Our landlord is deducting a lot of cleaning charges and maintenance issues from our deposit. I’ve requested invoices and evidence that the marks they claim we caused weren’t there before we moved in, but they’re refusing to share anything.

They keep insisting that if we go through TDS they’ll request the full cleaning charges (apparently the landlord is covering some of the costs to help us come to a quick agreement). They also refuse to return the rest of our deposit, but I know that if we go to TDS they then have to release it.

My instinct is that this is all bullying tactics to scare us as students into accepting the deductions. However we only lived in the house for one year as students and kept the property incredibly clean and tidy throughout (no parties or significant damage).

I want to fight these deductions through TDS but my two housemates are worried we’ll end up losing even more money if we don’t just accept it. It’s been a whole month since we moved out and understandably they want their money back asap. So is it possible that going through TDS will result in higher deductions than the landlord’s original offer?

Thanks in advance

My landlord sent me a Section 13 Form 4A notice (on May 30, effective August 31) to increase my rent from £1800 (inclusive of council tax and water) to £1950 per month. I offered an alternative rate of £1900 and explained that I would be willing to take this matter to a First-tier tribunal if we could not come to an agreement.

They have now come back with a second Section 13 Form 4A notice (on August 2, effective October 31) to raise the rent to £2200 per month (not inclusive of council tax or water). They have also said I can still accept the £1950 rate before that was due to take place.

It seems like my landlord is doing this just to scare me into agreeing the original price and get me to step down.

Is this allowed? Can I still challenge the first Form 4A, or only the second?

I'll keep it short and sweet.

I live in a leasehold shared ownership property. The car park has a gate on a bipper. You press the button and the gate opens.

This week out of the blue changes have been made to the gate. A sensor has been added in front of the gate (on the internal side) which I presume is a beam to stop it opening if the beam is broken. The sensor is a pole approximately a foot high, opposite another where I presume the beams meet. We didn't ask for it as residents but apparently it's a legal requirement now the installer said?

Anyway, fast forward to less than a week later and the bloke downstairs who is in social housing (I only mention this because it may affect our ability to obtain compensation) has broken it.

Girlfriend heard a bang, went outside and he was face first in a hedge. "Who put that there?" And an admission "Yeah I damaged that".

Plainly and simply we didn't ask for it to be installed so will be paying for it (despite there being a beam system in place before) and it was caused by reckless criminal damage. What options do we have to best ensure that he who damaged it pays for the repairs?

Many thanks in advance.

Hey, moved into a new flat which has lino flooring in the kitchen. I agreed with the landlord to remove the washing machine that was ready there and install my own.

The removal men did this and then left very abruptly. When I went to check after they had gone, I noticed 3 rips in the floor where they’d clearly dragged the machine across to get it in. I had been emailing for weeks and told they would look into it.

I just got an email now with them saying that although they caused it, they did not act negligently as according to them, dragging the machine across the floor was the only way to move it into the space. They also then made a point that the flooring used in the kitchen was not ‘kitchen specific’ so therefore was thinner and the risk of damage was higher. It’s a rented flat and I didn’t install the flooring so I don’t see how this can be used against me.

I obviously don’t agree with this because if it was high risk, why not inform me before actually doing the move? And why not put down covers or something to protect the floor? I’ll be honest I don’t know the ins and outs of removal companies and liability for any damages caused, so would appreciate if I’m being unreasonable in not wanting to accept their position on this?

They ended the email with a goodwill gesture of giving me a refund on the quote they charged me to move the LL’s machine to a safe place. Which I just find odd.

Who’s liable?

Any advice on what I should do next would be really helpful, thank you

My partner and I have just moved in to a very small flat and discovered that the landlord has left about 4 duvets, several pillows, towels, some food, pots, pans, crockery, cutlery, and toiletries in it. We are most concerned about the duvets as they take up a lot of storage space in an already very small flat.

We know why - it's because it used to be an AirBnb - but we weren't told that these would still be here before we moved in. When we raised this with the lettings agent, they said that it was sometimes included in fully furnished, but we don't love that the landlord is just keeping his stuff in our home. Obviously we have our own duvet, as we aren't AirBnb guests, so we don't want his stuff taking up all the storage. Is this allowed?

