Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

End of tenancy / deposits etc

33 replies

kirinm · 17/12/2025 12:49

What is the usual process in getting deposits back. Google suggests it’s 10 days from agreeing any deductions but our landlord hasn’t even tried to speak to us since we moved out. Is there a timeframe in which a landlord is meant to engage with this sort of conversation?

Our landlord is not your usual landlord (it was an air BnB let on a slightly longer term basis than usual) so I expect he knows as little about the process as I do!

OP posts:
housethatbuiltme · 18/12/2025 12:55

Wot23 · 18/12/2025 11:57

then don't mention bills

You did misunderstand and spoke on something you had no reference to with a matter of certain fact as if OP was an idiot. Apologizing is usually a better approach then attacking when you where wrong.

OP clearly said (to the whole thread) 'IF you remember the other thread about the bills' which most of us do and which is a completely separate statement to the deposit issue hence it being separated. The its its not her fault you didn't read/'remember' the other thread that gave the context and just jumped to assumptions that she doesn't understand her own situation.

She can mention bills or previous threads all she wants, its relevant to her ongoing landlord issues.

kirinm · 18/12/2025 16:18

🙄 just found out the LL has been paying Council tax and water despite the fact both of those are in our name and we’ve paid them.

OP posts:
Twasasurprise · 18/12/2025 17:28

kirinm · 18/12/2025 16:18

🙄 just found out the LL has been paying Council tax and water despite the fact both of those are in our name and we’ve paid them.

How did you find out?

Wot23 · 19/12/2025 01:22

kirinm · 18/12/2025 16:18

🙄 just found out the LL has been paying Council tax and water despite the fact both of those are in our name and we’ve paid them.

without having read your other thread... lets try and focus on the facts and legal position and provide you with help, not score points on who is being rude to whom.

you moved into a property on a rental basis. Did you have a written tenancy agreement, was it an assured shorthold tenancy (AST)???
Please clarify what you mean by airbnb that wasn't???

your legal status seems ambiguous because airbnb expressly states deposits cannot be taken, whereas if you had a valid tenancy then it is an offence not to protect a deposit if one is taken.

You have moved out. Did you do so at the end of a fixed period or have you served written notice on the LL in accordance with the notice period specified in your tenancy agreement? Have you legally ended the tenancy in a manner that would stand up in court?

it appears you transferred some but not all utility bills into your name. In respect of council tax, as occupant, you, and you alone, have the legal liability to pay it. If the LL has also paid, then the council has a legal duty to refund the LL as they have zero legal liability to pay it. You cannot claim a CT refund as it was you who had to pay it - called the "hierarchy of liability"

Your wording implies that there may be utility bills that were never put in your name. That then becomes a rental contract dispute between you and the LL. It is up to the LL to prove that the tenancy agreement made you legally responsible for any utility usage. If the rental agreement was silent on the matter because they failed to educate themselves on how to be a LL, then they cannot now claim it against your deposit as the LL did not make you liable in the first place when they let the property.
LL could potentially make a separate small claims court case against you on the basis you were the occupant who used what is on the bill. But it would be up to a court to decide based on the evidence submitted. Perfectly possible to assume a tenant to be on an "all bills included in the rent" basis if the agreement is silent on that exact matter, even with an AST in place (but not council tax).

if both you and the LL have paid utility bills then that duplication is a matter to be resolved between the two parties. There is no legal hierarchy that determines who must pay for usage and the utility company does not care who paid the bill as long as it was paid. Write to the respective utility companies and ask them to confirm what bills were issued, to whom, for what periods, and who paid them. It is up to them to decide who to refund if there was a genuine duplication, but as you were the occupant responsible for consumption then logically it will not be you who gets a refund.

Re the deposit, you mention that the agency has confirmed it holds your deposit. In which case make a claim through the scheme. Stop worrying about what the LL is or is not doing. It is the job of the scheme to contact the LL, not you. If the LL submits a claim then you have the opportunity to comment on it. pay attention to updates on the scheme records. Stop worrying over what the LL may or may not be collating, wait until you have an actual claim to dispute. But in the meantime initiate a claim of your own to get things moving.

bottom line is what outcome do you want?

  • return of deposit in full and move on with life? Make a claim via the scheme
  • moral acceptance there are bills you need to pay, but cannot pay until an amount is asked for? Let the deposit protection scheme chase the LL and then you accept or not based on the evidence provided - you have your own meter readings after all.
kirinm · 19/12/2025 09:32

Twasasurprise · 18/12/2025 17:28

How did you find out?

He’s finally started to talk about bills although still hasn’t given any figures (he’s dealing with my partner). I suspect my request for the return of my deposit has prompted him. I’ve no idea why he would pay council tax for nearly a year and not think to either ask us to pay or check that we weren’t also paying.

He has also said the standing order for the energy bill is very high so doesn’t know what to charge us - apparently they take it on an estimate basis - but again, despite asking what the amount of money is he still hadn’t said. It is unbelievably frustrating.

OP posts:
Wot23 · 20/12/2025 12:37

housethatbuiltme · 18/12/2025 12:55

You did misunderstand and spoke on something you had no reference to with a matter of certain fact as if OP was an idiot. Apologizing is usually a better approach then attacking when you where wrong.

OP clearly said (to the whole thread) 'IF you remember the other thread about the bills' which most of us do and which is a completely separate statement to the deposit issue hence it being separated. The its its not her fault you didn't read/'remember' the other thread that gave the context and just jumped to assumptions that she doesn't understand her own situation.

She can mention bills or previous threads all she wants, its relevant to her ongoing landlord issues.

congratulations, OP is now ignoring me so I hope you can actually provide the help they are looking for as so far this thread has conflated issues and answered little

kirinm · 23/12/2025 08:35

Update. Deposit back in full. Still no info re bills 🙄

OP posts:
Twasasurprise · 23/12/2025 11:19

Great!

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread