We privately rent in England. Where we live rental prices are very expensive. We have one child in full time education, one at uni (in halls so still living at home), as well as two older children still living at home. I am limited on how many hours I can work, so our income isn't great.

We rent a 4 bed house, which has two reception rooms, so we use one as a bedroom so that all the kids can have own rooms (they are all too old to share, and I couldn't cope with the arguments if they had to).

Letting agent came round and was very off about us using the second reception room as a bedroom. We declared everyone on the application, in fact there are 5 names on the tenancy and we listed the under 18 on all 5 application forms. When we were in social housing 15 years ago we were expected to use the second reception as a bedroom. According to the shelter website, they can count a kitchen as being able to be a bedroom!

"A room is available as sleeping accommodation if it is of a type normally used in the locality either as a living room or as a bedroom. This could include box rooms, dining rooms, and rooms used as home offices. In one case a large kitchen was held to meet this definition"

Are people really affording to have a second reception room in the current situation? Is it really unusual to use the extra reception room as a bedroom? I regularly see property listings that say second reception/bedroom no.X

It must be nice to have such a high salary to be able to afford to have extra rooms in your house, but with the rental prices they are charging it just isn't possible on the standard local wages. It's a very touristy ageing population area, most jobs are in hospitality or care work on minimum wage. Our rent plus council tax is more than the take home full time local wage.

Hi im looking for advice on what to do. My mother in law has coal heating system that heats her home and water. The come to look at the chimney start of August and we heard notjing from them even with us asking when it was going to be fixed. Then come and put scaffolding up 7 weeks and still no communication as to when its getting fixed and there was no offer of heating source. I have put in complaints and now on stage with 4 days left for to respond. We have spoken with Mp and again nothing , no one got back to him , we have contact Msp , housing executive and heado of council who responded to say it had been passed to the appropriate department. We have emailed Environmental health and Spso but they wont step un until council have responded even though they are in shock this hasnt been fixed. We just dont know where else to turn and are looking for some advice on where we stand legal and are able to do. Any help would greatly be appreciated. Thanks Scotland

Or am I shooting myself in the foot mentioning this?

We privately rent a house in England. There are signs of rising damp in the entire ground floor of our house. The letting agents are saying they will paint the walls with damp seal and repaint as the previous paint has all peeled off. Where it is really bad and the wall is either visibly wet or crumbling away, they are proposing putting some sort of board over it. They accept that this may be an ongoing issue that they have to keep coming back to repaint. Should we accept this? We have already had furniture damaged from the damp, but they say that they will fix the paint and we just have to move our furniture to other areas of the house (guessing upstairs as all downstairs is damp).

Should they not have to fix the actual problem of the rising damp, as the walls are still going to be damp behind the damp seal or boards, which means it's much harder to keep the house warm. They are solid stone walls, no damp proof corse, one wall lower than ground level.

Hi everyone, looking for some advice on how to handle our letting agent.

Background: my partner and I checked into a flat. On the day we moved in, we discovered that one of the two apartment entrance door keys provided didn't work at all. We noted this on the check-in inventory that same day.

We received an email from letting agent simply replied saying: "Get a second key cut ourselves"

They haven't mentioned reimbursing us, nor have they acknowledged that they provided us with a faulty key on day one.

Questions:

What’s the best way to push back on this firmly without causing unnecessary friction? Has anyone dealt with a similar situation?

Thanks in advance!

Hi there.

So we are viewed a new rental property to move into and went through all the reference check etc. Paid a holding deposit of 1 week as well. We agreed on a moving date of 21st December. Everything seems very promising professional and thorough until this email from the agent:

"We require the money to be paid on 21st November not before, please advise us when payment has been sent.

Due to the new legislation, the Renters Rights Act, we can proceed with your tenancy sign-up but we will need to wait for the current tenants to vacate the property before we can countersign the agreement and request the first months rent. Please advise what date and time after 21st November would be convenient for you to complete the sign-up over the phone, as our sign-ups are done electronically via PandaDocs.

The check out with the current tenants is due 15th December and once that has been carried out and the property has been vacated, we will countersign the agreement, request the first months rent and schedule a time to meet you at the property on your move-in day to hand over the keys."

