Please be gentle with me! Happy to be told I'm in the wrong but kindly would be appreciated. Feeling fragile.
Advice wanted please about my private rental situation...
To summarise- marriage ended in 2020 and we sold our family home and moved kids to new schools.
I took on a 12 month rental contract last November, to give the kids some stability whilst we all adjust.
I don't like my landlords because of the way they've behaved towards me. If only I'd known the letting agent played no part in anything after finding them a tenant (me).
We have agreed me leaving early in July and I gave them 3 months written notice of this. My question is, is it reasonable for them to demand 2 months rent payments after my departure in July?
Points to note about me and this is totally honest:
- I am a police officer, so a professional tenant- trustworthy & no drama.
-I have paid my rent on time each month.
-I have treated the home with care & respect. I keep it immaculate and they know this.
-I have been polite in all communication with them. All of it is by text message and I have kept the conversation on my phone.
Points to note about them / the house:
-They are a married couple who live in the village so 'pass by' often.
-Within my first 2 weeks here, the windows began leaking condensation was on all ceilings. Mr Landlord came around without a mask, barged in to tell me it must be the way I live, very aggressively. Mrs Landlord then confessed the windows don't have any vents and it's been an ongoing issue over the years.
-Mr Landlord begins harassing me by phone to tell me a window fitter will be around to measure up at a specific time.
I explained I work shifts and juggle 3 young children, all of whom are adapting to a very different homelife. I offered alternative times but he wasn't willing to arrange it for a mutually convenient time.
-I cleaned the condensation and mould myself and said I wasn't bothered about new windows and have found a way to manage it by having them all ajar 24/7.
-A few weeks later, the 25 year old boiler stopped working. I informed them and they said a gas man would be around to look at it in the next couple of days.
-Gas man came 2 days later, identified the problem but didn't have the part required to fix it. We had no heating or water during 4 days of snow, whilst the part was ordered.
-Boiler was repaired 5 days after it breaking, causing us huge discomfort and inconvenience but I did not complain. I am low maintenance and prefer to just find a way around things and not cause trouble.
-Mr & Mrs Landlord have repeatedly found spurious reasons to get themselves in here during lockdown, yet all they've ever seen is a clean and tidy home. I asked them to just leave us be unless there is an emergency, because I like to live a private life and am paying them a lot of money to live here.
-Mr Landlord then sends a barrage of verbal abuse saying they have always been friendly with tenants and don't understand why I'm being difficult and that he wants me out of his house ASAP.
-I text back telling him that's most unpleasant and unlawful, but that I will find somewhere else to live because I don't need this upset.
-A week later he asks whether I have found somewhere yet as he wants his house back. I say no but perhaps I could buy it from him (they had mentioned me being their last tenant before selling up). He says yes, gets it valued and I explore a mortgage possibility.
-I couldn't borrow enough, so a few weeks later, let him know that buying isn't an option for me but I do now have somewhere else to go, so will be gone in July.
-Mr Landlord by text message and Mrs Landlord by email (they both come at me separately by various means of communication) to say if I'm leaving in July, they want rent paid until September.
-I begin to fear they are totally unscrupulous landlords, out to grab every penny and wonder where my deposit was secured. I phone the letting agent and they remind me they don't 'manage' this property but confirmed my deposit has not been protected and to seek legal advice.
-I text Mr Landlord to check my deposit really hasn't been placed in a protected scheme at any point between November and now. It hasn't but suddenly, it was that day.
Should I pay 2 months rent on my exit or would you argue the case not to?
Sorry for the waffle and TIA.