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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that my (upcoming) landlord should pay to put me in a hotel?

260 replies

RogelioMyBrogelio · 27/08/2018 08:32

I’m due to move into a flat next Monday, but unfortunately I’ve had a call today to say that the upstairs flat has had a burst pipe and my (soon to be) flat has significant damage to the ceiling, walls and electrics. An insurance assessor is coming tomorrow apparently, but my new (upcoming) landlord says I won’t be moving in next week by the looks of it. I’ve asked if she can put me up in a hotel until then, as my current tenancy ends next week too. She has said no as the new tenancy hasn’t started so she doesn’t have me covered on her insurance, and I also haven’t signed a contract (she did send me one but I was just gonna leave it until the day I moved in to sign it). I have given her a month’s deposit, which she has protected and is offering to send back to me today out her own pocket so I don’t have to claim, but what I really want is to be in that flat! a contract has been drawn up and dated 2 weeks ago so AIBU to think that the protections stipulated in that contract should apply to me (it says in the case of emergencies that the landlord will put the tenants up in a hotel)

OP posts:
glintandglide · 27/08/2018 08:49

I don’t see the point blasting the OP for keeping her options open- she took a risk and this is a very rare time it didn’t pay off.

Original poster
RogelioMyBrogelio · 27/08/2018 08:51

I don’t want to stay where I am now because the bills are extortionate, it’s an old house.

I know it seems like I’m trying to have my cake and eat it but really I’m looking at where I stand legally on this. And I have little experience of flooding, landlord doesn’t have any either, does anyone know if this is something that will rattle on for weeks?

OP posts:
Digdeep79 · 27/08/2018 08:51

It is because of tenants like you that we are selling our rental property. It was going to be our pension fund, but so many tenants take the piss constantly, it just isn't worth the stress

YABVVU

LeftRightCentre · 27/08/2018 08:51

So you could still potentially stay where you are, but you want to sue her in small claims court? And you think after that she's going to want to keep you as a tenant? For real? If she's legally obligated to rent to you she will serve you notice to quit as soon as she's able because you a CF.

weekendtime · 27/08/2018 08:53

Speak to citizens advice and shelter for legal advice on where you stand

PalePinkSwan · 27/08/2018 08:54

Nobody can tell you how long it will take to fix, totally depends how bad the damage is, how quick the insurance and builders are etc etc. A friend was flooded out ten months ago and isn’t back in her house yet, so it can be very slow.

Just take the deposit back and find somewhere else.

kaytee87 · 27/08/2018 08:54

So you wanted to put off signing the contract so you couldn't be held to it's terms until you moved in but you want her to be held to the terms?

LIZS · 27/08/2018 08:54

If you can stay put and not pay rent on the new place you are left no worse off. Ll insurance won't cover emergency accommodation for a yet to be tenant while the place is redecorated. If you want to move into this flat, newly done up, then best to cooperate and not push your luck. Paying a deposit may constitute a contract.

glintandglide · 27/08/2018 08:56

it could rattle on forever, you can’t control how quickly the landlord moves getting it fixed and ready to re let. I wouldn’t bother with CAB, they’re fairly useless, and you’ll be wasting time you could be spending viewing vacant flats

itbemay · 27/08/2018 08:56

@edisonlightbulb @palepinkswan exactly this!! I was sympathetic up until that point... entitled or what?? I think the landlord has been more than accommodating. YABVU

TerfsUp · 27/08/2018 08:57

I wanted to do it last minute to protect myself

I suspect you shot yourself in the foot, there. Protection goes both ways. If you haven't signed the contract then you are on shaky ground as far as any rights.

itbemay · 27/08/2018 08:57

@digdeep79 exactly this, you have my sympathy.

NoSquirrels · 27/08/2018 08:58

Look, please accept that the way to start a good new relationship with this landlord is NOT to taker to to small claims over hotel rooms on a contract not yet signed. You’ll absolutely shoot yourself in the foot.

