PatO
1 Thanks
11 Posts
Good morning, all
As a landlord myself, I am asking for advice on behalf of my niece, who is moving out of her flat in London. We have property elsewhere, and have over the Covid period offered our tenant a rent discount, with no expectation of him having to pay the lost rent after things settle down.
However, our niece is having trouble with her current landlord in London. She tells us that she and all her housemates were given a 20% discount on their rent from March onwards. I have not yet seen the email between the landlord and my niece, as I understand that at the time lockdown started there was a lot of talk about rent, deferrals and discounts generally. She tells us that there was no mention of the discount being a deferral and that therefore she would have to make the rent up at a later stage.
She and one of her other housemates are now moving out, and the landlord's agent has told them that the discount was a actually a rent deferral and the money owed will be deducted from her deposit. If there was no mention in the original email of a deferment of rent, what recourse will my niece have?
It is a tricky one, as I understand that London letting is a different world to the one I operate in! It seems that the tenancy contract is a rolling one, and when one person moves out of the house, the replacement person is issued with an addendum page to the original contract. And they pay their deposit directly to the outgoing tenant. Which means that my niece may have problems getting her deposit back, as there is not yet a replacement for her room.....The deposit certificate does not mention my niece's name on it, as it was issued to the original tenants in 2014.
Any comments would be appreciated!
Thanks in advance
Pat
