r/TenantsInTheUK

Hi,

Would love some advice if anyone is able to please. I am currently in a flatshare with one other girl and I understand from the 01May assured short hold tenancy will no longer exist and it changes to a rolling basis. I want to move out asap and also understand I need to give two months notice, what I’m confused about is if I still need to find a replacement tenant?

I’ve heard two different things from my letting agency and they seem to keep contradicting themself. If I didn’t find a replacement tenant, is the rent all on my flatmate to pay?

I’m also confused on if there is no fixed date to leave anymore then how am I meant to leave the property if I can’t find a replacement tenant and if I don’t want to end the agreement for my flatmate as well?

I left my tenancy a month before it ended and deposited the keys because of the travel ban that was going on. My landlord got the apartment checked 3 weeks after I left it.

They are asking for £400 as stove top needs to be replaced as its not working ( was working when I left. And would take some effort to turn on when I moved in, something they themselves told me)

Is asking for a cleaning fee because there was dust, but the property was closed for 3 weeks

There is mould on the laminate flooring in the bathroom that they have stated happened when I was living in the property ( it wasn’t)

And £300 for resurfacing the shower area as they mentioned there is a stain caused by harmful chemicals used. Now there is a stain in the shower that I’ve tried getting rid of for the longest time but not able to, but never used any harsh chemicals for it.

The only problem is that I dont have any pictures of the property when I left, so I dont know if this will go in my favour if I contest it as they’ve agreed to bring the ask down to £500 now

I was looking at putting in a RRO against my landlord by the end of this month.

Currently, I have 12 months from the last offence to do so - which brings us to the end of this month.

As I understand it, from 1st of May, that time has extended to 24 months, with a greater total you can claim? Any reason not to wait until the 1st of May?

Please help, I am a bit anxious.

I am in my second month of Takeover tenancy in England. The bathroom has plumbing issues with shower and washbasin. The landlord and plumber visited twice and did some superficial stuff but it didn't solve, so they recently decided to do an inspection on last Friday, asking me suitable time in email, to which I replied saying after 5 pm. But they came in the morning and at that time my washbasin wasn't clean (because of the plumbing issues it is not being flush and I clean it once a week). He said this is not normal and took a pic.

Later I explained him the situation and cleaned it quickly, and told him I had to do this every 3-4 days as I can't do it everyday. Then later they understood the plumbing for washbasin and shower is very bad and they decided to replace the whole bathroom and said I'll be put in a hotel for a few days (as there'll be no bathroom).

My question is that those pics are useless now as they are changing the whole bathroom, right? Also as this is an issue since before I am here, they won't attempt to deduct anything from the deposit I hope? Please help me.

To add to this, I am actually considering to break the tenancy (agreement is until September 12th, but the RRA allows me to give a notice on May 12 and I can leave on July 12). I haven't told the landlord yet, but I am actually now considering to ask for an early exit saying I'd leave in a week-ish and he can later remodel the bathroom and rent it for a bit higher later, so that it sounds mutually beneficial (I guess). What do people think about the chances? Has anyone been in this situation? (Rent is 700 pcm + council tax is 100pcm).

Hi, I’m hoping for some advice as I’m feeling a bit stuck and unsure what to do next.

I recently moved out of a rental property in the UK on the 9th after living there since 2022 (managed by an estate agent). The checkout inspection was done last Tuesday, and it’s now been nearly a week since then and I’ve heard absolutely nothing from them about my deposit.

For context, the whole process leading up to this hasn’t been great. Initially I was told the property was being marketed as an investment with a tenant in situ, but I later found out this wasn’t actually the case. It felt like this was done to make it easier to carry out viewings. When I questioned it, I was then told I would be served a Section 21. There’s a whole host of other things I could mention they have done but I don’t want to make this post too long 🤦‍♀️

Throughout my tenancy I’ve been a good tenant — I’ve never missed a rent payment and I left the property in good condition when I moved out.