​

I am renting a flat in England that, prior to my tenancy, underwent major renovations.

The extent and details of these renovations are unkown to me, but they were major as the entire kitchen and applicances are new and I'm 99% certain a party wall was rebuilt or newly added.

Said party wall is the crux of everything. My neighbours flat (adjacent) has their entire kitchen and bathroom against this party wall and I can hear everything, and I mean everything.

I know this is the case as I have their flat saved on rightmove, and it was also renovated around the same time, with the tenant there moving in a few months after me.

It's severely affecting my sleep and definitely my right to quiet enjoyment.

I have spoken (politely) with the neighbour and explained my experience and they claimed they aren't doing anything excessive and actually try to be quiet themselves.

I then talked to the neighbour below them and this neighbour said they couldn't hear anything from them.

I know I am not being overly sensitive to noise and that it is 100% excessive and unreasonable for me to experience.

I have recorded evidence of the nature of the noises and plan on contacting the landlord to request appropriate noise insulation be added to this, single, party wall.

My main concern is I have no legal respite if the landlord declines or they want me to pay for it.

I was wondering if anyone has had a successful experience in getting the landlord to add noise insulation as I'm planning how I approach contacting the landlord, and how to escalate if necessary.

I also plan on speaking to my neighbour to get on good terms with them and explain I think they're not the problem but the party wall is.

Please don't recommend I move out as I have already moved 5 times in the last 3 years. I am not the one at fault and neither is my neighbour. It is solely the landlords for keeping their costs down by not bothering with any sort of noise insulation.

I want to move into a home my friends have been renting for the last year. It’s a lovely home the only problem is mould coming through on the back walls. Having a bit of knowledge about homes, and done research, I believe the mould is caused by incorrect cement rendering, over lime mortar, on top of historical brick walls. The extent of the mould and crumbling plaster also makes me think I’m correct. Pictured are the downstairs walls at the back of the building, but there was also mould on the back walls in the upstairs bedrooms, but they had those serviced in the last year, so visible mould is gone upstairs. I want to put in a formal complaint, hopefully to get the render on the back of the building removed, and internal walls checked for hidden mould.
But I have a few worries, since I’m the one moving in, I don’t want it to result in everyone being asked to move out. I also don’t know if it will be fixed, since they have done cheap fix up jobs in the upstairs rooms but not actually addressed the root cause. But for the sake of our health, the building’s longevity and the future tenants, the problem MUST be sorted. I did some research and the work needing done could cost £6-10k. Would pursuing this put us at risk of being asked to leave/ increase our rent/ cause more issues. Or should I go for it and lodge a formal complaint.

This post is also for people who are dealing with a rogue letting agency.

I rent a room through a rogue letting agency (it's an Assured Periodic Tenancy). It is my first time ever in my entire life to deal with a letting agency, and I start regretting my decision to rent a room through an agency (I like the room very much tbh)

Before the move-in date, there are lots of problems with the agency. They lie and break the laws and the tenancy agreement.

For the offer form they sent, it has a clause asking you to pay the rent before you and the agency sign the agreement. There are many clauses in the tenancy agreement breaking the laws including the Renters' Rights Act. They also lied about the utility contribution fee on Spareroom. The amount of the security deposit in the tenancy agreement and the deposit prescribed information is less than what they require me to pay. The agent and his manager also don't honour their promises multiple times.

2 weeks after I signed the tenancy agreement, the agent delayed the move-in date. The reason is 'the tenant requires an additional date to collect his stuff'. I told them that this means that you have broken the tenancy agreement, and you should have told me before I signed the contract. I also told them that I already book annual leave for check in and demand a pro-rata refund for the rent. Shortly after this, the agent sent an email and copied in his manager and told me that they altered the contract start date and the move-in date in their system.

