op months/years and cost money and she still might end up with nothing! It might not be the case, I'm just trying to point out that it might not be as easy to get money out of him even if it is awarded to the op by a court.

I hope it works out well for you OP x

If your landlord didn’t follow deposit rules - Citizens Advice

This is absolute nonsense. It's a foregone conclusion that he will have to pay compensation for not protecting the deposit. He's breaching the contract also.

Yes it will. I don’t think you understand how these things work.

I certainly don't feel sorry for him but I do feel sorry for the op. She is in the position of having a shit landlord who doesn't care enough about the law to have protected her deposit. Now he has to sell the house as he has no money. I just think that the chances of him giving her loads of money are fairly slim.

You’re in a great negotiating position. Don’t waste it!

When I bought my first little house in 1990, it cost 40K. The developer further up the chain wanted an early completion and I agreed to an earlier date than what really suited me for a cash payment if £1K which he agreed to as every day the sale delayed would cost him money.

If They have to go to court to evict you it could take well over a year if you’re awkward, so ask for at least the equivalent of 6 months rent from them. You’ll need your own solicitor to draw up the agreement to make sure they don’t shaft you.

You're young and it’s a good lesson to learn.
Know what your position is worth!

There are lots of ways to make people pay for the money they owe people. It isn’t a case of LL just saying “soz no money”
And the fact this could indeed take so long is why the payout (3x the deposit amount) is so generous as it’s designed to put LLs off stealing from their tenants.

Nothing in court is a foregone conclusion and we don’t have all the facts. Even if the OP receives some money, their legal costs may not be awarded to the landlord. It’s important to go in with your eyes open to all the possible down side risks.

Even if she does get awarded the money, if he has no money to give her then what? It can't just be magicked out of thin air!

Again - you don’t understand how these things work.

If he hasn’t protected the deposit that’s all the facts that are needed

He has offered the deposit back immediately and given a normal and seemingly flexible notice period. May is 2 1/2 months away. By showing willing the courts will look more favourably on him despite past failings that the OP is only complaining about now and not 5 years ago. It’s really important people don’t egg the OP on and cause her to make an expensive decision she regrets.

CCJ, with a visit from a High Court enforcement officer
Attachment of earnings
Charging order - probably most successful if he’s selling the property and the process is quicker than his sale.

The landlord has an asset - the property.

Exactly! And the tenant has up to six years to make the claim in respect of the deposit.
If the tenancy has been on a fixed tenancy renewable annually (or whenever) then a claim can be made for up to 3 times the deposit for each contract, plus the return of the original deposit.
I would imagine any court will throw the book at this landlord who has so blatantly ignored their legal obligations.
OP should make the landlord aware of the above and ask them to make a financial offer for them to leave without going through court.

It doesn’t work like that. At all

They won’t look favourably on him because he didn’t enforce an illegal eviction 😂

This happened to me and I got two months rent reimbursed (offered by LL and I accepted)

BTW im a landlord of 15 years, and I bother my arse to find out my obligations and what happens if I don’t fulfil them. I can quite assure you this is very bad for the landlord, and the OP should most definitely be encouraged to not be fobbed off

You have misunderstood what I have said. The maximum penalty is not necessarily the penalty a court will award. In fact, it rarely is.

Source?

Moving is expensive and inconvenient, especially at short notice when you had every intention of staying put in your home. The OP has presumably fulfilled her obligations as a tenant, by paying rent and not trashing the property, so why the hell shouldn’t the landlord pay up?

As I said earlier, what if it is mortgaged? Not all landlords own their property outright.

It doesn’t matter, it’s still an asset