That leaves us in massive risk and I'm pretty sure is against the Renters rights act? Can anyone confirm?

Thanks

We were recently burgled in North London, and it’s a very bizarre one bc there was no forced entry and you have to get thru two doors to come into the building.

Anyways, my partner and I are now getting a ring cam and paying out of pocket for all sorts of stuff. Our landlord changed our front door lock, but that’s about it. And has done not much else and keeps saying that it’s the Duty of the police to find out who did it etc etc.
My question is does he not have duty to us the tenants to feel safe, we don’t feel like he’s doing enough and seems very dismissive. Anyways, what rights do we have and what is his responsibility? As he’s not even changed the outside door lock which faces onto the street which has been requested by our upstairs neighbours, the other tenants.

Apologies for incoming rant but... It has now been nearly 3 months since we have moved out of our previous rental and our ex-landlords attempted to claim the full deposit from TDS for no reason. We have had confirmation they did not submit any evidence and that we do not need to submit any of our own. An auto email on Friday confirmed an adjudicator is still looking at our case. What is there to look at? Is it not an easy auto release of the deposit back to the tenant if the landlord fails to prove their claim? How are there no mechanisms to discourage landlords from this sort of time wasting exercise?

This is after we had to tell them to even register our deposit with TDS which they did 3 months into the tenancy - again no penalties to them for not following the law. That could be an easy fine against them as TDS knows when rental agreements start.

On top of all this, other places I have rented have the requirements that deposits are kept in interest-bearing accounts and the tenant is entitled to this interest. Here the deposit just sits depreciating in real time while landlords and TDS get to prolong this process for no reason as if we renters don't need access to our money.

We have recently moved out while being under a notice given by the landlord on the basis that he's moving back to the property. The notice expiration was Oct 22nd and our tenancy started on Oct 20th and we've paid our rent on the 20th of every month. We have informed the estate agent that we'll return the keys on the 19th October which we did. Today we got the check out report with a claim for just under £100 of rent arrears which they claim is due to our notice expiration being couple of days after our rent being due. Is this right?

Do they breach the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act?

We moved into a flat October 2025 and our first water bill was £62, and then £82 and then since May it’s been £92. We were new to renting and previously lived with parents so didn’t really understand how much a water bill should be.

Something didn’t feel right so we reached out to Affinity water, and after a few appointments we finally discovered we have a leak within our boundary so it’s the landlords responsibility to repair.

The letting agency discussed with the landlord and had somebody come out on the 12th of October, 5 days after it was confirmed we had a leak. The man located the leak using gas and reported his findings to the letting agency.

Since then nothing has happened as letting agency doesn’t want to continue with the company who discovered where the leak is as they’re not happy with the price.

We have been chasing them and they just tell us they’re trying to find a company who can repair the leak.

Obviously they’ll have to start from fresh and the new company will need to locate the whereabouts of the leak themselves which means even more time before we can get a solution.

We are starting to get impatient as our water bill is way too expensive for just the two of us and we are afraid they’re not taking this seriously and it won’t get resolved anytime soon.

The other point is I have had to take time off work to be home for these appointments to get this resolved, which is costing me money.

What more options do we have?

Won TDS dispute, but they won’t pay back deposit

So I have had a long and arduous fight trying to get my deposit back and ended up going to TDS for dispute and winning. I got the adjudication results on the 22nd confirming that I will be getting my full deposit back and to fill out my bank details, which I just today have gotten around to doing (25th) as I have been working. However TDS is now saying my deposit is closed and I will not be receiving a refund. What happened here? Does this mean they’ve changed their mind and I can no longer get my deposit back?

London, England

A bit of context:

https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/s/MWROpD9kF8

I'm a lodger, and I've been living with a landlord and his family for 2 years. I have an en-suite bathroom on the second floor, and they live on the first floor. Recently, there was a leakage underneath the floor board of the shower that's causing major grout tile failings. Landlord said that I don't open the windows frequently and that in his own words: "Steaming up a bathroom without ventilation or wiping down surfaces causes damage through condensation and moisture accumulation.." and now he mentioned this, "the pipes are getting affected by it as its vulnerable to damage and leaks through specific, often hidden mechanisms"

Now, I'm not buying his reasons above, but he's charging me 3k gbp for the cost of repair. But since he noticed that I'm not favoring his demands, he's threatening to sue me and tell my employers, as well as telling bad stuff to the referencing agency (I'm moving out)..

