Witholding my rent AIBU

[littledragon99]

I'm a woman in my late 40s, living in a 3-bed Victorian terrace in West London, where I pay £1,200 a month with all bills included. I signed an AST in May.
I work in recruitment and DJ on the side. Despite being skilled in my job, financial difficulties have arisen following my mother’s death, and I've struggled with timely rent payments. I’m currently in therapy to manage my depression.
Recently, my landlady has begun Airbnb-ing the living room, removing the communal space I was paying for. Given this change, I believe the £1,200 rent is no longer justified.
Additionally, she inappropriately contacted my boss, (my boss was my reference) about paying rent directly and has threatened eviction. I’ve consulted Citizens Advice and suspect my deposit wasn’t placed in a Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS), which may breach legal requirements.
Due to these issues, I’ve withheld my rent since August 1st and am prepared to take further action if needed.

They don't seem to mind - 1 guy works in the city, the other 2 have quietly accepted it, they are long term airbnb'ers so less invested i guess

Pay your rent, have a look at your tenancy agreement, and then talk to your landlord. Was there any agreement that you'd only be sharing with two others?

You can be evicted for not paying your rent. It's not that easy to evict a tenant but non-payment of rent is one. Get advice from Shelter.

If your tenancy agreement includes access to a communal lounge, which has now been removed, then you may have grounds to ask that your rent be reduced. You can also check that your deposit is properly held in a Tenancy Deposit Scheme. But don't withhold your rent.

I have ADHD and often need to be reminded

What do the other tenants think of the lounge situation. You all need to talk to the ll about this. You should never ever withhold rent. I suspect the ll will give you notice.

You need to be setting reminders on your phone or set up a standing order. Having ADHD is not an excuse for paying your rent late.

Is it not easier to set up a standing order?

That’s a no then.

How long have you been a tenant and what is the frequency of your late payments?

Does your AST specify a duration, and is there a tenancy agreement about facilities etc.?

As with every other PP, don't withhold payment. You might need to consider your credit record and how readily you might be able to qualify for other accommodation if/when you move out.

Does renting out the lounge affect your own household/renters insurance?

Your landlord should have advised you which government approved scheme they are using to hold your deposit. That is a requirement. It's not wise to withhold rent as that's likely to result in a notice being served. If you have been told, in your tenancy agreement, that a communal area will be provided then you need to ask if the rent will be adjusted to take the removal of the communal area. I would, however, suggest that you sort out how much you owe. And pay on time in future

That's a ridiculous excuse. Your rent I'd ab essential payment. Set a reminder in your calendar or better still set up a standing order. Your ADHD is no excuse

Is this a joke?

Also what is your contract? Do you have a joint contract where all three of you agree to rent the whole house for £3.6k a month and how you split it is up to the three of you or do you have separate agreements to pay £1.2k a month each for a room and access to facilities?

If it ia the first one, then I think your landlady may be on shaky ground.

Whilst I would also be unimpressed with her renting out the lounge to total strangers - You can’t just stay there for free because your landlord has pissed you off op, come on. If she didn’t disclose to you prior to moving in that she would rent out the communal area you have 2 options
1 - move out
2 - ask for a rent reduction

But if you’re not even paying your rent then you don’t have a leg to stand on.

Why don’t you have a standing order so it pays automatically?

You're playing the victim while not paying your rent. I'm not surprised the landlord needs to bring in more revenue from the property if you aren't reliably paying for your part of the rent.
You know you have ADHD, you know it causes problems with remembering things - even things that keep you off the streets, so put something in place - reminders on your phone, direct debit the payment. If I was the landlord and regularly having to remind a grown adult that they needed to pay their rent then I'd be looking into alternatives too.

seperate agreements - she rents by the room

NC for this!

why is your age relevant in the op @littledragon99? I now understand why many LLs are reluctant to allow those from 40s(sometimes late 30s too) into rooms in shared properties (as opposed to renting whole property) .
You are not a tenant but a licensee- different protection and yours are fewer!

saying you rent a room in a property should have been enough for anyone- even your gender is irrelevant. Really curious!

