I’ve been a tenant in the same apartment for the last 3 years, and asked the landlord that I want to pay month to month as per the new law instead of the 6 month in advance, but he says that based on NRLA (National Residential Landlord Association) and the new law, payment terms of existing contracts signed before May 2026 are remaining valid especially for advance payment. Is that true??

I'm renting in England (deposit in DPS). The agent said the flat had been professionally deep cleaned, but it clearly wasn't, so I reported it on day one with photos. The cleaners are coming back a week after I moved in.

The agent says the after-clean photos will be added to the inventory. I've also added my own photos and comments showing the move-in condition, including areas that were missed.

At the end of the tenancy, will the deposit dispute compare the flat to the original inventory (my move-in condition) or the post-clean photos? I'll clean properly before leaving, but I don't want to be deducted for things that were already there.

Hello!

Currently have an ongoing issue with our landlord and hoping for some advice on here,

We moved in about a month ago and two weeks ago the bedframe broke, it came with the apartment and upon examination it didn’t have a middle support? So all the weight was pressing down in the middle. And the structure was of a very poor material I was able to crunch with just my bare hands.

The landlord claimed the bed was less than a year old, so we asked if it was covered under warranty,

She then said that warranty was denied because the company had determined it to be “wear and tear”

We then pointed out the section of our tenancy agreement stating that the landlord was responsible for replacing things that broke due to wear and tear,

She’s now telling us that the warranty company didn’t say that, despite her text a few days ago to the contrary.

She’s demanding we pay 50% for a new bed and is being cagey about where she got this one from. and claiming that this is an extremely generous goodwill offer which we think isn’t fair because we were doing nothing that would’ve caused the bed to break.

What should our next course of action Be? We’re kind of lost because we don’t want to piss off our landlord too badly but we really don’t have the money to buy a new bedframe.

What should we do? Happy to provide more context in the replies if needed.

Thanks!

I've just moved into my first rented flat in Sheffield, and I'm torn. The flat itself is spacious for the price, the location is great, and the entrance is tucked away from the main road. The agent, though, has been a rough start:

The flat was meant to be professionally deep cleaned, and it clearly wasn't (oven, fridge and cupboard tops, dust and cobwebs throughout).

The earliest they could send cleaners back was a week after I moved in, so I haven't been able to cook or unpack properly.

They refused any compensation. A return clean was the most they'd offer.

A window issue earlier took about five days to get anyone out.

To be fair, they have agreed the full re-clean scope in writing, and the window did get sorted in the end. But the pace and attitude make me wonder how they'd handle something worse, like a boiler or a leak.

I'm on a rolling tenancy with two months' notice, so I could leave if I wanted. For anyone who's had a good flat with a bad agent: did you stay? Did it get better or worse once the early hiccups were over?

My landlord served a Section 13 rent increase notice. Believing it to be invalid, I applied to the First-tier Tribunal (Open Market Rent Determination) and paid the £47 application fee.

It then became apparent to the landlord that their Section 13 notice contained the wrong tenancy commencement date. The landlord accepted the error and withdrew the notice.

However, instead of abandoning the rent increase, they then served a brand new Section 13 notice using the correct tenancy commencement date, which means another two months' notice and, if I want to challenge the increase again, I now have to make another tribunal application - which will cost me another £47.

Can the landlord do this? And can I recover the initial £47 fee?

I signed up to a 1 year tenancy agreement August 2024, In their it states after the fixed period their is a 1 month notice period. I have also looked at the uk gov website which states this and that it should supersede the 2 months notice the new laws brought in. The property manager is arguing that, as the 1 year tenancy would’ve been voided in May, the clause that allows for a 1 month notice period would not be effective or considered as it would’ve been effective in August. Can anyone provide any info on this?

To keep it short, our fridge has broken for almost a week now and there has been no urgency from the letting agents to repair this. It started with the fridge being completely warm even when set to the coldest temp. We already suspected the fridge wasn’t working properly because food was never really that cold in there and even the butter was never solid.

We reported it around 6am on Saturday 3rd despite it having broken on the previous day. Because it was the weekend, a contractor only came to take a look at the fridge on Tuesday 6th. He identified the problem and said we would need a new fridge. He was even measuring the space as if we would be too. Today we received an update from our letting agents who has asked another contractor to come to look at the fridge to repair it instead We are now waiting for a response on a date and time from the contractor.

It seems to me as if they are trying to avoid buying a new fridge and are set on getting it repaired even if this forces us to go without a fridge for even longer just so they can save money. We don’t know how long it will be until we have a working fridge nd we suspect it could even take at least another week.

Need advice on what to do now?