Any advice on his threats? I'm not a UK citizen and currently under Visa.

Based: London, England

After ongoing issues with our landlords, I’ve been looking into our tenancy rights and discovered that our deposit wasn’t protected within the required 30 days.

Our tenancy began on 17 September 2025, and we paid our deposit around the same date. However, our landlord only registered it with DPS on 20 April 2026, roughly seven months late.

To make matters worse, they listed our tenancy start date as April 2026, rather than September 2025. I suspect this was deliberately done to hide the late registration.

I have proof of our signed tenancy agreement, deposit payment and DPS confirmation showing the incorrect dates.

There are five of us on a joint tenancy with one collective deposit. My partner and I are planning to move out, but the other three intend to stay, and I’m concerned they’ll be reluctant to pursue anything for fear of upsetting the landlords.

I’m considering sending a formal letter requesting 1.5x our deposit as a settlement, rather than going straight to court, where the penalty can be 1–3x the deposit.

Knowing our landlords, I fully expect them to refuse or try to wriggle out of paying, so I’m debating whether to involve a solicitor from the outset.

Has anyone successfully claimed compensation for late deposit protection? Did you settle directly, involve a solicitor or go to court? And would all five joint tenants need to agree to pursue a claim?

Would appreciate hearing how others handled this and what the outcome was.

I rent a flat in the uk and I have windows that open outwards in all rooms.

However if I leave them open an inch they don’t usually move and open wider.

Today I opened the window in my bedroom a few inches in the morning and went for a shower. When I came back the hinges on the window base were deformed and the window itself had flung open wide so much I had to climb to the window sill (I’m on the first floor) to reach for the handle and close it.
It was windy today but not a storm any longer and I feel like I should be able to open it a few inches in the morning.
Now I managed to close it but forcing it back on the hinge and I plan to write to the agent.
I don’t think it’s safe that a window doesn’t have a mechanism to stop it from opening wide. They
Could have just created a window that opens inward at this point. I’m a normal height 5’6’’ and it felt so unsafe when leaning out to reach for the handle.

Should they ask me to pay for the repair can I challenge it?

It broke and she called someone to fix it within 24 hours. However they can’t come out until next Wednesday or so to fix it fully as after the diagnosis today it’s fully broken.

Assuming it’s fixed on Wednesday that would be 5 days without how water and heating. Would it be reasonable to ask for a rent rebate during that period? And how much? Do I just ask for covering the 5 days or so I give a specific amount off my rent like 20% off or something ? Thanks!

You might have seen this on the news. Are we able to get a reasonable AirBnB and reimburse the amount?

The checkout report states everywhere is in pretty good condition apart from flaking paint (due to damp which we reported and the council reported too as we are in an area where the council inspects to make sure a LL does their job) and some dirty cupboards (which I also don't believe is true! My friend spent hours in the kitchen helping me clean). This seems excessive and unreasonable?

What do I do now? It's evidence that the estate agents have submitted to mydeposit but I don't know how I dispute it?

We are currently chasing this with our landlord still, who is blaming the roofer. We reported leaks in the ceiling way back in 2022 and have been waiting on repairs being completed since - scaffolding went up in 2023, repairs were done to our neighbour's flat, then the roofer vanished before even starting repairs on our side. We chased this with the landlord, my partner stood in the attic with the roofer and the landlord and the roofer said he would be back in a few days to start on our side and then we never heard from them again. Then the lease on the scaffolding ended and it was taken down. We knew the landlords were conferring with other owners in the building to have new scaffolding put up so we gave them some grace to allow them to get it put back up and just? Nothing happened?

Earlier this year we reached out again and the feigned ignorance, claimed they thought the repairs had been done - leaks in the living room were, to be fair, finally fixed in March/May this year, but our kitchen is, still, completely unusable. There is water dripping in through the ceiling and in through light fixtures every time it rains. We're at our limit and don't know what to do next - we cant afford to move right now and we can't afford to hire a lawyer before anyone suggests this, we're kind of at a loss right now as to where we go next.

