To ask if someone can explain month up front to me?

[Poliomolio2]

Basically during covid we got slightly behind on our rent, our agency was completely okay with this and said once it's sorted we can find a way to pay back.

We are due to renew our tenancy next month, they state if we want to leave they will take it out of the deposit

In our last property and this one we paid a month upfront, last time the last month (so this time would be next month's) was free as we paid in hand.

Surely, if this is the case again, they can take it out of that money rather than our deposit? Or if I pay in full this and next month, I'll get both back?

Is this correct?? I'm so confused!

Have they put the month up front with your deposit?

I don't think your OP is very clear - sorry.

How many months' rent are you behind on? And how many months' worth of rent have you given in deposit/ pre paid rent?

The landlord can use your deposit to offset rent arrears, but this might not also cover any damages or other costs incurred which are upheld by the deposit scheme. You may then still owe some rent arrears.

@Belowwreck not as far as im aware!

@claudiawankleman we had a few months of short rent which added up to one whole month's rent. We paid £725 (one month in hand) and £725 as a deposit. And currently owe £775. So, is the month we paid upfront already gone? How does that work?

Usually you pay your rent on the 1st day of your rent cycle and that covers the upcoming month. The month upfront would have covered your first months rent. How many months have you lived there and how many times have you paid the re t?

You tend to pay upfront for the coming month. When you move in you pay the first month and your deposit. Some places ask for two months up front (to be used for your first and last months) as well as your security deposit. This is fairly unusual though.

How much did you pay when you moved in?

@killingoksana - in our first month we had to change the date of payment due to our pay days changing. We have paid 11 months this month and we have lived here 11 months. We did not have a free month yet we have paid every single month plus the near £1500 in inital costs. Next month would be the end of tenancy and our 12th payment.

@Bibijayne No, we have not had a 'free month' yet, we have paid every month since being here. We paid £725 as month in hand and £725 as a deposit? We moved in end of July and paid end of August

I think you need to ask them. Typically, your deposit would be held so that if you did any damage, that would then be paid for from the deposit. If you are saying you also paid an additional month on top of that and now you owe that amount, it's possible yes that they will take that out of the additional month's rent you already paid (not the deposit). It could be they are using the term 'deposit' to refer to all money you originally paid when you moved in, not just the actual deposit. I would just ask them to clarify.

I think you're getting tied up in which month you think you have paid for etc.
If you break it down to just the £:
You owe £775
You have paid £1450
There is a surplus of £675 which is available to be paid from your deposit. You then have £50 left to pay to bring this up to your last month's rent.

Ultimately, you need to speak to your LL or the agency to see how they are pursuing this though - you want to check that they aren't re-allocating money in any funny way to get more out of you. Approach them with the above calculation (if you agree with me) and see what they say?

Definitely try and get some agreement in writing before you leave.

If you give less than a month's notice that you're terminating the tenancy, I think they're entitled to take a proportion of the unpaid rent for the balance of the month's notice period from your deposit.

You moved in end July, paid deposit, paid upfront month which is effectively rent for August. Payment at end August is for September.

Rent is paid in advance so unless you paid your deposit, month up front and THEN your rent in advance you don’t have a free month.

Doing it that way might cause you problems in getting another place, as officially, you have a debt.

It's better to clear it and then start the moving process.

So you paid a month upfront for month 1 (july to aug)
You said your in month 11 but in arrears then say you have paid 11 months so not sure what arrears you mean.
You dont get a free month you will pay at the start of the month and move out at the end of the month. If you want to stay for month 13 you would have to pay for this at the end of month 12 start of month 13

@merryoldgoat we did the exact same in our old place. We then on our last month in the property, paid no rent on that last month as we had paid a month in hand at the start.

@LakieLady our tenancy is actually up next month.

@mindutopia well that's what i thought. Our last tenancy we had paid a month in hand from Nov-May, then in May we did no pay any money we just moved out. So I'm confused is all!

