Landlord is being a total pain!

[Frosty6611]

I’d really appreciate some advice if any of you know about this sort of stuff. I have contacted Shelter for advice and they are calling me on Mon morning.

I moved into a private rental in 2012 and had a short assured tenancy agreement.
After that year had passed another lease was never signed and it just became a rolling tenancy.
My landlord wants to sell up and do some major renovation work on the house too (such as changing the whole heating system, repairing the roof, painting all the rooms etc).
I don’t want to move out until Feb 2019 as it’s going to cause so much stress having to move before then.
I paid him a £650 deposit when I moved in and it hasn’t been bonded. There was also no inventory done ever and there hasn’t been a gas safety check done in over 2 years.
Would I be legally allowed to stay here for another 6 months?
And am I allowed to refuse him access to do things like changing the boiler system (which could take over a week of upheaval inside the property).
If he were to put the house on the market and it sold before Feb, what would I do?

I have never paid my rent late in 6 years and will continue to pay him rent on time up until I move out.

I don’t know his new address so would it be ok to email him my notice letter when the time comes, or does he need to give me his address so I can send it recorded delivery?
Thanks for your help

I have to say though, as a landlord who also wants to sell, the rest of your post made my blood boil. Why should the landlord have to wait until Feb, just so it is convenient for you? What about his life? Two months' notice is fine. I can't believe you would try to force someone into continuing a rental for six months. It's totally unreasonable.

Well if a landlord wants to be able to stick to the terms of the contract regarding two months notice (which is reasonable), they need to uphold their side of the contract. It's not a secret that you can't evict people if you haven't stuck to the letter of the law.

Personally I think it should be illegal for landlords to evict tenants on open-ended tenancies unless they haven't paid rent or have trashed the place, if they want to sell they can sell with a tenant in situ. But I accept that isn't the law.

If he hasn't put your deposit in a scheme, he cannot legally give you notice to quit.

This irresposnsible dickhead has played fast and loose with your tenancy & potentially endangered you by not getting a GSC. So, you owe him nothing. Nothing at all.

Let him give you notice and then just don't go. He'll go to court and you can politely point out to the judge that he hasn't protected your deposit so the entire thing will be thrown out.

He will then have to return your deposit in full to you before re-issuing the S21. By the time that expires, it'll be February.

Please be aware that it is a criminal offence for him to harrass you in any way so call the police if he happens to kick off.

Yes, you can refuse access for a new boiler...or anything else. If he wants to push it, he'll have to get an injunction granting him access.

You have rights, OP....and every right to exercise them.

I wouldn't have said anything about the deposit until he served a section 21 then let it run out and try to get a possession order from court, then hit him with it.

You need to allow the boiler to be replaced so it has a GSC for your own safety. You will have most of the coming winter there. I'd agree to that straight away for a reduction in rent due to the upheaval. Better to do it now while you don't need the heating on.

If he was literally just replacing the boiler then I could deal with that as it probably wouldn’t take too long to do. But he’s wanting to move the whole boiler system to the other side of the house, pull up all the flooring to re lay the pipes etc, and remove the big water tank from the spare bedroom. It would take at least a week to do and would cause a complete mess. My friend’s husband is a plumber and he’s checked my boiler and even though it’s from the stone ages, he said it’s safe (for now).
He’s wanting to come over tomorrow now to paint the outside of the back of the house! It’s my birthday tomorrow and I don’t want him hanging around the house grrrrrr. Wish he would just bugger off and leave me in peace but I know i’ll Have to be reasonable and allow him to do certain things

I'd negotiate that he serves notice at the end of the year or you'll report him for not protecting your deposit. You have an email trail saying he 'forgot', yes?

I'd agree to the boiler replacement in return for a reduction in rent. You need a safe appliance and you'll be there for most of the coming winter. Better to do it now while it's only hot water that'll be disconnected while the work takes place.

allertse just to say that one horrendous letting agent once arsed up the tenancy renewal... I had stipulated an offer of six months but they just put them on a rolling tenancy. It would be insane to say I would then have to sell with a tenant in situ. I agree that standards need to maintained but, as someone who is also currently renting, I wouldn't use it as a stick with which to beat my landlord. Our tenancy is up in January and if the want us out, we go!

