Updating post from Reddit.
So I moved in with someone renting a flat as a lodger. I never dealt with the landlord, only the flatmate, as it was their desire to have a lodger.
Anyway, I signed the contract, during the signing, they add in pen to the deposit amount, that I only receive the deposit back when the next lodger moves in and pays their deposit I.e their deposit will be used to pay me back mine.
I’m fully aware I signed the contract, but do I have any rights as a lodger to get my deposit back without waiting on another tenant’s deposit? Also as it was written in pen as an add on? It seems such a strange dynamic but not sure how normal this is? They are also insinuating because of this that finding a replacement for the room is my responsibility despite it saying nowhere in the contract it is my responsibility. They are basically holding this deposit over me to ensure I make it my responsibility to find someone. My stubbornness here is due to the fact my flatmate was a controlling bully, and I want no part in being forced to find someone because they don’t want to.
Did this person have the permission of the property owner or their agent to sublet the room? Irrespective of what words were at the top of the document you signed you may well not be considered a lodger and could potentially be entitled to rights they are attempting to deprive you of…just going to straight up signpost you r/legaladviceuk and shelter as subletting situations can quickly get incredibly nuanced
Spotted that Reddit soon after I posted here and realised that might have been a better community:) As far as I am aware, they did get the permission of the property owner - though I never communicated with them, couldn’t even tell you their name!
Very good, I hope you get hits there also
I’d advise attempting to independently verify that consent, for a few quid you can can get the owners name from landregistry https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry and then some googling to find contact info for the owner
Essentially the situation you’re in is similar to more typical student sublets or HMO situation but the behaviour and nefariousness makes me think it might be a tenant who fell for a particular social media get rich trend without knowing what that meant their obligations actually are…May I ask what amount the deposit is and what the impact on your life is in not having it back? I only ask because it’s all to easy to assist on a potentially lengthy legal side while forgetting that it could be an amount which means the difference between eating or getting to work
First step is to find out if you were a lodger or an unauthorised co tennant.
If the former, you have minimal recourse, however if he keeps the money and is not making reasonable efforts to find a new lodger you have a claim, but that's a court case and not overly quick.
If your an unauthorised co tennant (which you might be) congratulations - your getting it back three times over, and potentially other claims on top.
How will I find out if I was an unauthorised co tennant?
It's not clear cut, unless you fancy getting legal advise.
I'm sorry, there's no good answer without a lot of work here.
Ah no problem thanks for the info. Think citizens advise tomorrow will be a first step!