Student daughter's landlord threatening to make them leave before the end of their contract

[paslamer]

My student daughter shares a house with 7 other students. The rent is £480 each a month and they have each paid £500 deposit. Their signed contract runs until the 5th July, and they are all moving together to another house. My partner and I have acted as guarantors for the rent, as have the parents of the other students.
Today, the landlord has told them that they must move out on the 30th of June and if they refuse they won't get their deposits back. This would leave them homeless and with nowhere to store their belongings for the 5 days. I have already booked time off to help her move on the 5th, and I have to book leave far in advance. (My daughter is 5 hours drive away from us).
I'm just wondering what recourse they may have against the landlord. To me, it seems they will be out of pocket either way, either by losing the deposit, or by having to pay for extra accommodation and storage.
Can a landlord legally do this? And if not, what action should be taken? They have always paid the rent on time, and as far as I have seen have been good tenants.

Legally, no they can't do this.

In practice...

Has the LL put this request to vacate early in writing?

You need to make sure, straight away thst the deposits are legally held in a separate scheme.
What the LL is suggesting is illegal.

I have got experience of small claims court, and from what I understand they would win a case against the landlord if it came to it, but obviously we want to avoid the hassle of that if at all possible.

No, it's not allowed. He can ask, just like tenants can ask if they can pay part of a month's rent and leave later if their next place isn't available yet, but everyone can still say no. He's bound by the contract and the only way he can get them to leave earlier because it's convenient for him is by getting their agreement. It's not something he could withhold a deposit for legally. If he wanted to withhold the deposit, they would contest it and the tribunal would make him return it.

If the deposit is held in a proper (legal) scheme, I'm not sure how he could make them leave early? Presumably they'll have paid their rent until then, they have a contract until then. He can't evict them for that. When they do vacate, the apply to the DPS to get back their deposit.

Olennas no he hasn't put it in writing or even an email.

I would be tempted to email him as if he hadn't said anything about leaving early, along the lines of

"Dear LL, just to confirm arrangements for the end of tenancy at 123 Accacia Avenue.

I intend to get to the house by 10am on the last day of the tenancy, 5th July. I will help DD to pack her belongings and ensure that her room and share of the common areas are clean and tidy before we depart. I understand that the other tenants' parents are making similar arrangements.

Will you be there on that day to do a walk-through of the property and collect keys? Can you also remind me which scheme you have been using for the deposit?

Regards paslamer "

Ie send a warning shot that he can't simply bully a group of students into leaving early

I also believe there are substantial penalties to the LL if he hasn't lodged the deposit with one of the (3?) official schemes .

The deposit scheme is exactly to stop this type of behaviour.

My daughter has emailed him asking for confirmation that the deposit is protected, but a quick search online suggests it may not be. I'm poised to start legal action immediately if that's the case!

If it’s not protected he is in breach of the law. Consider withholding the last month’s rent in that case. It will take him longer than a month to instigate eviction proceedings. I think a tenant has to be in a minimum of 2 months arrears anyway. That way £480 of the £500 deposit is preserved.

Your dd should have been informed at the beginning of the tenancy which scheme the deposit is in.

Here is info from Shelter about how to check if the deposit is protected and what to do if it is not england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/tenancy_deposits/check_if_your_tenancy_deposit_is_protected

Faithfrank thank you for that link. The landlord seems to be fobbing them
off. He's refusing to tell them which DPS scheme the deposit is lodged with.

My understanding - usual not a lawyer disclaimer - is that he cannot ask them to leave if he hasn't given them the correct documentation for the deposit. It renders a s.21 notice invalid. They can claim three times the value of the deposit from him through a solicitor - there are lots of no win no fee lawyers out there who specialise in this.

Is there gas in the property and have they a gas safety certificate which is up to date?

They should have been given a certificate when they first moved in. If your daughters uni has a students union advice centre, her and her friends need to make an appointment ASAP. If this landlord is recommended or promoted by the uni they need to be blacklisted.

Awesome. You can all make a killing at the small claims court then! Its an incredibly easy and cheap process.

I’d take him to small claims court then. There are plenty landlords who rent to students because they feel they can ride roughshod over their legal rights as they are in a more vulnerable position.

For what its worth, at this point I’d be minded to say nothing, then a week before the landlord is expecting them to move, I’d request the s21 notice and put in a claim for the unprotected deposit.

I’d be prepared to drop over at a moments notice ( or have at least one parent who is bolshy that can) if the landlord turns up expecting them to vacate.

Thank you all for your advice. I'm going to email the landlord myself and try and get some answers. If I find he's acted illegally he'll be hit with the full force of a grumpy, menopausal guarantor who already knows her way round the small claims court!

Not the same scenario, but I've just had a fight with a landlord over a deposit. If he hasn't put the deposit in a scheme, you can sue him for 3x the deposit.

Yup, gas safety cert, plus deposit in scheme and all of the legally required documents. Have a look at MSE House Buying &Renting forum, loads of similar cases.

There are plenty landlords who rent to students because they feel they can ride roughshod over their legal rights as they are in a more vulnerable position.

I don’t actually understand this – surely in this age of parents often being guarantors, the landlords/agencies must realise that a lot of parents will be clued up, even if the students aren’t!

My DS (on a year in industry after 2 yrs at uni) and his housemates have just, in mid-Jan, got the final part of last years deposit back, after taking it all the way through arbitration, with no evidence provided by landlord!

They tried to claim for marks and scuffs (despite builders being in house as my DS left!) and new mattresses due to state of their underside (about the only part of the house that the students didn’t have photos of – they did photograph top of mattresses).

Fortunately, we are pretty clued up, as were some of his housemates and parents, so they took it all the way to the wire and got a full refund.

Hope you get it sorted Op, make sure you mention that it is illegal not to protect the deposit in your email!

Hopefully these awful landlords will lose every time they make a false claim/try to keep deposit.

A fixed term tenancy is just that. It can't be ended early unless there is a break clause in the agreement. The Landlord can serve a notice to expire are the end of the fixed term (now called form 6a).

The deposit should have been protected in an approved scheme within 30 days, together with details of where the deposit is protected. The Landlord should also have served a copy of the government's How to Rent guide, the EPC and the gaa safety certificate. If any of theseare missing there is a defence to a claim for possession.

If the deposit wasn't protected, you can bring a claim for the return of the deposit plus up to 3x the value of the deposit.

You have to decide whether to confront the landlord now or keep your powder dry and use the failings as a defence and counterclaim to possession proceedings.

Sophiesdog11 A lot od parents won't have a clue, because they've never rented themselves. I only got myself clued up when I started renting just over two years ago.