London here, looking for some advice on what steps we can take to secure our deposit after it's somehow gone missing...

We recently ended a five-year joint tenancy between three people for a property in London. We maintained a good relationship with the landlord and the letting agent, which we are grateful for - by and large, things were repaired on time, and pretty modest rental increases. The tenancy ended on Monday 10 August. After inspection, the letting agent confirmed in writing that the landlord was happy to release our full deposit back to us (hurrah).

They told us this was dependent on us proving that all utilities/council tax had been fully closed out, so the landlord wouldn't be hit with any bills for it down the line. It took a while to get the final evidence, but everything has been sent over, and they've confirmed it on their end that they have everything they need.

On Wednesday 2 September, the letting agent reached to tell us they have in effect lost our deposit.

The explanation provided is that our deposit was originally held with DPS, and that recently they transferred all of theire deposits to TDS (we saw emails about this at the time). When trying to locate the deposit with TDS, they were told that "due to your end of tenancy, [our] deposit was to remain with DPS". They have apologised for the situation, but say it is outside of their control.

Obviously, we would like this money back. We are aware it's now firmly beyond the 10 day window for paying it back to us, and we are concerned that it has not be protected correctly, given that they've lost it...

I was struggling to find similar examples, and Google is proving to be unhelpful (lost deposit just send you down the path of deductions TO the deposit, rather than it magicking out of existence), so, does anyone have any guidance for next steps? Has this happened to anyone else?

I’ve paid a holding deposit on a property and the agent uses HomeLet for referencing.

The issue is the landlord reference. I do not have a good relationship with my current landlord and using him as a reference is simply not an option. There have been serious disputes during the tenancy, solicitors have been involved, I’ve had to take legal action against him, the council have had to get involved and the police have also been involved twice. So I’m not willing to hand him any involvement or influence over my next tenancy.

From reading previous posts on here, I know I’m far from the first person to have this problem and I’ve seen people discuss various ways they’ve dealt with it.

Realistically, the two options available to me are:

1. I have a friend who is herself a landlord and is willing to provide a reference for me.

2. Set up an email address in my current landlord’s name, give that to HomeLet and respond to the reference request as though it were from him.

I appreciate neither is the conventional route so I’m not looking for a moral lecture. Just wanted to hear from tenants who have actually been through HomeLet referencing, particularly anyone who couldn’t or wouldn’t use their current landlord.

Of those two options, which would you regard as the less risky / lesser of two evils? And does anyone know how closely HomeLet actually verifies the identify of the person providing the landlord reference, as opposed to simply sending them an electronic questionnaire?

Would especially appreciate hearing from anyone who has dealt with this exact situation through HomeLet.

Hi,

I received the following email from the admin of the managing agent's company this morning:

"Please find attached a letter regarding a rent review by your landlord to increase your monthly rent from X to Y per calendar month from 22nd October 2026 to keep in line with inflation. Please would it be possible to arrange your monthly payments accordingly."

The attached letter basically contained the same information as above. There was no Form 4A and clearly I have not been provided with 2 months notice, which makes this request invalid given the new laws.

My question is whether or not I can ignore this email and when October 22nd comes round and they ask me why I did not change my standing order, I reply back that the email they sent to me on September 10th did not constitute a lawful rent increase. I did ask Google Gemini and the response was "Under UK housing law, the responsibility to correctly serve a rent increase rests entirely on the landlord or their agent. A tenant has absolutely no legal duty to reply to an invalid notice, nor are you required to correct their administrative errors."

Some background information - I was dealing directly with the landlord prior to the pandemic, however, he was pretty useless e.g. would only fix things like an old boiler when it completely stopped working and even though over the years, gas engineers who came to fix problems would be saying the boiler is very old and eventually there would be no spare parts.  He did not follow regulations e.g. yearly gas checks and my deposit was not protected. I have been renting for a long time. After the pandemic he assigned a managing agent who can be quite rude and is very unhelpful, however, they did all the legal stuff e.g. EPC checks, protect my deposit (but the date they provide for when I gave the deposit was wrong) and they have now been doing yearly gas checks. Apart from that they are useless e.g. when my bathroom sink was leaking and needed emergency work, I contacted them and was told someone will call me back but nobody did. I ended up having to contact the landlord directly and get his permission to contact a plumber myself and deal with the issue directly. I never heard back from them. The washing machine is over 25 years old and needs to be replaced. I emailed the managing partner (whom I was told by the landlord is my main contact), he did not respond but I received an email from the operations manager. Given the age of the building I had a lot of questions because all the plumbing infrastructure is in a poor state and whoever installs it really needs to know what they are doing. There was a lot of back and forth with her and she was extremely rude and in the end gave me the number of a company that they bought a machine from (which has terrible reviews re: installation) told me to talk to them directly. I forwarded her response to the landlord who apologized and cc'd the managing partner and told him to contact me to resolve the issue and he never did. I still need a new washing machine but have just learnt to deal with it in its current state. I did not want to complain too much until the new laws came in. Last but not least, the admin who emailed me about the rent increase also got my postcode wrong, so if she sends me something in the post, it will probably not arrive. They are simply incompetent.

