Landlord breaching contract

[Nlsrls]

Hi, In the property that I am currently renting, in the Let Agreement, the landlord agreed to pay for the council tax (as this was part of my monthy rent payment). This agreement was signed by both parties and was through a rental agent.

We have now discovered that this has not happened and no council tax payments have been made, and being a tenant, I am now liable to pay for the council tax directly and then try and get the money back from the Landlord (which is amounting to c£1,000 for the year).
I want to clear this up as i don't want to have a bad reference aginst my name, but i feel that the landlord doesn't want to pay the council tax as agreed, so I will end up paying it and not getting my money back from the landlord.

I sent a letter to the council tax department, with the copy of the signed agreement containing the clause that states that the landlord was to pay all demands for council tax, the Council Tax dept wrote back to me to advise that as this is a private agreement between myself and the landlord, I am still liable to pay the council tax and sort it out seperatly with the landlord.

I will have to pay this, but how do I get my money back as the Landlord has breached contact? Can I claim this money back from my rent? So not pay rent till I have cover my costs? What can I do?

[Snorkerz]

Write a polite letter first, asking for re-payment. Say you will have to go to court if he doesn't pay within 14 days.

If he doesn't cough up, then you are going to have to go down the slightly less polite route of going to court for it. www.moneyclaim.gov.uk is the easiest and cheapest way to do this.

Did you pay a deposit to move in?

Has that deposit been protected in one of the government approved schemes?

I think you have to accept that when your fixed term contract is up, the landlord will not want you to remain and will therefore seek possession through the courts. That's a problem for another day though - if it happens you will get advice here.

[Charles19]

Can I claim this money back from my rent? So not pay rent till I have cover my costs?

Yes you are owed the money back and should not worry unduly as it sounds a clear winnable case.
But you should not use the "non-payment" of rent approach either. Two wrongs do not make a right and courts will see this breaking of your aggreement and not be impressed with you either (it give LL a stick to beat you with). It then gets very cloudy in court and judges are unpredictable. Keep it easy and with legal high ground in your favour.
Go via courts as advised above. Even if you need a bank loan, the expenses/interest can be claimed as well.
Chas.

[alantran.co.uk]

I agree with the above, it's important to not breach your end of the contract as this will surely complicate matters.

You mentioned Agents, are they able to help with persuading the LL?

You will have to chase this via the courts plus any interest and fees.

[mind the gap]

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