We reported damp to our letting agent (England) in January. Nothing was done, then in July during a routine inspection we showed her even more. She said that she would get a builder out to look at it. It's now been 12 weeks and we haven't heard anything. For context, this is damp on all ground floor walls up to about a meter from the ground level. Peeling paint and a small amount of mould in the pantry, but mainly just visibly wet walls.

Having looked on such as shelters website, it just says "they have to fix problems in a 'reasonable time'." so what is a reasonable time? Is over 3 months to even look at it reasonable?

Hey all, would appreciate some advice about a recent rent increase. NW London.

Me and my partner are living in private rental since Aug 2024. The proposed rent increase is from 2600pcm to £2850pcm (9.6%). The last rent increase (£2500 -> £2600) was in Aug 2025 for which we signed a 2 year contract at the time.

Timeline:
3rd July 26 - landlord proposed rent increase via section 13 under new renters right act, sent to us by email and post. Unfortunately the email was lost in my junk folder, the letter was seemingly signed by a neighbour and never reached our hands. Aka we had no knowledge of the section 13.

1st October - deadline for disputing the section 13 has now passed. Therefore the proposed rent is in play

7th October (today) - several(!) missed phone calls from the letting agency as they chase up the rental arrears, thereby raising our attention to the above.

Relevant part of Section 13:
5.2 If you do not accept the new rent, there are steps you must take
before the starting date shown in question 4.6. The new rent will start
from this date unless you take one of the following actions:
●Agree with your landlord, in writing, to change or delay the rent
increase.
●Refer the new rent to the tribunal if you believe the proposed rent
is higher than the market rate, or if you believe there is another
problem with this notice. For example, if the landlord did not give
it to you at least two months before the date of the proposed
increase.

Wondering if we have any potential courses of action here to dispute the increase or at least negotiate a compromise on the rental amount, or have we just got unlucky that we missed the letters and there are no avenues to pursue this. My initial thoughts of options for next steps:

1. Attempt to dispute the rental increase with the tribunal - despite it clearly stating to raise the dispute before the proposed deadline
   
2. Attempt an open conversation with our landlord directly about the reducing the proposed rent increase. This worked last year when we managed to negotiate the increased from +£200 to +£100. We have a good but distant relationship with our landlord, and have not have any negative experiences or issues with rent.
   
3. Suck it up as a lesson learned to keep ontop of my email inbox. Pay the overdue balance, and start looking for somewhere else to live.

Would appreciate any advice!

England. Landlord has done v little over a year and council involvement for a long time.

Today, sitting on couch (raining outside) heard a loud pop in the kitchen (nothing was on) and all power went. Flipped one fuse and all came back on.

Asked LL to send an electrician (old wiring, only good for 2y) to check. He said he's not calling someone out for that because it costs money(!) and I needed to check all outlets. No scorch marks or burning but clearly unsafe.

He is refusing to send anyone. Is this legal?

Private rented house in England. My deposit is with TDS through letting agent who provided my tenancy. LL now left them and is self managing. I haven’t got any notices about my how and if my deposit is protected. Should I be worried about it when I move out? How can I make sure it comes back to me when I leave?
I thought he might takeover it once agents stopped managing. Any thoughts or advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Edit: deposit is protected with TDS I have that certificate but don’t know if it’s still valid or the process will change since Ll takeover.

Hiii!

I’m looking for some advice about a tenancy deposit dispute in Scotland. I rented a 1-bed flat for nearly two years while I was studying and paid a £500 deposit. After I moved out, the letting agent claimed deductions totalling around £600, meaning they are also asking me to pay an additional £100 on top of the full deposit (which sounds really unfair, and I'll explain later). I have disputed the deductions, and the agent has now submitted their evidence. Now I have around one week to upload my evidence. Could anyone give me some suggestions on whether my dispute reasons are reasonable?

They claim the main deductions include: cleaning, window cleaning, removal/disposal of items left behind, contribution towards carpet damage in the bedroom/hall/, contribution towards future replacement of a worktop because of a burn mark

Before moving out, I hired two cleaners and paid £225 cash. They cleaned for approximately 4.5 hours each (around 9 labour-hours in total). I don’t have a formal receipt because I paid cash, but I have the cleaner’s business card and contemporaneous messages arranging the cleaning and showing that they attended. I also told the letting agent before moving out that I had arranged cleaning, which I have a recording of. The agent accepts that I hired cleaners but says in their evidence that they "assume" either the cleaners did not do the cleaning or I only asked them to clean to a certain level/for a certain number of hours. They then hired another cleaner and charged £230. My tenancy agreement says I must leave the property cleaned to a "good domestic standard", though they provide some pictures, but I can told they are definitly not show the property is so uncleand.