Tomorrow, call your agency and see if you can agree another month. Then call your new landlady and tell her you still want her flat, will be able to give her a month for the repairs, and agree a new tenancy date. Sign the contract. You could discuss a goodwill discount for bring reasonable if you really think you should profit from it.

Be nice if it is at all in your power to do so. You’ll reap the rewards long-term. If you can’t stay another month in your place that’s different but I strongly advise you not to try to take your new LL to court before you’ve even moved in over a situation partly of your own choosing.

Cockapoomummy · 27/08/2018 08:59

You lied. And you didn’t sign the contract.

Take the deposit and find somewhere else.

MidniteScribbler · 27/08/2018 09:00

She wanted me to meet to sign the contract when she drew it up but I wanted to do it last minute to protect myself (I had a restructure coming up at work and luckily found out last week that my job is safe). I didn’t say this to her as I didn’t want her to revoke the offer of the flat, so just said I was away until the day before moving in!

You gambled, you lost.

EduCated · 27/08/2018 09:00

It’s impossible to tell how lon. It will take because none of us have seen the damage - it could be a small amount confined to one room, it could be a flood of biblical proportions across all rooms.

But she can’t magic up a dry flat and safe electrics. She’s not being deliberately obtuse in not letting you in, which your tone seems to imply.

deepsea · 27/08/2018 09:04

No contract, no obligation on her part.
You should have done the decent thing and signed the contract, but it was in your interest not to do so, and clearly you would have been happy to let her down at the last minute.

She has done all she can and is obliged to do and returned your deposit to you.

Find out how long the flat will be out of action and make your decision.

Branleuse · 27/08/2018 09:05

If youre a pain now, you can likely forget about the flat full stop

slowco4ch · 27/08/2018 09:05

Do your non contract bound landlord a favour, take back your deposit and move on. There is no contract, nothing is legally binding even with the deposit paid, you were only “holding the flat” you haven’t started your tenancy indeed you never entered into it. The fact that you would have happily shafted the landlord if needed is irrelevant other than you being a morally bereft human being. Find somewhere else and move on.

ilovesooty · 27/08/2018 09:06

You would have quite cheerfully dumped this property if you'd been unlucky with your work restructure and you lied to your potential landlady.

Now you want her to put you up in a hotel? Cheeky as fuck.

deepsea · 27/08/2018 09:06

Don’t waste your time with small claims they will throw it out without a signed contract

MozzieMagnet · 27/08/2018 09:07

It took several months to sort when my pipe burst - drying, plastering, repainting etc - my insurance did cover my tenant for hotel costs as they were already living there. They chose to take their deposit and rent elsewhere however. Their choice. They did not want to live out of a suitcase for six months.
Had they chosen hotel option, they still would have been liable for same amount of rent. My insurers either paid me loss of income OR their hotel while they paid rent as usual.
But they were already renting. If the contract was not due to start yet then no, I don't think they would have been covered.
I also don't think insurers would have paid for storage of a tenant's belongings had they not moved in yet either.

hibbledibble · 27/08/2018 09:07

As others have said, yabu.

Regardless of the legalities if the situation (which I suspect is that you have no rights as no signed contracts), morally you are also not owed anything as you chose not to be bound by a contract, for your own reasons.

It sounds like the landlord is being every reasonable here. I would take the deposit back from her and look for another home.

Mummyoflittledragon · 27/08/2018 09:08

As pps have said you cannot have your cake and eat it. You chose not to sign the contract. Can you ask your current ll for an extension and either look for something else or wait for the flat to be fixed?

If you still want the flat perhaps look for a compromise, where you move in as soon as it’s safe to live in and you accept a weeks worth of work whilst living there.

candlefloozy · 27/08/2018 09:08

We was renting and had been moved in a year and pipe burst. Our landlord asked if we had anywhere to stay while the carpets got replaced and we had my parents. So he reimbursed us the cost of rent for the days and nights we weren't there. Hope that helps.

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