Judge asking for specific breach contract.

[Lotuseaters]

Hello and thank you in advance for any help. I temporarily left my rental accommodation during the covid lockdown last April. I still paid full rent and the landlord was aware it was temporary.
Without my knowledge or consent, the landlord moved builders in and did major work on the property.

A lot of my belongings were taken and never recovered. The landlord has refused to replace or compensate me and I have issued a claim in the county court. Could anyone please help me with the specifics of this. I will include a screenshot with details redacted.

I think the request for amendment is trying to direct you to make a claim for breach of contract against your landlord - because your landlord breached your tenancy agreement and that breach caused you a loss.
There will be clauses in the tenancy agreement granting you a right of quiet enjoyment and stipulating the procedure for your landlord needs to follow for entry to your property. These were breached when he let people in and the loss suffered was the theft of your items totally £X value.

I'm unsure what the relevance of the other statutes are and why they are important to you but I think it may give you a better chance if you try to follow the request to make your claim about a breach of contract.

Thanks @Collaborate

I’m unsure what the relevance of the other statutes are and why they are important to you but I think it may give you a better chance if you try to follow the request to make your claim about a breach of contract

It’s not important to me at all but the judge has requested I specify exactly what part of the contract has been breached in addition to my original form which said that the contract had been breached.

So I read it as him wanting the exact statute.

OP, @herethereandeverywhere is correct. The judge is requesting that you specify which clause(s) of the contract were breached. The contract is your tenancy agreement, not a random law/statute.

U.K. tenancy agreements are required by law to have a clause which requires that the landlord get written permission from the tenant in order to enter the property for any reason other than an emergency. A renovation is not an emergency. Your landlord was in breach of contract (your tenancy agreement) by not following this part of your tenancy agreement. Just quote the paragraph with its number and the page of your tenancy agreement which states this written permission requirement.

You can prove that the landlords failure to request your written permission to access the property meant you could not secure your belongings, making them more susceptible to theft. Hence the landlord could be held (partially) responsible for the loss/theft.

However...you may still lose unless you can prove that your belongings had not been stolen prior to the builders arrival and disappeared during their presence in the property. By abandoning your possessions you did take on risk of a robbery while the property was vacant the same risk that any person takes when say going on holiday... So you may still lose. In which case it is a matter for your insurance company if you have tenants contents insurance against such an occurrence.

Here is a link. The Tenancy Agreement is key because some do include rights of access for the landlord which you may have pre-emptively agreed to by signing the tenancy agreement. You need to show specifically from your tenancy agreement where the breach of contract applies.
www.nrla.org.uk/resources/managing-your-tenancy/accessing-the-property-during-a-tenancy

@PlanDeRaccordement

OP, *@herethereandeverywhere* is correct. The judge is requesting that you specify which clause(s) of the contract were breached. The contract is your tenancy agreement, not a random law/statute.

U.K. tenancy agreements are required by law to have a clause which requires that the landlord get written permission from the tenant in order to enter the property for any reason other than an emergency. A renovation is not an emergency. Your landlord was in breach of contract (your tenancy agreement) by not following this part of your tenancy agreement. Just quote the paragraph with its number and the page of your tenancy agreement which states this written permission requirement.

You can prove that the landlords failure to request your written permission to access the property meant you could not secure your belongings, making them more susceptible to theft. Hence the landlord could be held (partially) responsible for the loss/theft.

However...you may still lose unless you can prove that your belongings had not been stolen prior to the builders arrival and disappeared during their presence in the property. By abandoning your possessions you did take on risk of a robbery while the property was vacant the same risk that any person takes when say going on holiday... So you may still lose. In which case it is a matter for your insurance company if you have tenants contents insurance against such an occurrence.

Thank you, that’s clear to me now. I took a video when I arrived back after the neighbour alerted me which shows that the builders accessed the house and moved my possessions. The landlords have a previous conviction for harassment to tenants too. I reported to the police and there was no forced entry.

That should go in your favour....sorry you have had this. I had a bad landlord while living in UK too so I know how stressful and how invaded/violated you must feel.

I mentioned contents insurance because even if you lose case against landlord, you should still be able to get payment covering your losses from the insurance company. In the end, you won’t lose out. :) it’s win in court, or win with insurance claim.

@PlanDeRaccordement

That should go in your favour....sorry you have had this. I had a bad landlord while living in UK too so I know how stressful and how invaded/violated you must feel.

I mentioned contents insurance because even if you lose case against landlord, you should still be able to get payment covering your losses from the insurance company. In the end, you won’t lose out. :) it’s win in court, or win with insurance claim.

Sorry to keep asking questions, but it’s ok to include this in the bundle is it? Evidence of the previous conviction?

I would not include evidence of prior conviction. The court/judge will know already because they’ll have reviewed yours and the landlords records. It’s not relevant- it isn’t evidence supporting your current breach of contract case, nor was the prior conviction one in which you were the victim so it’s not evidence of a malicious campaign targeting you.

Bringing it up could make you look prejudiced against someone who has had a prior conviction and thus less reliable in your version of events. I’d just focus on the facts of your case and not mention past cases that had nothing to do with you or your contract (tenancy agreement).