Paying rent for non-existent garage

[KeepHopeful]

I rented a garage for years to store stuff. The owner made me empty it for "repairs", and stored my stuff in a quarter of his own garage.

I told him repeatedly that I wanted to keep the original garage to store much more stuff, not for a few things of low value. He said I'd have it back in 1-2 months. Over many months he talked about weather, finding tradespeople, condition worse than he thought, needed rebuilding, costs higher than he expected.............

I kept paying the same amount purely as a retainer, as I thought he understood. He always led me to expect the garage back soon. Nothing was written.

After 11 months he said he'd sold it because he "couldn't afford to rebuild" .

I haven't paid since then. He reckons I'm paying full garage rent to keep things in a quarter of his garage, and demands "rent arrears" of several months. I think instead he should refund all that I paid to retain the garage that he sold. I would not have paid anything for storage without the promise of a whole garage soon.

He was a builder and has rebuilt similar garages. Why take 11 months to price up repairs or rebuilding? I found prices in half an hour.

Is he conning me? Who owes who what?

I'd say yes he's at fault but it's very tricky that nothing has been written down. I would be worried that if I didn't pay him, he'd get rid of my property in his garage. How expensive is the property? Is it worth a lot more than the rent you owe him? Is it replaceable? What would happen if you just didn't pay and he destroyed your stuff. Would it be a major issue? If yes, I'd pay your arrears, pick up your stuff, chalk it down to experience and make sure you get stuff in writing next time.

I thought I could trust the owner. Nobody who saw the property could seriously think I paid many thousands of pounds over the years just to keep that. It's worth far less than one month's rent.

I always kept the garage on so that I could store much more stuff in future. The owner could not have thought otherwise, and I told him that a few times when we emptied the garage and subsequently.

I really don't think I should pay. I think he strung this out as long as he could, while I was mug enough to pay him to keep a garage that he probably had no intention of rebuilding.

He's a builder. It can't take him long to determine that a concrete sectional garage needs replacing, cost a new one and have it assembled.

What he provided was virtually nothing, just spare space on his own garage. A nice little earner.

Get your stuff back ASAP

You need to get your brain out of this little mind loop that it's in. He has your stuff. Find another garage soon or he's going to hold you to ransom.

That's it. That is all you focus on.

This isn't about my stuff.

The issue is the money the owner had from me to retain a place to store more stuff in the future. He promised me that, but probably didn't intend to provide it.