You're an adult you shouldn't need reminding to pay your bills on time. Especially ones like the roof over your head - you work and therefore paying the rent should be your priority

I was responding to the post I helpfully quoted. It referred to the landlord needing the OP's rent to pay for his/her own bills.

I completely agree, the landlord shouldn't have to pay the OP's bills and the OP shouldn't have to pay the landlord's mortgage or bills!

Sorry you're so defensive about your choice to buy more property than you need in a housing crisis.🥲

They do, they rent out property

I'm not sure why i put my age, helps build a picture i guess. I don't know what you mean about LL reluctant to rent to more mature people?

Sorry but the line 'I've struggled with timely rent payments' is a massive red flag and would be to any landlord.

Why would you not just set up a standing order? I have literally zero out-goings that I have to pay manually for the reason that I would forget and don't want to miss an important payment. It's nothing to do with ADHD. It's because you want to withhold payment.

I think the whole issue of the landlady letting out the living room on Airbnb is separate to your individual problems which are that you can't seem to pay your rent and ultimately you are going to end up being evicted. Whether there is someone living in the lounge or not.

Given this change, I believe the £1,200 rent is no longer justified.

Well that's your opinion. But you're not paying your landlord anything which is illegal and actually classed as squatting.

It's not your landlords job to remind you to pay your rent. You will likely be evicted soon with this behavior.

You have an ast and live in a shared home with ise of communal living spaces. First things first, do NOT withhold rent and if you do choose to make sure you NEVER owe more than 8 weeks rent. As ling as you keep it below 8 weeks a section 8 eviction notice cant be served. A section 21 will never be served and valid if your tenancy deposit wasnt protected and the prescribed information supplied to you. The inly way this is possible is if the entire deposit is returned to you before a section 21 is served. Now removal of the communal space IS a valid reason to withold part of the rent for the periods the space isnt available to you. As long as the communal spaces are listed in your ast. If, as it sounds, your LL is ‘renting’ this space out to people on airbnb as a private space and therefore depriving you and the other tenants of the use of it, that is interfering with your ability to ise your home. Especially if this is to people you have no idea who they are etc. it is completely unreasonable for your LL to make this change. Full bloody stop. Ad you have an ast and your deposit wasnt protected nor was the prescribed information served you can vlaim via for N1 for the court to impose a ‘fine’ of up to 3 times the deposit amount for each infraction. This would be, for example on a 6 month initial contract that then went periodic and lasted another 18 months with an initial deposit of £1000….. up to £3000 for the deposit not being protected, £3000 for the prescribed information nor having been served and this is then repeated every 6 months (or possibly every month if the ‘period’ of rent payment is monthly etc) so this would mean a court claim of £8000 plus initial deposit returned in full at a minimum and up to £114,000 plus initial deposit back if the court awarded the maximum £3000 for each infraction and determined the ‘period’ to be monthly. This would probably force your LL to have to sell the home to pay you. The courts look poorly upon LL’s who claim ignorance. Oh and the reason I know this? I was the tenant who discovered my LL hadn’t protected my deposit and didn’t intend to return it when she asked me to leave so she could sell. I refused and she served a section 21. I withheld rent to the value of my initial deposit (8 weeks rent) she withdrew the section 21 (that she didn’t realise was invalid, I hadn’t told her) and served a section 8 but immediately before court I paid the equivalent of 1 weeks rent and the section 8 failed. She then reserved the section 21 still none the wiser but now realising she would never get the rent arrears by doing so. I waited until court, attended, she did not. I presented the evidence showing the section 21 was invalid and an N1 claim for judge to decide between the minimum of £11,000 and the maximum of £118,000. He awarded me the minimum of £11,000 plus my deposit back in full so that she could re serve the section 21 as soon as the payment was made. She couldn’t afford to pay it therefore no valid section 21 and I didn’t lose my home. I chose to leave not long after but you can bet your bottom dollar I had the high court bailiffs at her door u til I got my £11,000 paid in full. Moral of the story? Don’t become a LL if you have no idea what the legislation for ast’s is. Oh and don’t think that just because you own the house you have a right to turf out legitimate tenants from their home! Good luck op 🤞