@madmum yes I have a trail. I guess you’re right and I should just let him. I have a cat though (which he knows about when I moved in) and I would have to put him in a cattery while the work was going on :-( grrrrrrr! Can’t wait to never have to rent again. So sick of it

Well contact him telling him not protecting the deposit and not having a GSC is a criminal offence, that you are entitled to quiet enjoyment of the property and will not be facilitating any other works that are not urgent and that's that!

You sound like a clueless landlord, Liverbird77. You can "stipulate" whatever you like but no tenant is required to sign up for another 6 months if they don't want to.

And, regarding your previous post, you seem quite cross that tenants have legal rights that don't suit you. You are not a landlord that I'd like to have

@Liverbird my landlord is a multi millionaire and lives in a huge mansion with a pool in the Peak District. I’m sure if he has to wait a few months (with me paying him full rent) he’ll survive. I doubt this house would sell quickly anyway as if a buyer got a surveyor out then they would see how much work needs doing to the place. Plus the windows are only single glazed. I’m hoping if he does decide to sell that it takes a few months to find a buyer and i’ll be gone by then. I just don’t want him coming over every week faffing about with renovations etc.

You have a right to "quiet enjoyment" OP. This is quite a wide term. You do not have to agree to the Landlord coming on your property (or his tradesmen) except for rare instances. Gas safety inspections for example. If he does come into your home, then he is trespassing! You could write to him by email (so its in writing) saying you do not agree to the works as this is preventing your quiet enjoyment. If he is a large LL he will know the law but is choosing to ignore it. Of course he sounds a complete greedy tool. To be honest, I think you'll have trouble getting your deposit out of him (though you can claim it back in large fine as people have said). I would just not pay him rent for last couple of months.

I've had a private LL like this - they are a nightmare.

P.S. It doesn't matter what it says in the "contract" by the way. The "law of the land" trumps whatever some idiot LL chooses to put in his contract. You could try Shelter helpline who are sometimes very good (depends who you speak to). ( I thought my local Shelter were awful though and were very pro-Landlord.)

@Bananatoffo I could do without the insults, thanks. I am far from clueless. What I instructed the letting agent was that I wanted to OFFER a six month contract. If they didn't want that, they were free to leave and I would get new tenants. The letting agent screwed up by not offering that and letting them go on a rolling contract. Furthermore, my gas safety and insurance are up to date and rent is protected. I just bought them a new bed because they said it was squeaking, even though they are out in two months. I replaced all windows and doors, painted and had new bathroom floor, shower screen, blinds and curtains put in before renting. The deposit is in a protected scheme. Basically, I am exactly the type of landlord you would want to have! I am a capitalist though, and won't hesitate to do what's right for MY family. I want to release capital towards buying a house.
As for the op's landlord living in a great house...good for him. That has absolutely no bearing on when he chooses to sell.

I went to CAB re same OP. If he's never provided the following, it's an illegal eviction:
Energy Certificate
Gas safety certificate
Deposit scheme yr £ is in
Government's 'How to Rent' guide

Once I pointed the above out, the conversion back to a house was put 'on hold'. And next door helped as he was trying to dodge legal regs on her shared party wall.

And also, what"legal rights " am I cross about? I have served the correct notice to my tenants. I said that if our landlord wants us out, I take the view that it is his house, and I wouldn't want to screw him over.

@Liverbird if my daydream law came into place then agencies and landlords would have to check things rather more thoroughly. or as a landlord you could sue the agency.

Mind you, in my daydream world, letting agencies wouldn't be allowed. I've never had an issue renting independently from a landlord, in my experience letting agencies either act in their own interests and screw the landlord and the tenants, provide a good screen for useless landlords to hide behind whilst not upholding their responsibilities, or in the best case scenario merely add another slow step to any communication between landlord and tenant.
But now I'm ranting on a bit of a tangent!

