To think that if you have witnessed a crime you shouldnt have to leave your home?

[BrightnessFalls]

Maybe I am just pissed off with my flatmate for leaving me in the lurch with a grand rent to pay. She witnessed a crime down our street. I told her not to worry about it but, she watches all these sodding crime shows and has just text me (from her room) to say that because she has to go to court she cant stay in the flat any longer. Im so fed up because if everyone did this wouldnt half the country be getting rehoused? Isnt she worrying over nothing?

It's impossible to say from your OP whether she's worrying over nothing

However, if she's decided to find somewhere else to live (for any reason at all) she should pay what she owes before moving on.

In an ideal world you shouldn't have to leave your home but unfortunately some witnesses do not receive the protection they should.

She has given me a weeks notice. It means I will have to pay over a grand in rent until I find someone. I dont want her to worry about having to go to court, I really dont think her statement will make any difference to the out come. If she is that worried then, where does it leave me that is still in the flat?

You are right ..... in theory!

But as a worry wart myself I know that I would worry about this too and would probably not feel safe if I thought that a crim knew where I lived. Tbh, I would probably worry even if I was in a different country!

However, in this circumstance I dont think that it would be unreasonable to insist that she either stays, or atleast pays her half of the rent, until you find another flatmate. Yes she she is frightened but that doesnt give her the right to dump you in the shit, she has a moral and possibly legal, obligation to pay what she owes.

Oh and cowardy custard that I am, I would atleast have had the decency to tell you to your face, that would piss me off more than her moving out.

She can leave any time she wants, but, assuming she has a contract, she needs to pay for a month.

Where is she going at a weeks notice? If it is back to her parents house for example, then surely she should be able to afford to pay you the rent until you find a replacement for her?

What are the details on the tenancy agreement? If it is in your name and you are subletting a room then I suppose she can do this, but if it is a joint tenancy then it is far more complicated than her just announcing she is moving out!

I think its just an excuse because she cant afford the recent increase in rent here. I just wish she had given proper notice.

I guess its not that complicated as she has already informed the landlady who agrees with her!! I do think she is making a mountain out of a molehill ffs if it was that dire then, arent I at risk living here also?

I probably am BU and a real cow. I must have lived in the big city for too long. It doesnt bother me. Im just fed up that I have to look for another flatmate and pay the rent inbetween

If the landlady agrees with her, then she should make up the remainder of the rent.

Is there a tenancy agreement?

Well either you should pay the landlady just your half of the rent as she has agreed to your "friend" moving out, or your "friend" should still pay you her half of the rent! it cant work that she just buggers off and leaves you in the lurch.
when you signed the agreement, was it the both of you that signed or just you or just her?

I would read the agreement v carefully and take it up with them both asap.

Oh and a word to the wise; it sounds like you dont know much about the legalities of your living arrangements which is a HUGE mistake. Dont make it again!

CAB and Shelter will both help you understand the details of a tenancy agreement and if you dont have one at the moment then get one because it means that your deposit isnt protected either.

Thats the buggar of it. The agreement ran out last month. I started a thread saying the landlady had put it up by £150 a month. I complained about that and we reached an agreement but, bloody hell, we havient received the new contract. The landlandy doesnt care as long as she gets the £1250 per month.

Do you think my flatmate who I have always got on with is panicking because she has toto go to court?

In that case the terms of the old agreement stand. And you should have a copy of the new agreement.

AS you havent signed anything then the old agreement does indeed stand and you should pay her the previously agreed amount.

and look for somewhere else to live.

and £1250 a month for a 2 bed flat?!!!

Where that actual fuck do you live?!

Well, obviously the rent should be paid of you have got a proper tenancy agreement, but I can understand your flatmate's concern.

I once reported a major drug deal that I could see from my window on a quiet side street (half a bootload of packages!) The buyers had brought along an addict to test the stuff, and she spent about ten minutes carefully picking over a little pool of powder before she put it in a pipe and smoked it. Three other guys sat in the other car, calmly waiting to see what would happen to her I called the police and a riot van came to pick them all up.

Mine was the only window that overlooked the two cars in question and I spent the next week terrified of reprisals - but then I read in the local paper that there had been a big sting operation that day and the police had arrested about 20 dealers in my neighbourhood. So I started to relax again.

You should not be responsible for paying her half of the rent. The landlady has agreed so she should cover it or the flatmate. You have not yet singed new agreement so the conditions of the old one still apply. Do not pay her half!

£1250 PCM for a two bed flat is normal in London.

OP, if you like, I can come and commit a crime in front of you, and you can move out too

She's avoided me all day. I have to go to work and my phone is ringing constantly. She has also said that Im not to show anyone the room unless shes here. Like that is going to happen.

Your flatmate is being horrible. If she's genuinely worried, then you can't argue with that, it's her prerogative. But it doesn't let her off paying the rent, and she should be making herself available at any time if she wants to be there when you show the room.

Doesn't she still have to pay rent if she is storing her stuff there? Judge Judy would make her pay if she is using the room for storage.

Shes still living here until next week.

TBH I think that her instinct to leave is purely a fight-or-flight response to a horrible incident and is totally understandable. We all react differently in the face of a high-energy event like these.

She's probably not in much of a mind to put you or the rent first and hasn't really thought much about anything except making herself feel safe.

The fact that all you seem to care about is how much worse off you're going to be says a lot about you. You should always prepare for the worst when sharing a place.

Definately ask her to contribute if the rent you want off of her covers time that she'll be living there but if it's rent for the next month you're looking for then she owes you nothing. It's not you that legally needs to be given "notice" rather it's the landlord and that's only assuming that she' on the tennancy with you. If she isn't? It's all on you. if she is on the tenanncy it's the Landlord who'd be owed money and not you so your tennancy would ne safe.

Thats a horrible thing to say about me really. I even put the deposit up for the flat in the first place and never took it off her. I think a month is more than enough time to tell me. A week when I am on nights for four of them is not.

She is very hot headed. Spends all her time watching crime shows. She even asked me once why the cleaner has got her own key. She trusts absolutely nobody, thinks everyone is after her. Shes always curtain twitching looking for any drama.

Infact, Im glad she's going really.

Brightness, was the tenancy a joint one or in your name only?

I really don't understand why you are paying all of the rent.