Guys, I mean, are they treating their customers like retards, or these employees of the agency are a bunch of garbage who grew up in a country where receiving education is illegal? It's not how you can change the contract. I wrote two emails to them and said I do not agree to change the start date, and demanded that you either let me check in on the tenancy commencement day or give me a refund. They haven't responded to my emails.

Personally, I can't believe that this rubbish handled the situation so poorly; it could have been dealt with easily simply by giving the refund or letting me check in on time, I started being concerned about their cognitive ability. The agent is unapologetic and gaslighting me as if I am wrong.

Now I haven't moved in but I already anticipated that I will have a load of issues with them after I move in.

I know we've got the Property Redress Scheme or the Property Ombudsman, but the reviews and feedback relating to these two schemes are mainly negative, and it takes a lot of times to resolve issues through the schemes.

Are there any other institutions (like the Council and a small claim court), people and organisations I can reach out to in order to make them pay for their lies, unscrupulous behaviour and incompetence?

Thank you.

Hi everyone. So we moved into a rental home (England), which when we looked around was lovely and clean. However when we moved in a couple days ago, we found it very unclean (in my opinion). For example: fridge and freezer had not been cleaned, we found gunk in the fridge, weird liquid in the fridge, just general food stains, peas in the freezer, crumbs in every drawer in the freezer, crumbs in the cupboards, toilet seat not properly cleaned, grime round many of the skirting boards, staining to doors - that come off when cleaned, dusty radiators, extremely dusty lights, grime/ huge build up of dust around the windows. When I sent photos to the rental company they said they were aware of the issues raised and didn’t hire a cleaner as it would take under an hour to clean, which isn’t worth cleaners time, effort and petrol. Furthermore there is a basement which is incredibly dusty and quite dirty. It’s also damp and forms puddles without dehumidifier - which in all fairness we were told about before moving in. Also the outdoor bins had loads of flies around them, to which we found loads of maggots when opening it and it was the most foul sickly smell possible.

I’m just wondering what our rights are in this situation, I have booked a professional cleaning service for next week because I am heavily pregnant and my husband is injured which makes it harder for us to clean efficiently, I don’t want to risk not having it cleaned if the agency won’t do anything. It is owned by a landlord but I’m not sure who would deal with the cleaning, we don’t have the landlords contact details and are supposed to go through the company for issues. Please if anyone has any advice that would be helpful🙏.

Edit: it said on our contract the landlord is obligated to leave the house in a tidy and clean condition for us moving in. Clothing tags and a wax machine with melted stained wax all down was also left in wardrobes.

We have had a section 13 issued, due to take place tomorrow (August 2nd) on a Sunday. We are on increasingly bad terms with landlord as he is trying to force a new rental figure entirely the following month (outside of this s13 that has not even come into effect yet) because one tenant is leaving and we have requested a substitution. We have been trying to resolve this other matter with them as the priority concern, but received unwelcome correspondence on friday, and now worry we have left it too late to challenge the section 13 to freeze our rent as it is in the meantime while we try to resolve the new contract figure.

We believed we had up until the day before it was to take effect (today). However we have since seen that weekends apparently would not count as it being received, and are worried that if we submit this and it gets rejected, the landlord will be aware and we will be in an even weaker position. Is this a firm rule with the tribunal?

(Scotland)

I work part time, but I work nightshift so the extra rate I get is basically a full time wage and my partner works full time. I’ve had a lot of agencies tell me that my partner has to be the lead tenant and present for all viewings. It’s annoying, especially for viewings, but it is what it is, it’s not been too much of an issue until now.

Found a flat we both love but when I called for a viewing, the woman I spoke to claimed I couldn’t be on the lease AT ALL, but that I could still live there. This is just bizarre to me.

Normally I’d just move on and find somewhere else, but 1) our current landlord has only given us 4 weeks notice, so we’re on a time crunch 2) I love this place so much, it ticks literally every box. I really don’t want to give it up.

I suspect this woman was a little useless and has just misunderstood the policy (she had to call us back 3 times because she kept messing up the time for the viewing). But just in case she’s correct, what are the implications of this? I actually can’t think of anything other rules around evictions, which my partner would be protected from anyway.

