Moving on Tues, Housing benefit application accepted, landlady just cancelled tenancy. What do I do, pls?

[firstchoice]

I have been arranging the rental of a flat (previously used for holiday lettings).
I originally informed the landlady I would be on benefits but should be able to arrange a guarantor.
It has dragged on a bit. Landlady abroad all summer.
It then became clear I was going to struggle to get a guarantor.
Landlady not thrilled (understandably) but said to 'press on' anyway.

She sent me a signed witnessed Short Assured Contract for me to sign last week.
I did so and went to Council, gave them copy, and all paperwork for Housing Benefit and HB granted and due to start on Tues (Moving Day). Also did a 'change of circs' re my benefits (separating from H). Kids due to change school on Weds too. Moving Scotland to England. So a lot of upheaval. Separation, over Border, New schools, new home - the lot!

Yesterday, landlady said she didn't feel secure enough without guarantor and wishes to terminate our agreement. I have offered to try to arrange a family member to provide a guarantor letter / credit checks before Tues but she says, no, time was of essence, and it's too late.

What do I do please?
Am devastated.
Also, how do I stop the HB and the Benefits changes????
Will I be in trouble if they start paying me and I've not been able to move in?

any progress ?

Hi again.

Thanks for asking, LIZ.

Am hoping to see another rental next week. And looking for more too as not putting 'eggs in one basket' again!

Last Friday (day after LL said NO) I got an email asking me for money.

Backstory is:

During the summer (when LL abroad for 4month trip) I had visited the village with kids for an 'intake' day at the school. I asked if I could show them the house whilst I was there. She said: 'yes, cleaner has keys will lend you'. I asked if we could stop over (we had been planning to camp but there were weather warnings re storms so we left the tent at home but still had our sleeping bags in car). She said: only if no holiday makers book. She txted me that morning saying: 'no bookings, go ahead'. I asked how much and she said: 'oh, don't worry, sort it later, enjoy.'
We stayed the night. Beds unmade and house v dusty. Looked at the visitors book for the last year and only 2 entries. I put out some recycling and removed the dog poo from the garden. Couldn't work out the hot water so didn't use, ate out that night and breakfast in café, so literally only laid down on the beds in our sleeping bags.

Last Friday the LL email asked me for £100 for the night and £16 for 2 hours of the cleaners time.
I have to say, I have not yet sent the money as I have spent the week rearranging benefits, cancelling move, and also had a DWP interview and a hosp appt. I was going to send something, as we did technically stay the night, but I thought £100 was steep and the cleaning charge a cheek as it was not prepared for us and the cleaner was going in anyway to prepare for the weekend guests LL had coming. So, I was going to pay £100.

But, today I got a 2nd email.

hope you are well and things are panning out for you.
I have checked again today, but I cannot see the payment yet in my
bank account for your stay in July.
I thought you only stayed 1 night which is why I only asked for £100 +
cleaners fee for her 2 hrs after you left, but my cleaner seemed to think
you actually stayed 2 nights. If so that would be £200 + £16 for my
cleaner . Sorry to have to ask for this but we did agree that you
would pay me when we met up, which unfortunately did not happen. As
you will see on my web I normally charge £35 per adult per night and
£25 per child, so this was discounted.

(actually, it says: from £52 per night!)

Here are my bank details again just in case you have mislaid them.
XXXXX
I do wish you all the best in the future and hope you do make your
move to XXXX. There are still a few houses to rent in the village
which may well have lower rents. It is a lovely village and I am sure
you will enjoy it.

I'm puffed if I'm paying £216!
But, if I don't, will I look like a 'dodgy benefits person' after all?
And then, surely she will badmouth me around the village.
Aaargh!

"I've got some loose skin on my arse if you fancy it" would seem to be the appropriate response.

Bloody cheek . If you feel you must pay send whatever the going rate was for one night "in full and final settlement" . Her problem if she doesn't factor cleaning into her rate and believes her cleaner over you.

Jeez she has a brass fucking neck hasnt she?

OP i would send her the £52 and advise that it was full and final payment for ONE night in accordance with the price stated on her website.

Don't pay her shit. Block her from your email. Cheeky bitch.

I was a bit but I must say I am now

I would want to pay to keep 'my good name' as it were in the village-
in case I ever bloody manage to get there.

However, I was moving this week and my ESA would have transferred as a single parent. Now I am not, it wont. I have £425 less this month to live on than I did last month (I was coming to the end of my contribution based and going on to income based and now I am - temporarily - stuck under same roof as H the household income is over the threshold).

Now, that is not her fault of course, nor is it mine, it is just circumstantial, but I just don't have it to spare, if I want to move elsewhere.

I am tempted to ignore it.
Or send £100.

ps - thank you for the responses. I thought this thread was a bit 'past' now and I am grateful for the input. I feel less alone.

I wouldn't answer that at all because then she has written proof you stayed there.

Just block her.

Never mind about your 'good name'. She is not ruling the village, people can make up there own minds. She doesn't want £100, she wants £216.

Fuck her.

She ges FA. Don't even answer. You never signed a contract. She did.

I wouldn't pay her anything. Send her an invoice for the time wasted and inconvenience caused. Shes a cheeky cow. You do not need to keep in with her. She's not right.

I suppose there were emails (I think?) and certainly texts at the time re written proof. But I only chuffing stayed there to show it to the kids. They'd picked their rooms and got all excited about the prospect.

