Moving Hell

[sickandtiredofitall]

I think I am being a little UR but past caring to be honest but just want to see what you guys think.
We have lived in a flat for 7 years, a friend of a friend so no contract but pay £1200 a month rent plus bills. No heating and a boiler that has been patched up about 15 times when it needs replacing.
Anyway we have given notice to leave, moving to a nice new flat with heating and hot water on tap  trouble is that the new flat is being built and there is a two week delay on the expected time that we said we would leave. Told landlord and him and his wife got a little shirty as her mother is moving in but said that if we could store her furniture in our flat she could stay with them so we agreed to this. After them trying to get us to pay for a hotel at £90 a night for her !
So we are now living in one room? me, OH, DD and 2 cats until next weekend when we leave. Also boiler is broken again so no hot water and the toilet has stopped flushing so we are using buckets but no sign of him fixing it!
We have been really good tenants, always paid rent on time and carpeted whole flat at our expense and paid for the boiler to be repaired more times than I can remember.
He has now sprung on us today that he wants to put central heating in the flat? we are a little put out as we have lived in freezing house for 7 years but its up to him, but he wants to do it next week before we move out!! so as well as living in a house full of her mothers furniture they now expect me to live with the complete fitting of a central heating system, I have told him he will have to wait until we leave but they are not happy and not sure what their next move may be??

YANBU to be pissed off. But I wouldn't give much for your chances of getting him to agree to hold off on CH installation because you don't have a contract. IME you just can't trust landlords to be morally upright, sadly - all the while you're grinding your teeth thinking what a good tenant you're being for paying up and putting up with their shitness, they're just laughing all the way to the bank. They don't care. Never trust one who won't put things in writing.

There is a contract, it is implied, its terms defined by law and the practice over the last 7 years.

How is he going to put the heating in when his mothers stuff is in the rooms, don't you need to pull the floorboards up?

Call HMRC whistleblower line, let them know you have been paying rent, they can check to see if he has paid IT on it.

YY Blueberry!!

Spoke to him last night and he said that he has needed to sell the place for 4 years and we are basically lucky that he let us stay until now! i told him that he could of given us notice at any point.... So now he wants to put heating in to sell the place and not for mother! i told him he will have to wait another week as we have put up with alot of crap for years without complaining! he wasnt happy and conversation didnt end well so not sure what will happen next.

As others have said. Change the locks for a week.

He doesnt have a key anyway, he lost his about 5 years ago when i gave him a set to fix the electrics

Make the fucker wait. Sorry you are going through this though; it's the last thing you need just before you move.

Ah, so the sweet little old lady in the equation has disappeared, what a surprise.

Is he generally pretty disorganised? You might find you can stall him for long enough to get moved, it's only a week. I can't imagine someone who loses the keys to his own flat is suddenly going to turn into Mr Project Manager when it comes to a big job like getting CH put in.

He couldnt organise a p* up in a brewery to be honest lol
have told him no so he will have to deal with it.... now can you all pray that the Electric connection is on in my new build on Monday so i can move next weekend pleaseeeeeeeeee
what a month! i think i will sleep until new year if all goes well

If rent has been paid and accept, that is a contract.
As suggested above, change the locks and sit it out. You might not have water while the CH is being fixed!
Once you are safely out, contact Revenue and Customs to check he has paid tax on your rent.

Oooh I like Sallyings suggestion!

can't have been that bad if you stayed for seven years.

i think she is moving in but only while her house sale goes through.... but to be honest im as in the dark as you guys!
we just had a text saying they would pay us our weeks wage if one of us stays home next week so CH can go in! they just dont get it... i just want our final week to be in peace!!!!!!!

specialsubject it was our home and lovely in the summer but falls apart in the winter.... the boiler and damp has got worse through the years, i have a DD and her school is close by and we couldnt afford to pay rent and save a deposit for a new flat so we put up with alot... im not trying to make it sound bad and i have loved living there its just time to move on before the place falls down and i just want abit of understanding from the LL as we have been very understanding to him

yes, just because you haven't signed a contract it doesn't mean that a contract isn't in place. You have a minimum of legal rights including notice period to quit. Legally he can't just come in and do things to the property without giving you notice unless it's an emergency.

You are doing the right thing by telling him 'no'. I'd say, sit tight til the dates you've agreed to move out. If you change the locks you do need to give him the key as this IS still his property, although your home. If he comes in, I'd call the police and say you're being harrassed.