At the moment:

I haven’t received any breakdown of deductions

I haven’t been contacted at all since the inspection

I don’t know what’s happening with my deposit

I’m unsure if I’m supposed to contact them first or wait

I’m starting to worry they might just be waiting for me to chase or delaying things.

From what I understand, the deposit should be handled through a protection scheme, but I don’t know if I should:

Wait longer

Contact the agent directly

Go straight to the deposit scheme (TDS)

How long is normal to hear back after an inspection?

And is it better to wait or start the process myself?

Thanks in advance — just trying to handle this the right way without making things worse.

Thanks

Current PM: Advised me yesterday (Friday) that a transfer of management is in process and they will update me when they have details. That’s it.

New PM: Emailed me yesterday claiming the Landlord asked them to take over. They told me I need to move my items and “prep the rooms over the weekend and throughout the next two weeks” because they are attending from next week for repairs.

These are council works known since February with deadline in 7 days. No one made an appointment with me, so I think they assume they can just show up Monday. I feel completely gaslit being told to move my furniture for people I haven't legally been introduced to. I have would have to arrange my whole two weeks and would if they gave me enough notice so that I’m home while they work.

1. Don’t I need a formal notice of handover from my current PM or LL before I start sharing info with the supposed New PM?
2. Shouldn’t the old PM be the one to notify me of who the New PM is before being told to “prep” for them?
3. Can I tell new PM that I feel they are missing procedural steps and I don’t feel comfortable until they follow proper protocols?
4. Do I need to prep for them? I would put away valuables, but I feel like they need to do that.

My contract is set to end in May (after the 1st) and since March, our estate agent has been in contact regarding increasing the rent. The "best and final offer" has increased after we countered offered. They have now given us a deadline of midday tomorrow to agree to the new offer or they will serve notice for us to leave.
I assume the rent increase would take place in May when our contract would have expired anyway. Communication has been over the phone and email - no form etc has been given that would allow us to take it to tribunal. If we did want to take it to tribunal, would this follow to old rules if the application is made before May 1st, and do we need the correct notice form to do so?
What can we do? At the moment it's impossible to get through to shelter and I think that they could serve a section 21.

Hi all, looking for some advice on a tenancy fee that I think might fall foul of the Tenant Fees Act 2019.

My tenancy agreement includes the following:

- Clause 9: the landlord agrees to pay council tax, gas, electricity, TV licence, etc (so it’s a bills-included setup)

- Clause 14: I have to pay a £40 “contribution towards council tax” when entering the tenancy and on each renewal

I originally signed in 2025 and paid the £40 then. I’ve recently signed a new contract after a rent increase, and was told that if I didn’t sign, the rent could be increased further, so I just signed it. I’ve also just started a new job, so I didn’t really have the capacity to push back at the time.

Now I’m being asked to pay the £40 again on May 1st.

From what I understand, tenants can only be charged certain permitted payments, and this looks like a fixed fee even though the landlord is supposedly responsible for council tax.

So my question is: Is this £40 charge actually legal?

I’ve already contacted the council and am waiting to hear back, but wanted to sense check here as well.

I am in England.

Thanks in advance!

Hi-I have been living in a property for two years, paying rent always on time, and recently I had to take a job with accommodation. I explained to the landlord I was putting my stuff in storage and would like to keep the tenancy for a couple of extra months until I settled in or in case the new job fell through. When I vacated, I asked the landlord not to enter the property until I had cleaned it, to which she agreed. The day I moved out, she came to help with something and said, 'I will not be getting my deposit back until it is cleaned,' which I agreed to. Fast forward a week; she has been into the property and taken videos and is calling the place a death trap. It is not a death trap at all, and I am threatening to contact my employer unless I have it cleaned. I must give her a month's rent, and I must release my deposit for repairs to be done (there is a radiator hanging off the wall, which she knew about). I have not put my notice in, and she is threatening repossession and contacting my new employer. What rights do I have here? Any ideas how to proceed? At this point I would never go back. Any suggestions much appreciated.

