Help (fairly urgent) over renting/deposits/notice etc...........

[FAQinglovely]

OK - situation.

DH moved into his current place in December, they wrote up an agreement (he and the landlord) for him to stay there a year. Wasn't a "proper" tenancy agreement, but was written down and signed by both of them. There's nothing in the agreement about how much notice he has to give if he's going to move out, although he (DH) did suggest 2 weeks.

Anyhow, just over a week ago he informed the Landlord that he almost certainly wouldn't be able to pay the rent at the end of this month (as was fired - he's appealed on unfair dismissal grounds) and told him that he'd be moving out at the end of the month.

Now the landlord has turned funny on him. Saying that he wants DH out (basically "now") claiming he's been "acting funny" (WTF?) and that he doesn't have his deposit money so he won't be getting it back.

Landlord his trying to sell the house (rather than rent it out again) and has told DH he "talked the house down" to a prospective buyer at the end of last week.

He's also been demanding access to the house at very short notice. (although DH has been very compliant with letting the estate agent in with viewers at short notice - abandoned me last week after just an hour or so because he had a phone call from the estate agent ).

OK - so basically 3 questions. Without a "proper" tenancy agreement (but a rental agreement that is written down and signed)

1. Can the Landlord just tell him to get out

1. Can the Landlord withhold the deposit (bearing in mind that he's going to be missing the rent payment at the end of the month)

1. How much notice does a Landlord have to give if he wants to access the property for anything other than emergency reasons??

All from here:

He has broken the law if he hasn't put the deposit in a protection scheme. "From April 6 2007 deposits paid at the start of an assured shorthold tenancy will need to be protected by the landlord; this may be done in one of two ways:
? the landlord may use an insurance based scheme under which he or she will retain the deposit as before but in consideration of this will pay a fee to the scheme provider. The fee will in part act as a premium to cover the cost of any failure on the landlord's part to return a deposit to which a tenant is entitled

? the landlord may participate in a custodial scheme under which he or she pays the deposit to the custodial scheme provider who safeguards the deposit in a designated bank account. This scheme is free for landlords.
Failure to protect a deposit has serious consequences for the landlord. Firstly he or she will be unable to gain possession using Section 21 (Notice Only) of the 1988 Housing Act and, secondly; the landlord can be fined up to three times the amount of the deposit if he or she fails to protect the deposit within 14 days of having received it.
"

"Access
The landlord, or landlord?s agent, has the legal right to enter the property at reasonable times of day to carry out the repairs for which he or she is responsible and to inspect the condition and state of repair of the property. 24 hours? written notice of an inspection must be given. You should ask the landlord to set out in the tenancy agreement the arrangements for access and procedures for getting repairs done.
"

"When a shorthold tenancy comes to the end of the fixed term, the landlord can end the tenancy but must have given 2 months? notice that he or she requires possession (see sections 6.1 to 6.5)."

"5.6 Can I leave during the tenancy?
If you have a fixed term tenancy but want to move out before the end of the term, you can only do so if the landlord agrees you can leave early or if this is allowed for by a ?break clause? in the tenancy agreement and you have followed any requirements for giving notice specified in the tenancy agreement. If the agreement does not allow you to leave early and the landlord does not agree that you can break the agreement, you will be contractually obliged to pay the rent for the entire length of the fixed term. However, this does not mean that the landlord should necessarily be able to claim for the whole term?s rent if you leave early: there is also a responsibility on the landlord in this situation to try to cover his or her losses in other ways, notably by trying to re-let the accommodation.
If the tenancy has no fixed term, you must give the landlord reasonable notice in writing of your intention to leave. You must give at least 4 weeks? notice if you pay rent on a weekly basis and at least a month?s notice if you pay rent on a monthly basis. See the Department?s booklet Notice That You Must Leave.
"

"6.8 What are the grounds for possession?
The reasons or ?grounds? for possession cover, for example, cases where you have not paid the rent, or have broken another term of the tenancy agreement. Some are mandatory which means that if the landlord can prove that the ground applies, the court must grant him or her a possession order. The others are discretionary which means the court will only grant the landlord a possession order if it thinks it reasonable to do so, based on all the facts of the case.
"

thanks - so according to that the only thing that he's not doing wrong (as we're pretty sure he's not protected the deposit - though no proof?) is the ending the tenancy thing. Although there's nothing in the agreement that says a month, and they did verbally agree 2 weeks notice.

argh it's a bloody nightmare, of course he's "acting funny" the last few weeks - he's just been fired - I think most people that have just been fired act a little oddly

If your dh ends his tenancy early wouldn't his landlord be entitled to keep deposit?Or ask for rent to cover the rest of the year.