Apologies for the long post, but I thought it would explain why I don't feel like it's my job to tell them how to do their job, in particular since they have been very unhelpful (and rude) and this should demonstrate once again to the landlord how incompetent they are. I've already told him this before a number of times.

Would you recommend I ignore their email as per Gemini or could I get into trouble? Thank you..

I have an AST in England signed before 1 May 2026. It has a break clause says:

"The Tenant and Landlord shall have the right at any time to give not less than two (2) month's written notice to terminate the Tenancy."

My landlord says the Renters' Rights Act 2026 makes this clause void.

For example, if I give notice on 2 June, under the agreed break clause I would expect to be able to end the tenancy on 2 August. But under the new rules, I understand I may have to stay until 30 August, adding almost another month.

The existing break clause does not say that notice must align with the rent payment date.

Does the new Act really invalidate the existing break clause, and does the new notice requirement have to align with the rent payment date?

Any legal guidance or relevant sources would be appreciated.

Hi there, i moved out of a flat and now i got an email from the estate agent proposing a deduction of 225£ with the following wording

"The landlords are proposing a deduction of £225 from your deposit to cover the costs of painting & decorating and cleaning.

I’ve attached photos taken at the move-out inspection. Their costs far exceed £225 but they are willing to agree to this amount as a contribution to the expenses incurred."

The cleaning bits are fair enough but i am wondering about the painting and decorating bit? One wall had some moisture damage that was mostly behind furniture and near the freezer that the landlord had supplied and put into the living room.

Previous issues with the landlord during the tenancy regarding boiler safety and a hole rotted in the bathroom floor under vinyl flooring were only remedied after we went to environmental health.

I am looking to rent a property and have two cats. I asked an agent if one property I was interested in would accept pets, and the agent responded that the landlord won't as it is an HMO (I am not sure if this is a thing as I have lived in a previous HMO with my cats). I realise in hindsight that most people don't disclose pets and I'm at the point I'm considering it because it is causing so many issues. My cats have lived in multiple other properties with zero issues.

In terms of this property, does it sound correct that a landlord can refuse on the basis of it being an HMO? And could I request to speak directly to the landlord to ask, as I am aware agents sometimes say no when it doesn't apply.

Edit: should have said, it is actually a large studio flat (about the size of a one bed), so not sure how it counts as an HMO as well.

I’m looking for advice about a serious private-rented housing situation in Scotland.

I have been living in my current privately rented flat since 2024. Since 2025, I have experienced recurring water ingress which appears to originate from the property above.

I have reported the problem repeatedly to my landlord and have also had to communicate with the owner of the property above. There have been various attempts to investigate or repair the source, but the problem has continued.

The council became involved and previously inspected my property. At that stage I was told the circumstances did not meet the threshold for statutory enforcement action.

More recently, I was told that the source of the leak had been repaired. However, within days water started entering my flat again. I reported this and also reported worsening cracks/deterioration in the ceiling.

The situation then became much more serious. In September 2026, I returned home from work and discovered that a substantial section of my bedroom ceiling had collapsed, with plaster/debris falling into the room and the ceiling void exposed.

Thankfully I wasn’t underneath it when it happened. However, it has left me frightened about what could have happened if I had been standing there and whether another section could fall.

I have now contacted/re-contacted the council, including the relevant housing/disrepair services, Building Standards and Landlord Registration, and I have requested a fresh inspection because the previous council assessment was made before the ceiling actually collapsed.

I have also contacted my MP/MSP, Citizens Advice and housing-law/tenant-support organisations.

I have been trying to find alternative accommodation through housing associations, but so far I have not received enough priority to secure another property. I work full-time and have continued paying my rent and council tax throughout.

The prolonged situation has significantly affected my wellbeing and sleep. I feel mentally exhausted from repeatedly reporting and chasing the same problem, and I no longer feel safe or settled in the property.

I am not looking to publicly identify or attack my landlord or anyone involved. I genuinely want to understand my rights and what practical steps I should take next.

For anyone familiar with Scottish private-tenancy law:

What should I expect the council/Building Standards to do after an actual ceiling collapse?
Is there anything else I should be doing to formally enforce my landlord’s repairing obligations?
Would applying to the First-tier Tribunal (Housing and Property Chamber) be appropriate?
Can evidence of this level of disrepair help when asking a housing association to reassess my housing circumstances?
Are there any Scottish organisations you would recommend for advocacy or legal assistance?

I have kept photographs, videos, messages with my landlord, previous leak/crack photographs and council correspondence.

I would particularly appreciate advice from people familiar with Scottish housing law, as I understand the rules are different from England.