Landlord only looking for a deposit now

VulcanRaving

So anyway, moved into shared accommodation a couple of months back.
The landlord is fairly laid back and didn't take a deposit from me or the other two I live with when they moved in before me.
He rang one of us today asking for a deposit each citing that if one of us moved out and couldn't be replaced that he would be stuck with the water charges even though we registered and have already paid the first bill.(??) Even after explaining this he said he still wanted the deposits.

I suspect it may be due to the fact that we are asking him to repair a couple of things around the house that genuinely needed repairing since previous tenants were too shy about it since they were friendly with the family.

So in short are we obliged to pay him this deposit?
None of us signed a lease we just moved into this house whenever someone moved out. We also pay him monthly in cash rather than lodging into a bank account as I have with previous landlords.

We will probably end up giving it to him since he's an ok guy and we would have had to pay a deposit if we were renting anywhere but it was just annoying news to get since I was planning on paying for holidays this month

Any thoughts?

Pawwed Rig

You probably wouldn't be legally obliged to pay it as it was not called for on your non existant lease so if you put your foot down he probably couldn't force the issue. That said you don't yet have part 4 rights (if you haven't been there for 6 months) so don't have much leverage. Upto you really as to how you want to play it.

CollyFlower

Seems like a really laid back landlord! I'd pasafy him if I was you!

the_syco

VulcanRaving wrote: »

I suspect it may be due to the fact that we are asking him to repair a couple of things around the house that genuinely needed repairing since previous tenants were too shy about it since they were friendly with the family.

So basically he'll use your deposits to pay for stuff to be fixed, and when you move out he won't have your deposits? When you say laid back, how much of a chance do you think you have of getting your deposits back on time?

Arbiter of Good Taste

One way or another you're going to have to pay. It's up to date you to decide whether it's to thIs guy or your next landlord when the current one decides to give you your notice.