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Can landlord terminate tenancy before we move in

So essentially we’ve paid our first months rent as a deposit apart from one person, and we’ve just been told we also need to pay a damage deposit and the people I am moving in with are saying they can’t afford it, but we’re supposed to move in next week. Obviously the estate agent has said the keys won’t be released to us til it’s paid but I was wondering if it’s likely the tenancy will be terminated altogether? I can pay the damage deposit, but not too keen on paying that if no one else does in case our tenancy is terminated and they keep our deposit, which means I’ll lose about £700, as well as having nowhere to live.
(edited 1 year ago)
Original post by hdhshehggg
So essentially we’ve paid our first months rent as a deposit apart from one person, and we’ve just been told we also need to pay a damage deposit and the people I am moving in with are saying they can’t afford it, but we’re supposed to move in next week. Obviously the estate agent has said the keys won’t be released to us til it’s paid but I was wondering if it’s likely the tenancy will be terminated altogether? I can pay the damage deposit, but not too keen on paying that if no one else does in case our tenancy is terminated and they keep our deposit, which means I’ll lose about £700, as well as having nowhere to live.

Hiya

So essentially you've paid a sum of money (that should've been your first month's rent) as your tenancy deposit? And now you're being asked to actually pay the deposit? That seems valid because you are supposed to pay a deposit (which is kept in a government deposit protection scheme and returned at the end of your tenancy) along with the first month's rent when the tenancy starts. But why did you pay the rent first and then the deposit? It's supposed to be the other way around- deposit at the time of signing the lease and rent after you've finally signed the lease.

You could perhaps ask the agent to treat the amount you've already paid as the deposit and then pay the remaining amount as rent. If you've signed the tenancy, take a look at it to check what the landlord's rights are in case rent remains unpaid. If it's a joint and several tenancy, you and your other housemates will be responsible to pay if one of the tenants fails to pay for their part. If it's a 'room only' or 'individual person tenancy', only the person who doesn't pay the rent can be evicted and you still get to live in the house. I'm assuming yours is the former case so yes, termination of the tenancy is a possible outcome apart from you having to pay on your housemates' behalf.

It would be best to speak with your housemates clearly about their budgets- if they can assure you that they can pay the upcoming deposit/rent, then go ahead with it. If they can't, you should get rid of this lease. But remember that if you've already signed the lease, the landlord can charge you for early termination- this can even be the full rent of the tenancy. This clause would be in your lease so definitely check it first. If you haven't signed the lease, you'd be able to get a refund on your deposit/rent but the landlord might deduct a fee.

This was a bit technical but hope it makes sense :smile:

-Himieka

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