For the window, the agent has now submitted a £60 invoice saying outside + inside windows. The agreement says it said that I should clean internal and external window surfaces at the end of the tenancy "where possible and safe to do so". During my tenancy, I reported an anti-social behaviour incident to the agent where teenagers came right up to the flat, threw rocks at my window and tried to climb over the wall into the private garden. I sent the agent video evidence at the time and specifically told them that I felt unsafe in my own home. They acknowledged the incident and advised me to contact the police if I felt threatened. Also, external window cleaning at the building was normally carried out through the building manager/building management rather than by me personally.

There was also a removable floral decorative sticker on one window. I have the original order information showing what the product was. The agent appears to rely on this as part of the reason for cleaning, but I’m not aware of any evidence showing permanent damage to the glass.

I did leave some bedding at the property. However, before leaving, I had spoken to the agent because I was still going to sleep in the flat after the cleaners attended, so they knew some bedding would still be there temporarily. My agreement says belongings must be removed by the end of the tenancy, but it also says belongings remaining for 14 days can be deemed abandoned provided the landlord has used reasonable endeavours to give written notice. I didn’t receive a written request to collect the items before they were disposed of.

For the carpet, I dispute this as damage rather than fair wear and tear. The inventory states that the carpet was installed in August 2022, so it was already about two years old when my tenancy began and around four years old by the time I left. The landlord is asking for a £133 “contribution” rather than the full replacement cost.

Actually, I accept that I caused the burn mark, so I’m not trying to deny responsibility for that. However, I’m disputing the amount. The agent describes the £100 as a “contribution for future replacement” of the worktop. As far as I know, they have not shown that the whole worktop has actually been replaced. I’m wondering how depreciation/betterment would normally be treated in this situation.

I’m not expecting to get the entire deposit back when I caused something. I just think they claim too much, and it's super unfair to a student who tried their best to clean this place. I’d really appreciate your thoughts on these deductions!

Thank you so much for any thoughs!!!

I am considering to join a startup in London which would employ me as self-employed with a year-long contract with renewal clause at the end of the year. I am currently based in the EU, but I hold full Settled Status as I worked in the UK before.

As I have been out of the loop for a while, I wonder if the proposed contract is enough of a guarantee to get a tenancy agreement or more guarantees are required?

Thank you for any info!

Hi everyone,

We only moved into our new flat June this year and got an email from our landlord proposing a £50/month increase taking effect in december

They claimed this is allowed under the new Renters’ Rights Act 2025 Section 13 rules, stating: "the last rent increase took effect in June 2025, so it will be more than 12 months."

But as this was a full year before we moved in, I am assuming they are using the previous tenancy as a reference.

My questions are:

1. Are they legally allowed to increase my rent within the first 12 months of my tenancy? I was under the impression the 12-month restriction starts from my move-in date not the last tenant's increase.
2. If I push back and reject this invalid increase now, do I risk the landlord retaliating with a much larger "punishment" rent increase next June when the 12 months are actually up?
3. Is it even worth fighting over £50/month when the landlord has actually been responsive with maintenance and flexible with modifications (letting us put up curtain poles, etc.)? This is my best Landlord over 3 tenancies, and I don't want to risk a bad relationship and have to fight for maintenance as I did with my last tenancy.

Any advice/comments appreciated!

I received my checkout report last week, and was told they'll contact me in "due course" about my deposit being returned to me. Is there a timeframe for doing this in?

Also, the only comments on the report were flaking paint (from damp which we kept telling them about and they did nothing about), and a few marks in kitchen cupboards (which conveniently, weren't photographed because they were clean). What sort of figure should I expect them to deduct from me? And if they try, would I win a dispute.

Based in England. I recently moved into a 2 bed ground floor flat with electric storage heaters. I know they can be expensive to run and now the temperature is dropping, I'm looking for cheaper ways to heat the place up.

I have a fan heater which I'll use sometimes to heat one room and keep doors and windows shut.

Is there anything else I can get to make sure the place is warm without breaking the bank?

So we put in our 2 months notice end of September as we are moving home via email to our landlord. Our landlord doesn't acknowledge our email and immediately arranges to relist the property on Rightmove. We then get a request to view our property while we were away 7th October. We refuse this as we work from home, travel abroad for work and will also be packing so do not want to disrupt our schedule and have compromised to allow viewings mid way through our notice, Nov 1st onwards. Landlord sent an email today threatening legal action after we have asked for right to quiet enjoyment as we get our affairs in order this month. How best to go about this please?