@ClaudiaWankleman so, for clarification, they'd still take it out of the deposit?

If you are on a fixed contract, which you seem to be, you can legally leave on the last day of the contract without giving notice even if the contract says you need to give one month notice, which is indeed the considerate thing to do. You can't leave early and not pay for the last month even if you give notice (unless mutually agreed).

It sounds like you've paid 11 months, and now need to pay your last month before leaving at the end of that month or renewing, so yes, it sounds like you owe just over one month rent.

It can easily taken from the deposit with you paying the extra £50, that is assuming they are happy with the condition of the house and do not wish to make a claim for damages.

Are you intending to go or renew it. If renewed, they might want the full repayment before signing the new ast.

@Cherrytea we are in arrears, yes, but have made a payment each month. Every place we have lived previously, we paid a month up front and the last month of living there was free and no payment was made as we had paid the month in hand in the initial tenancy. Im also confused hence why I'm asking!

@dontdisturbmenow Yes we are, we would need to let them know by last day of the month (to give a month's notice) if we are leaving, hence why i want to try figure it out! If not we have agreed to go onto a rolling tenancy and pay monthly what we can towards the outstanding rent, which we have agreed. They said if not, this money will come out of our inital deposit and they are happy to do that to, but don't want to have it tarnished when we move. Yes, in theory this would be our last month to pay, then in July we would not pay anything and move. I'm trying to understand that if we pay the full amount we owe next mojth of £775 will we get the deposit back in full or, can the money we paid up front be used but I assume that this is null and void and either way we will be paying something.

Just a bit confused about it all.

You usually need to give a month's notice when leaving. As rent is paid monthly in advance this is usually fine and the deposit is returned when you leave (unless a portion is kept because of damage to the property). I think, from what you say, you're a month behind on rent, therefore if you give notice they'll keep the deposit instead. (I could have misunderstood your post though, sorry if so.) It's important to remember that you pay in advance, thus if you've been living there 11 months you should have paid (or be just about due to pay) 12 months rent by now.

I lived in many rental places and always had to pay the last month
Month up front means exactly what pps explained.

Are you sure they just weren't taking last rents of deposit?

If you moved in end of July (say 25th), then the last day of your contract will be 24th July this year, most likely midnight (but not always), so a month's notice will be today.

Did you pay a full month's rent on that day? If so, you have one more month to pay before the end of your contract.

If you paid say 5 weeks so that you then paid on the first of the month from 1st September, you might only have 3 weeks to pay.

You're confusing me, what do you mean when you say you paid a month up front?
Did you pay 2 months rent when you moved in?
With rent you always pay for the month "up front"
Ex. You pay 1st Jan to cover the rent for January, 1st Feb for the rent to cover February and so on.

@schrodingersimmigrant that's really odd as we have never paid the last month. Two previous properties and that last months always been the month we move and no rent due!

@LizzieAnt this is a yearly tenancy which in our tenancy states we are able to move out without notice as the tenancy is up but we have been keeping in contact regarding the situation etc. Yes we are due to pay our last 12 month but like you say are behind.

Think we just need to pay the remaining amount next month and hope we get our deposit back.

@Greysparkles we moved in on the 22nd of July and paid full rent in on the 22nd of August infact more as we swapped the rent to last day of the month. Honestly we never have had this before and always on the last month of the tenancy moved out and did not pay rent..

@dontdisturbmenow we paid £725 on that date, then again paid £725 (plus extra to mvoe the date) on August and so on until covid/furlough struck.

you don't get a 'month free'. You pay in advance when you arrive (same as you do with shopping, pay before you eat). You pay for each month at the start. When you leave, you use up the payment and then leave before a new one is due.

Deposit return is not a matter of hope. It is a matter of not leaving provable damage.

do you want to leave? If so either go at the end of the fixed term or give notice.

if you don't want to leave, just stay and keep paying. A periodic tenancy will start.

read the how to rent guide for your part of the UK - it is on gov.uk