private tenant advice

[buster]

hiya all,
Im in search of some advice,if someone can give it to me..
Not going into too much detail(dont want to bore you all) but recently,myself n partner were going to move from one private accomodation to another,we viewed the house,spoke with the landlord,and he said he wanted £520 bond!
First off all,we needed to give 28 days notice on the property we're in,and secondly we were going abroad within 4 days,after explaining this,he said he would be happy to take £50-£100 deposit to secure the property for us,and he said he would wait the 28 days notice we had to serve.....
after 10 days,and a well deserved holiday,we went to his office,with a further £200 pound in our hand,after handing it over,he then proceeded to tell us,we now owed him £740!!!!
Turns out,(which he never initially stated) was that he wanted a months rent in advance,as well as the bond,although i am disabled,and im on benefits...
we had to think about it for a few hrs,did the sums and decided that there was no way that we could afford it,so have had to stay put...
thing is he wont pay us any money back,when initially,he did say that the first £50-£100 wasnt refundable,but the further 200 pound wasnt a deposit,it was a second payment towards the £520 bond,we only thought we had to pay....
Ive got a gut feeling that we can wave that money goodbye,but i was just wondering if he can keep it all?
apologies over me going on and on,but i thought if i explained more,you guys would have a better background to my situation...
buster

[RichieP]

It is normal to request rent is paid in advance a month's rent (sometimes 6 weeks) as a deposit against any damage.

It is also fairly normal to ask for a holding deposit once you've said you want to go ahead and take up the tenancy.

Think of it from a landlord point of view. You see several prospective tenants and decide which one to give the tenancy to. You tell all the others thanks but no thanks and they go elsewhere. The tenant you decided to take on then backs out and you have to readvertise and find another tenant, which takes time. All lost rental income. The holding deposit is to cover for this loss.

However, he is being unreasonable in witholding the rest of the money. Write to him requesting it back within 7 days or you will make a money claim against him. Get the form ready and if he doesn't pay you back then send off the claim form.

Get the form from this site (https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco2/index.jsp) <-----clickable linky link thingy

[buster]

Thanks for the info,i appreciate all you have said,i would just like to point out,that the 4 weeks waiting period,(our 28 days notice to landlord),coincided with the period that he would of had the property vacant anyway as he needed to repaint the house,and do maintenance,so he wouldnt of been able to let the property out,as it was only completed the middle of last week,and we were due to move in on the 2/11,so the house would still be empty anyway,i dont mind him keeping the 1st £100 which was to secure the property,but the further £200 could be put to towards our kids christmas.