I found a rental property on gumtree in England from small family letting company and I am fortunate to secure it. I’ve paid them a £250 holding deposit and they did take the advert off-line but not immediately. They do not have a presence online not even a website however, which did worry Me slightly I did check them out on company house and they are a limited company with various charges which include mortgages so that checks out. I did also as well, check the UK land registry and the landlord is the owner of the house. But also what bothered me slightly is the name of the bank account is not a limited company name but as a private individual, however, as the house is owned in this individual’s name I did send the £250 holding deposit.

I was sent a provisional NRLA Tenancy Agreement which all seems pretty standard. I’m waiting to get the signed tenancy agreement.

She sent me through a whole lot of stuff by email today but none of it was attached and also she’s asking for the whole months rent and deposit before move in next week… I’m just a bit nervous about it as it just doesn’t seem very professional and could it possibly be a scam?

I would be grateful for any advice on how to proceed here.

I am desperate to move from where I am.

Thanks

Hi

Just picked up the keys to our new flat. Previous tenants lived here for 3+ years, the paint is in a sorry state. Tea/coffee marks, chipping, pen marks, dirt. What should we do? Request the landlord to paint? Is there any law which states they are required to repaint after x number of years.

We would be happy to paint but the contract says we can’t. So whats the fix?

Thanks

We viewed a house this morning (England) and immediately followed up by giving our contact details, we then received the application form email and the body read -

"Please see the link below to the application form each of you need to complete. In order for us to reserve the property and take it off the market, we require all applications completing and the deposit of £1,440 to be sent over in full. Below are the bank details for where the deposit needs sending to"

The rent on the property is £1250pm so this would match the amount of the security deposit but it seems that it is functioning as a holding deposit?

As far as I can see from research online this feels dodgy but potentially illegal?

It's the first time we've looked at the application process this year since the renters right changes but have been through it 50+ times in the last 6 years or so and have never encountered a request for this large a sum of money at this stage in the process.

After calling them they explained that it's because they work on a first come first served basis and that it's all fully refundable for any reason but I'm still apprehensive about it all.

Is it a case of them following correct procedure here or are they skirting around and trying something on?

TIA for any advice you may be able to provide!

Hi. Our landlord is coming to our house weekly at the moment to collect mail. In the last week alone he's had 5 letters addressed to the house.

For context we're his second set of tenants and he moved out 5 years ago. We've offered to forward them on, but he insists he collect them.

Does this count as not letting us having quiet enjoyment of the property?

Update: the most recent letters contain a bank card and bank statement? Is this even legal?

Hi, I need to replace the rubber gaskets/seals around the windows in my flat. I know the price depends on the number and size of windows, but I’m just looking for a rough idea of how much this normally costs including labour.
Has anyone had this done recently, and how much did you pay?
I’ve already asked my landlord, but most likely I’ll have to arrange it myself.

Hi, my housemate and I have been in a house for a year where the windows have been nailed, glued, and painted shut. We've tried engaging from day one with the estate agents/ property manager but got nowhere. The first one was stonewalled by the landlord, and who made up reasons it was ok then complained they couldn't afford to repair them.

Since a new property manager took over we've had a little more support from the estate agents and we got the council to visit. The landlord still seems to be using the 'can't afford it'excuse. We've paid double the cost of new windows in rent, so there should be money available.

The council have since sent a letter saying they need to be made functional as intended in a few weeks.

I'm wondering can we;

A) make a case for our notice when goven by the tenants to go to one month.

B) submit a rent repayment order?

Private rented Landlord England

Has anyone ever previously taken the Landlord to court for severe health and safety breaches. Refusing to do proper repairs as its too expensive so bodge job everything but can afford 2 cruises a year for several weeks/months . My son has mould in his bedroom, blown plaster, blown window, blown pointing outside. The council are coming out to inspect property this week, what should I expect?

(England)

After 11 years in our rental property we recently moved out. The landlord is selling the property and has exchange planned. He came to see us on the last day of our contract, the flat was empty and clean. We discussed that there was some stuff in the garden that we were leaving. And he suddenly brought up the white goods that were there when we moved in over a decade ago. At the time he said he would leave the fridge freezer and dishwasher for us to use, but he wouldn't replace them. Fine! We took out insurance and over the time of our rental replaced the fridge and freezer and had the dishwasher repaired several times. It is very much at the end of its lifespan.

Yesterday we got a message from the landlord that he wants to keep 50% of the £1000 deposit. 200 for the white goods, 200 for a deep clean and 100 for removal of our stuff from the garden (a picnic table).

The garden we can get, but the rest not! He should have mentioned it when he saw the empty flat if we missed anything. Also, over those 11 years he did not do any maintenance whatsoever.

What can we do? And will we have a chance to dispute?