Hi guys,

The agency I'm renting with is asking me if I want to renew my contract in 8 months and they want me to sign new AST, otheriwse they will start with the viewings (mind you its only 4 months into my current tenancy).

I thought that with the new law my contract is a periodic one and i dont need to sign anything anymore? I want to stay but I don't want to lock myself into a new full year if I somehow misunderstood the law.

Any advice would be helpful.

Hi everyone,

Me and my partner could really do with some advice. We live in South London and have been without a working fridge for over a month. Despite trying to communicate this to the landlord they are still yet to provide a viable solution.

When we first communicated this to the landlord we were asked to defrost the freezer - we did just that and nothing had changed. My partner had tried contacting her after this and we have had hardly any response. A few weeks had passed with zero communication from their side and my partner somehow bumped into her on his way into work a week ago and took the opportunity to raise it. She said she had been thinking about buying another fridge and storing it in the spare room as the freezer is still working. Our spare room is already tiny and this would prevent us from being able to use it as we had originally intended to. My partner then reached out to say that we would not be happy with this solution due to the above reasons and suprise we are yet to hear anything back (we have called and texted multiple times but had no reply).

Unfortunately the letting agent does not manage the property so everything has to go through the landlord. We have asked for their help in contacting the landlord but apparently they have not been able to get hold of her either.

We have family that are meant to be staying next weekend and I’m really worried that we will have to cancel their visit because we are unable to store food in the flat.

The food costs have also gone up dramatically since not having a fridge and is adding financial strain on an already tight budget.

If anyone has any advice please reach out!!

Hello, We are have been renting our place for almost 3 years (renewal is due November 17th). Our lanlord has contacted privately that they plan to sell the property. How much notice do they have to give us? Nothing has come officially via the letting agents, only direct from the landlord.

I've read they have to give you 4 months if they are selling the property, does our current contract ending in the 17th of November affect that? thanks

I moved in a tenancy about more than two years ago and till now I don't have any information if my deposit is protected. I did ask the landlord initially and they said to me verbally that they have protected it. I have also checked online in all three schemes and found nothing online and whenever I ask my landlord about it they ignore my requests. I plan to move out soon as well and don't want to enter a constant back and forth after my move out date. Should I just call all three schemes and check?

Given we have some relocation coming up due to work, we had previously agreed via email with our Landlord (3 weeks before actually giving notice) that they are happy to be flexible with notice periods, provided that the full 2 months is provided (i.e. matching to the rental due date was not required).

The landlord is now claiming they've changed their mind, but only after we have sent our notice to quit (with the estate agent inevitably coming down on their side). They (LL and agent) have accepted it, by saying your tenancy will come to an end on the rent payment date falling at least 2 months after the notice was served.

We think we've served a perfectly valid notice specifying a date and in accordance with the agreement reached via email (which had not been withdrawn until after we sent notice) and all the proper rules around this.

Is there any way we are clearly in the wrong here? As far as we're concerned we have given the full 2 months, just not matching up to the rent period.

Given the amounts involved we're very clearly minded to take this all the way (presumably via a dispute with the TDS) and stick to our guns.

What would you guys do in this situation? Are we right to stick to our position? Does the TDS actually decide who is in the right on things like this (e.g. if we only pay rent up to the day we think it is due until and the landlord puts in a claim for the rest via the deposit) or is there a chance it needs the court?

New amendments have been tabled to the Social Housing Bill, currently going through Parliament. They're aimed at domestic abuse cases in social housing: where a protective order already exists, survivors won't have to prove the abuse again to keep their tenancy, and courts will be able to act against the perpetrator instead.

Other amendments cover a longer notice period before social housing disposals, changes to Right to Buy in rural areas, a simpler Right to Manage framework for council tenants, and bringing Tenant Management Organisations under Freedom of Information rules from April 2027. There are also new duties on councils and housing associations to spot homelessness risk earlier and offer suitable homes to people referred by local authorities.

This applies to council and housing association tenancies in England only, not private rented tenancies. It's still amendments going through Parliament, not law yet.

Anyone here manage social housing stock alongside private lets? Keen to hear how you're tracking which tenancies fall under this.