There are a lot of evictions going on despite many of those landlords intending to rent the property out again to new tenants.

Well… those new tenancies would be under the Renter’s Rights Act. Those people aren’t being evicted just because s21 ends. The new legislation must be better for them than it is for the tenants. Am I wrong?

Hi guys,

Recently moved out of an apartment owned by a landlord company and had the outcome of inspection from them with claims back.

The report from TDS has no breakdown of what they’re wanting to charge for, just sections titled damages, cleaning etc.

We’ve emailed and attempted to call the company to get a breakdown of costs so we know what/how much to dispute but so far haven’t had any response. Their office hours are also within work times (9-3) so unable to attend in person.

Haven’t been through TDS before so wondering will they look down on if we dispute them all and put in £0 for all sections?

Thanks for any advice

I can’t help but wonder if this is one of the reasons there’s been a spike in s21 evictions recently. You may have protections and defences which people aren’t being vocal about.

Comment here if you’ve had this.

Just looking for some guidance regarding being rejected by estate agents for a viewing due to a pet.

I'm just getting started on finding somewhere new to rent and I'd like to understand the rules around this, especially with the upcoming rental law change in a few weeks.

Here's the story:

• Called to enquire about viewing a newly listed flat. Mentioned we have an indoor rabbit.

• Estate agent said they'd ask the landlord before booking viewing.

• Called 24 hours later to see if there was an update, estate agent said they'd not contacted the landlord but now have viewings all weekend and are likely to receive offers over the weekend (nice, good value flat in London, makes sense).

• Estate agent said as the other viewers didn't mention pets, we'd be unlikely to be chosen anyway if we viewed and bid.

• No reason was provided why pets would not be suitable, other than that the property was carpeted

So I feel that in effect, we were rejected from even viewing a property due to being honest about our pet.

I know the new rental act says landlords are able to reject pets where there is good reason, but how are we ever meant to compete to rent somewhere when the estate agent can fob us off? Surely that's against the spirit of the upcoming low.

When is best to mention pets in this instance? At the stage where we've had a bid accepted?

We felt it was best to be honest about our pet going in, but I now feel incentivised to just lie and hope for the best!

Hi everyone,

My current landlord is selling and has given us a few months to find a place in London. I am seeing mixed info about how the new tenancy laws will work.

We have had a lot of viewing for 6-12 month leases. My question is even if we sign a 12 month lease before the 1st of May will we be able to break it by giving two months notice without getting penalized? Or is there a specific clause/term I should be looking out for if we were to sign a lease before May 1st?

Any advice would be appreciated

We have been living in the same flat for over 5 years now in the South West. Last year we seriously decided to start looking for another flat, as the landlord has done nothing to the flat, has zero interest in maintaining the flat and its looking very old and dated ( and we refuse to spend our own time and money on it!). We started to look last August and Ive noticed in the past few months, rental properties are dwindling. Could this also be due to the new renter laws coming into place? Are landlords really selling properties instead of renting? I wonder what its like all across England at the moment.

A friend of mine has a clause there agreement need written agreement to keep a pet. They rescued a dog that was going be on the streets(as his owner could no longer take care of him and lived in a van so as an emergency they took the dog in. For context they had a dog before however this was much bigger breed this one isn’t. Offices are closed till Monday he’s going email his landlord tonight to make him aware and ask for permission. As was a Emerancy and was transparent about it, do u think that they would give him leeway and not evict him or anything? I don’t see landlord going court for simply taking in Emerancy animal then honestly but I wanted someone’s opinion for context there is not a no pet clause he just needed permission first. This was very sudden and wasn’t planned(England)

England rental - I suspect we'll be disputing this but wanted some help explaining why we disagree with the deductions from our in the hopes of compromising with our landlord.