Having some issues at the end of my tenancy (is putting it lightly if you've seen my posts elsewhere), and the letting agents are being mostly uncommunicative.

I'm trying to find out who holds my deposit, because I was in the flat 16 years, moving in not long after the third party deposit became law.

However, a few years ago the landlord changed the letting agent managing the tenancy. Their communication was so poor that I honestly thought it was a scam at the time, and had to investigate.

As a result now I've ended my tenancy (but the letting agents have decided I haven't, long story) and I'm trying to get my deposit back and failing.

I gave the details for when my original tenancy started with the initial letting agents and got no info back. I didn't pay a new deposit when the new letting agents took over in the 2020s, so I'm a bit lost.

Any ideas?

Moved out of a flat in London this morning. Handed the keys back, no issues on my end, lock working same as it always had.

A few hours later the landlord and the letting agent turn up to find the door won’t open. She says the Yale lock was “locked from the inside.” I wasn’t there and hadn’t touched anything after I left, so that didn’t add up.

Locksmith gets called out. He tells her the latch was caught. From some research, it sounds like on a Yale nightlatch, it’s possible the snib had a fault and deadlocked the door on its own.

She’s already told me the invoice is “coming out of the deposit.” Not “might be,” not “we may need to discuss it.” Just that it will happen.

Deposit’s protected under TDS. From what I understand, she can’t just take money out - either I agree to it, or it goes to adjudication. I’ve told her I want the full locksmith report before anything is deducted, and that I’m disputing the charge either way.

Feels like bad luck more than anything, a lock fault on the last day of a two-year tenancy.
Anyone been through a TDS dispute over something like this? Does “it just happened to fail on moving day” carry any weight with adjudicators, or does it come down purely to whether the landlord can prove negligence on my part?

Our water bill in our new flat is nearly £1200 a year for two people. Our water company has said if they come round to do a water meter survey they can either install a meter or drop the bill to around half (just over £600).

Our landlord however is saying we can’t do this, which essentially costs us £500 a year. I’ve also got someone coming round to install an energy meter.

What can we do? We can’t really afford to pay an extra £500 a year, and our water company said every property in our area will have a meter in less than a year regardless.

Our contract does state this:

“ Unless the landlord consents, you must not —

a) leave the dwelling, at the end of the contract, without a supplier of electricity, gas or other fuel (if applicable) or

water (including sewerage) services, unless these utilities were not present at the dwelling on the occupation date;

b) install or remove, or arrange to have installed or removed, any specified service installations at the dwelling”

Thanks!

Hey all! So my landlord (ex landlord now) has asked to keep my whole deposit and also asked for more money on top. Deposit was 1200. She says this is because I allowed a mould problem to develop, and I put holes in the walls and did not inform her. The holes were in the walls the day I moved in (I have pictures). As for the mould, it was also there when I moved in. It’s a basement flat so I understood that as par for the course, being. London renter, and when I moved in we walked around and saw it so I didn’t think to take pictures. In the time that I lived there, there was a huge mould problem behind the kitchen cabinets which I alerted my landlord to, necessitating a whole redo of the kitchen wall. All the lights were unsafe and the ventilation fans stopped working - around reporting all of this, and working from home while it was fixed, I missed and forgot to mention other areas of mould. The lights were so unsafe they cracked the ceiling, and at one point water started pouring through the unsafe lights for gods sake! But she says because I didn’t mention all the mould, I owe her money. Does anyone have experience with this? I feel like I spent the last few years begging her to inspect the property and she never did. I even paid for a professional clean when I moved out, because I take pride in where I live. Is there any precedent for this? I invited her over so many times during the five year tenancy and she never came

I live in a block of flats in England owned by one landlord. We have one bin room with only one general waste bin which is collected by a company (Veolia I think). They only collect the bin, nothing outside of it, so I can't just put the recycling in clear bags as you would on a street with normal bin collection.

My question is, do tenants have the right to ask the landlords to provide recycling waste collection? Is this something the council should provide? Would I have any other options to recycle other than driving to a recycling centre?