FWIW, I'm currently a tenant and if my landlord gave me notice, I'd move out by the end of the period.
If he hadn't protected my deposit, or done the gas cert, etc, then he'd have no right to evict me and if I wanted to stay I'd carry on paying my rent and wait for him to step up to his legal responsibilities before he could evict me!

@allwrtse I take your points. I needed to use an agency though because when I first started to rent I was living hundreds of miles away. I wasn't in a position to find and screen tenants.

So this weekend he’s been painting the outside of the house, sorting out the garden and he’ll be painting the spare room tomorrow.
Next weekend he wants to paint another bedroom, have 2 windows downstairs replaced and have all the carpets replaced.
The weekend after he wants the boiler moved to a different room and some of the radiators and gas pipe etc all replacing (this will all take a week to complete).
The weekend after he wants to paint all the downstairs.
This is just totally taking the piss now! I am getting no privacy with him and his parents and tradesman (and even his 5 year old son) being over at the weekends, making loads of noise and trailing in and out of the property and having to move furniture in and out of the rooms etc.
He’s then going to want estate agents coming over and there will be people wanting to view it too.
I’m not an assertive person and suffer from really bad anxiety. I’m finding it very difficult to say no or ignore him :-(

Bloody hell, nothing there that is quiet enjoyment. If you are struggling to be assertive with him then maybe a visit to Citizen's Advice for some advice and support.

Sound like YABU to me. He’s said you can stay until Feb but that he will want to do the boiler in that period so that the property is ready for sale as soon as you move out. What’s wrong with that? You’re trying to hold him to ransom to get your own way as you want to stay til Feb and don’t want a week’s inconvenience because of the boiler work. Why won’t you just compromise? And regarding the bond, is it not in a scheme because they didn’t have them when you moved in in 2012 and you seem to have an adhoc arrangement with him? He’s probably giving you cheap rent as well, isn’t he OP?

@query why would you think he’s giving me cheap rent?! I pay a very premium rent for the area and always have done. They did have the deposit schemes before 2012 so please get your facts right before spouting nonsense. Shelter have assured me he 100% should have bonded my deposit then. The property I was in before 2012 bonded my deposit too. I had a short assured tenancy aggrement when I moved in and it’s just rolled month to month after the first year.
How can you say I’m not “compromising”? He’s been here all weekend doing painting and other work. He’ll be over all next weekend too. I work from home so having big jobs like the boiler moved and carpets done will impact my work, i’ll have to pay to put my cat in a cattery and the house (which I pay a lot of money for) will be a total mess. I’m legally entitled to quiet enjoyment!! And he isn’t letting me stay here until Feb which is why I’ve been asking advice on what to do.

Why are you allowing him to do this? Genuine question - I know you suffer from anxiety and that this must be really, really difficult for you, but you have to take the advice of the people in the know on this thread and say/email 'You are affecting my quiet enjoyment of this property, which is my legal right. I do not authorise any further works on this property and do not wish to discuss it further'.

OP make sure you think about what is really right for you. The LL may not legally be able to get you out early, but if you find the conflict difficult and it's getting to you, you may find it easier to put up with the extra move.

I've just had exact same situation OP. The proposed conversion is now off. Its an illegal eviction if you haven't been given:
gas safety certificate
energy certificate
deposit scheme
Government 'How to Rent' guide and landlord hasn't HMO Licence (House of Multiple Occupancy) required for multiple flats in same building.

To serve a Section 21 the deposit legally must be returned in full before its served. Otherwise you can get three times its value back thru Court action.

I'd also add whenever Landlords want to paint my flat, I insist I do it as they never do a great job, it's very intrusive and I've had stuff spoiled with paint splashes when they didn't put sheets down etc. Feed the cat outside or on the window ledge for the week & let her out more: she'll live.