There are a few things we disagree with but the two main ones are:

1. Landlord is claiming our cat damaged the curtains: firstly, the check in inventory states that most of the curtains already had snags including down to floor level. Secondly, our cat was both blind and arthritic. She'd never shredded curtains in her life and she couldn't do it in her older age even if she wanted to. Luckily, I'm a vet and can provide medical hx and statement for that. However, all that aside, at the beginning of our tenancy, our landlord increased our rent by £25 ppm for our cat. Wouldn't the nearly £900 extra we paid during the course of our tenancy cover pet damage?

2. Landlord claiming the back garden needs to be "leveled": As per most leases, we were responsible for maintaining the yard and returning it as we moved in. At move in, there was a bit of overgrown grass and bare dirt around the edges. We have pictures showing nasty weeds infiltrating those bare spaces a few days after move in. Either way, I dug up a lot of these weeds every spring and planted my own flowers and things. Before move out, I had saved all the plants that I wanted to take with and confirmed the landlord was happy to keep a few others. I don't believe I have the specifics in writing but I do have emails asking them to come round to discuss the garden. I will contend that the yard was a bit more overgrown and weedy than move in and that I tried to lay down grass seed but it didn't take. Absolutely understand if we were being charged a maintenance fee for grass cutting and weeding. However, they're trying to say the yard needs leveling. Is this something a tenant could really be responsible for? The check out report just stated that the grass was overgrown and weedy compared to check in.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

We really had no major issues with our landlord until this point. They sent an initial email with issues and a sum for deductions. We asked them to send an itemized deductions list to which they sent a long (angry) email trying to basically say we should be so lucky they're not charging us more. They also still haven't sent an itemized deductions list.

Hi. I signed a 12 month lease in July 2025 and my lease expires July 2026. I was just served a section 21 notice today. I don’t love my rental flat, I would be more upset if I did. But still, moving into a flat and getting evicted a year later is annoying cause moving sucks. but not only that - when i moved in I sent a complaint to the property manager that the floor was peeling - shifting around, not safe, and walls were cracked. it took 6 months for the landlord to agree to address this. anyway, i’m scorned - and the new law comes into play in a few weeks. I don’t want to move out in july and would like a month to month agreement (as the new law provides). but anyway i’m out of luck it seems as the notice as given to me before May 1st. however - I was wondering if there were any legal angles I could push to help my request for a short term extension? a) my lease ends after the new law kicks in b) I asked for renovation for a while and c) my eipc report in my 21 notice is ‘unsatisfactory’ from 15/07/2021

Hi everyone,

I’m dealing with a deposit dispute. My landlord is trying to keep about half of my deposit (£1150) but most of the issues were already there when I moved in and just got worse over time. There was mould in the bath sealant, the wooden bath panel was already swollen and moisture-damaged (also mentioned in the previous tenants’ check-in report 3 years ago), and the toilet lid was already cracked (mentioned in check in report). A plug is cracked as well (I have a photo from two weeks after moving in showing that plug already damaged although it’s not mentioned in the check-in report).

The mattress was also already stained and in poor condition, although I did accidentally leave a small burn mark with a hair straightener. He’s also trying to charge for professional cleaning, especially the kitchen appliances, but the check-in photos show they were already dirty. The only thing I could accept is some mould in the washing machine seal. There’s also a window divider now missing, the check-in report shows it was there, but I have a photo from my move-in day where it’s already gone, so I think it disappeared before I moved in. In the reports, they note « requires maintenance » next to these issues.

The deposit is in an insured scheme (held by the landlord but protected with TDS), and I’ve had radio silence from the letting agent for a week after asking for evidence and invoices. They also haven’t provided any quotes, just a flat amount with no breakdown. For now, the only things I’ve agreed to are a light bulb that needs replacing and some adhesive residue on the wall (but no repainting as the wall was already damaged)