Plus this cleaner person is clearly telling LL she cleaned twice. LL was on another continent, so she doesn't know. She isn't bothered about me but wants to keep her cleaner, I suppose.

But I still think its pants, given she pulled out of a legal contract.

What a mess

Don't answer her at all! Fuck her.

IIRC she doesn't even live in the village.

I would not answer her at all.

She can whistle for it.

I doubt she is the big cheese she wants you to believe especially if she bogs off abroad for a large part of the year.

No she doesn't live there but her bestie is the village Queen bee (she's nice, but she is the queen bee :) and she is also good pals with Head and GP. Aaargh!

So what? You don't have any money and she's a brass necked bitch.

Don't answer, don't give her any money, and I'd still take her to small claims for breach of contract.

Maybe I should say 'time is of the essence' (it was July) and wait to see what she says

I think I might reply that we only stayed overnight so the children could see where they were going to be moving to. As she refused to honour our legal contract I do not consider it appropriate to be billing me.

(hard to quantify my 'costs' as the van hire place kindly didn't charge us a cancellation fee and my 'time' is free as I am currently not working).

I don't want to be shabby about it (and confirm her prejudices) but I do think it is wrong of her to repeatedly hound me for (increasing amounts of) money right after she refused to honour a contract.

Pfffff.

Just because you're not working does not make your time free to other people op. Your time is free to your family. Thats it. Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much about the queen bee. What the heck is she going to do? Although I'd be surprised if she didn't realize her friend is a knobber anyway. And if she isn't, then she's probably a knobber herself and not worth worrying about.

dancing

thanks! the knobber comment has cheered me right up.

The LL told me she has at least 2 other tenants in London.
Her London address was on the contract.
I put it into Google map.
2 bed flats go for a million squid where she lives.
She got a council flat many years ago and bought it under Thatcher.
So, she has been lucky.
Am I jealous of her £££ and good luck - hell, yes.
But does that mean I expect her to 'let me off' a night?
No. It is tough cookies for me that my life is much more straightened.
Hardly her need to compensate for that.

But it does stick in the craw that I only stayed to show the kids where they would be living and she prevented me from going ahead with that.
Now my benefits have reduced due to my (not-now- changed) circs and the money I was going to spend on winter coats and my ds birthday party she is hounding me for.

I think I will offer £100. I am not paying for the non existent cleaning and I am not paying for 2 nights when I was not there. I think £100 for one night is a lot, given I was going to rent for £595 per month.

OK.
this is what I'm going to send, I think:

As you are aware, we stayed only as a precursor to renting the property.

There was an intake day at the school and I had been planning to camp but the weather was too wet and I asked if the children could see the house and stay over, in our sleeping bags. You said that would be okay if the house was vacant anyway and you confirmed it was that day.
The beds were not made up and the house had not been used for some time. It was dusty and stale. We ate out that night. I used no water in the morning for showering (couldn't work out system) and we had our breakfast in a café after we left the next morning. I put out some recycling that was by the back door and cleared up some animal poo in the garden. I watered the plants.

In these circumstances I do not think it fair for you to ask me for £200 or £16 for your cleaner (who told me she was pre-booked anyway to clean and air the house and dress the beds with linen prior to your incoming weekend holiday guests).

I had a legal contract for a short term assured tenancy beginning 04 September which you refused to honour.

Shelter advised me that as that contract did not include any guarantor reference at all that it was legally binding.

But at the last minute you decided that I was not sufficiently 'financially sound' and would not meet to release the keys on the Tuesday as had been long agreed, and obviously there was nothing I could do about that.

In fact my benefits all came through in writing on the Monday, the day before, all of which you could have seen and I had plenty to pay the rent and utilities as I had advised you. I would hardly have moved my children into a situation that I could not pay for, on an ongoing basis.

My children have been unable to start school which has been an utter disaster for them.

Less importantly but still as a matter of time and effort I have had to alter all my benefits again, (some of which I have now lost due to the change in circumstances which I have had to change back). I have had to cancel the removal van and re arrange a number of other matters.

I have no wish to fall out with you but I will not pay £216 pounds under the circumstances.

I have struggled to remain unemotional about this and the email above may be wishy washy tosh. I don't know.

Be happy for feedback if you are still out there.

But you had to sleep in a dirty house, with sleeping bags and no water. And the website says from £56? (I think you said). She deserves no more than half of that. Well she doesn't even deserve that . Offer her £20 (she doesn't deserve it mind you) and tell her you'll be putting an honest review on trip advisor about her filthy dirty accommodation!!

Oh feck it. You've lost money over this. She has caused that. She does not bloody deserve anything. Save the money and treat your family. You have signed nothing (unlike her). I really don't think you should pay this. I think she has a bloody cheek to ask. And her bloody cheek is making me cross. Even if you pay it, she's not going to suddenly turn into a nice person who will make your transition into the village easier. She's a bad bastard who you should treat with the contempt she deserves.
There. Rant over.

Even if you pay her, that email could do with tweaked. Too late for me to suggest anything tonight I'm afraid - but it's not like there's any hurry. What can she do?

Right. Will sleep on it.
Knew email needed tweaked as I am too close to it now.
thanks pausing and would be glad of suggestions another time, if you have time, iyswim. Aaargh, off to bed, making no sense!

dancing she ain't "bad" but she is a cheeky mare I think.
I'm off to bed with a smile though - thanks.