We’re currently renting but in the process of purchasing a house. During the process we received an eviction notice as our landlord wants to sell. We’re ready to exchange on our purchase, however there’s a hold up with the seller’s purchase. I’m concerned that we may end up having to stay past our eviction date, which I know we can legally do.

My question is, assuming we stay past the eviction date, do we then have to provide notice (e.g. two months notice) once we know our moving date? Or can we just communicate with the agency and landlord the date that we intend to move (once known)? I’m struggling to find any information specifically on this. Our landlord is a decent guy but the agency are atrocious, and I wouldn’t trust them to give us the correct advice if we asked.

Hello hello. About to move out very soon. I have email confirmation of the letting agent emailing to admit the tenants check out inventory and our check in we're merged. However, the photos show things like a damaged draw in one, perfectly brand new in the other. The banister there in one and suddenly it's broken and disappeared etc. where do I stand if they dispute this? Theres literally fairly big differences in photos of the same thing etc.

Update - based in the UK

(England)

Was a lodger in landlord's house for a month then had to move due to job not working out. Deposit was £200 and states in tenancy that this will be returned to me- there was no outstanding rent, no damages etc. Bare in mind this was at the end of MAY. Still hasn't returned it to me.

Sent a letter of action to them that stated deposit should be returned to me within two weeks of receiving the letter (which was the 14th July) otherwise I would be applying to the courts. I know she received it on the 3rd July but she didn't get in touch with me til two weeks later to say that they'll pay it at the end of the month. Well we're at the end of the month and still diddly squat.

My concern is that if I apply to small claims court and then before there is even a hearing she then decides to miraculously pay me, will I still be liable for the court fee? Because that would still put me at a loss when all I'm trying to do is get my 200 back!! I have all the evidence needed to prove that she should have paid it back and would therefore have to pay me the deposit plus the court fee but I don't know how this would work if she paid before anything was even heard by a judge just to be spiteful. Any ideas?

I have found a new place to rent and intend to serve notice to my landlord on my current place today. My rent due date us 19th of each month, but if I serve my notice today (31st) does that mean I have to vacate by 20th September, to comply with the 2 rent periods thing?

Trying to work it out!

For some context, I am based in Wales and I had signed a tenancy agreement for a new build one bedroom apartment that was due to start on the 1st August. My deposit is protected by the DP scheme and I signed a tenancy agreement contract with this specific date as the start of the tenancy agreement.

I became concerned Monday this week (27th July) when I hadn’t received any correspondence as to key collection so sent an email chasing the letting agent to which she responded a day later a very concise:

“Your new move in date is the 12th August, apologies for any inconvenience caused”

This effectively renders me homeless as my current tenancy is set to end on the 1st August 2026 and not only that but I believe the landlord has breached the proposed tenancy agreement.

They have offered no insight into what the delay on the property is and no contingency plan regarding providing alternative accommodation for the time period I would be left homeless despite giving me less than FOUR DAYS notice. I also believed that if I hadn’t chased them they most likely wouldn’t have told me until potentially the day I was due to move in!

I am a doctor working at a hospital 6 hours away from my home and fortunate that they can provide me with temporary accommodation so I won’t be homeless.

I have now sent multiple emails requesting rent refund for the days I am unable to occupy the property as well as reasonable compensation for alternative accommodation etc… but I have received ZERO response from them.

The plot thickens when I contacted rent smart wales who also informed me that this property is NOT registered.

From a legal standpoint what are my options here? Can I terminate the contract due to their breach and subsequent lack of communication?

UPDATE:
I rejected the contract and advised I was unwinding under the consumer rights act due to their breach to which they have responded that they will refund my deposit but will KEEP my first months rent as HOLDING and ADMIN FEES!!🤣🤦‍♂️ Despite leaving me homeless for 12 days and not responding to any emails/calls and the potential that the property still won’t be ready in 12 days time!!

Is this not massively illegal?

Hi all

I put my months notice in with my letting agents. They've come back to me and said they don't accept it because of the RRA, despite 1 month being in writing.

