Holding deposit for a flat

nobunaga
nobunaga Posts: 23
edited July 2010 in The bottom bracket
A family crisis has happened and instead of moving into a new flat I need to fly home for a few months.
I want to pull out of a tenancy agreement but I was told that I would loose all holding deposit which I only paid last Thursday.

Has anyone been in this situation before? Is there no way around it? I do not want to loose all 500 pounds and any advice is appreciated.

Comments

  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    nobunaga wrote:
    A family crisis has happened and instead of moving into a new flat I need to fly home for a few months.
    I want to pull out of a tenancy agreement but I was told that I would loose all holding deposit which I only paid last Thursday.

    Has anyone been in this situation before? Is there no way around it? I do not want to loose all 500 pounds and any advice is appreciated.

    I don't think there is a way out of losing that money if you pull out of the agreement, for whatever reason unfortunately.

    Maybe someone else might have some ideas.
    _
  • rapid_uphill
    rapid_uphill Posts: 841
    Sublet to someone else.
  • mroli
    mroli Posts: 3,622
    Or contact the person holding the deposit, explain the situation nicely and ask them if you can come to a deal.
    http://www.georgesfoundation.org
    http://100hillsforgeorge.blogspot.com/
    http://www.12on12in12.blogspot.co.uk/
  • nobunaga
    nobunaga Posts: 23
    Thank you - I do not think I have the time to arrange subletting and I just read through the Holding Deposit Reciept and it clearly says

    This is a NON-REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT and will be forfeit as liquidated damages in the event that you withdraw or otherwise fail to take up the tenancy by or on the above date.

    Am still buggered that I could have bought a quasi decent bike with that money but I will try to not think about it.
  • unCivilServant
    unCivilServant Posts: 600
    Hmmm, this is an awkward one. It's a matter of contract rather than housing law. The general principle in situations like this (eg also if a tenant leaves before their fixed term is up) is that the landlord/agency has a 'duty to mitigate loss'; ie they can keep/charge an amount that covers their genuine costs from the breach (eg having to re-advertise, lost rent until they can get a new tenant) but not just an arbitrary amount.

    The issue of arbitrary charges is actually in the Unfair Contract Terms legislation, ie the amount charged for defaults under standard contract terms should be specified what it's meant to cover. Unfortunately I don't think you can take action under this legislation as an individual--it would be up to the local Trading Standards (some of whom are hotter on rental contracts than others) to try to get it removed on future contracts. Future punters possibly trapped by that same landlord/agent might thank you if you took it to the TS, though.

    Disclaimer: For the benefit of the OP and any lawyers lurking, IANAL, this is my recollection of the situation from when I used to work in this area.

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