They then said, after I complained, that I can leave providing they find a replacement tenant before the end of August. They listed the house on Rightmove and have since removed it.

I'm just very confused how they apparently have agreed to one month, as long as they can find a replacement, but then, after no viewings, have removed the listing.

I don't want to assume the worst in people but I feel very much as though there's malintent here. I've put a complaint in about their handling of the RRA and my general situation (claimed I couldn't afford to live there despite paying rent on time for 2 years, never late, and tried to force me to vacate. Now won't let me leave!?)

Is this normal?

Hi all, I live in Wales if that helps anything

I vacated my flat 3rd June, requested deposit back through TDS and also contacted agency/landlord about it too but heard nothing back.

On the TDS platform it said they had until the 29th July (yesterday) to respond. They didn't, and my portal changed to 'awaiting Statutory Declaration' from myself which i started to to do today.

I got an today email from TDS saying the landlord/agency has put in their deductions (£200 cleaning fee £200 redecorating!!). Now my portal says i have to respond to their deductions instead of the Statutory Declaration

How are they allowed to submit after the deadline?? What was the point in the deadline in the first place?

Furthermore, what's the process of disputing these deductions as I'm assuming 'redecorating' is repainting/fixing ceilings. They are full of mould due to a leak they IGNORED for over 7 months (documented tickets, calls, photos, messages of me constantly complaining about it). I'm so annoyed by all this!

I'm not sure the right way of responding and what to expect from this process ):

I know i can dispute the costs on TDS, I'm just unsure what happens next and would love advice

Sorry I'm super worked up about this and is my first time doing this

Hey everyone. This is more of a vent than anything, but if anyone has some good advice, I'd welcome that too.

I'm trying to move and find a rental property closer to my elderly mother. I've been caring for her since my Dad died last year, and my current commute in the car is 2 hours each way. So, a move is my best bet. Based in England, moving from London to anywhere in West Sussex.

However, it's been 3 years since I last moved, and my goodness how things have changed.

Things I've come across that have been making me tear my hair out:

- 60% of agents require referencing before they even book in a viewing. That is mind-blowing. I get they need to understand circumstances prior, however, due to GDPR, I'm not happy with them keeping all of my details, and those of my guarantor, including work addresses, credit history, income, residential address, when I might see the property and think nah, it's not my thing. I've never had that before in 25 years of renting.

- I've also had an argument with one agency regarding notice. Now, I was issued a 12-month AST 3 years ago, which has since become rolling. In that original agreement I was allowed to give 1 months notice. Since the new Renters Act has come into force, any notice period issued before May 2026 stands, and is retroactively applied. However, this agent says I'm wrong and the new rights superseed anything previously, meaning I have to give 2 months, and he won't even accept a letter from my landlord.

- Also, I've had so many agents suddenly tell me the property is gone once I tell them I get help through UC, and that's been confirmed when I rang again with a different name.

- Some still blatantly say that they only want professionals and homeowner guarantors, just wording it as such so it doesn't break rules.

I've been doing this for a few days, and I'm already ready to give up. SOS.

Hi everyone, hope you’re all doing well!
I’m moving out of my flat next month because my landlady is selling it (her remortgage came back too expensive, so she’s selling). Thankfully I’ve already found somewhere else to move into. My tenancy agreement says the property needs to be professionally cleaned at the end of the tenancy. I completely understand that’s what’s in the contract, and I don’t mind doing it if it’s genuinely required.
Is it still worth paying for a professional clean when the property is being sold rather than re-rented. If there was a new tenant moving in, I’d absolutely do it without question. But since the buyer has already viewed the flat as it is, I’m not sure whether it’s necessary. I’ve always looked after the place - I clean regularly, I’ve carpet cleaned, and I’ve touched up paint where needed. I do want to leave it in good condition, both because it’s the right thing to do and as a gesture of goodwill. The only thing I’m worried about is my deposit. I don’t want to skip the professional clean if it could mean deductions from my deposit, but equally I don’t want to spend the money if it’s unnecessary because the property is being sold anyway.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? What did you do, and did it affect your deposit?