joint tenancy...one leaving...new tenant moving in...questions

BillieTheBot

me and my flatmate have a shared tenancy.

i have a few questions that i cant seem to find the answers to online.

firstly, we have a joint tenancy and when we signed up, we gave £700 as our deposit. on april 7th, our tenancy ends. im leaving but my flatmate is staying and is getting a new flatmate in. our deposit is protected in both of our names under the deposit protection scheme. what will happen to this? will i receive my half or will the deposit be returned to both of us resulting in a new one having to be set up for my flatmate (and her new tenant)? will our flat have to be inspected even though she will still be living in it? my flatmate isn't happy that she's going to have money taken off her this year and again in a few years when she leaves.

i did ring up my letting agency about this but the person i spoke to was thick was shit. he didn't even know the answers to the questions i was asking.

secondly, i have a number of things in my name...bt line rental, sky, broadband, electricity. can i just transfer these accounts into her name or is everything going to have to be cancelled and reset up by my flatmate?

im causing her so much trouble. feel really guilty. i can't afford the place anymore though

Former Member

I should imagine most bills can be trasnferred over in name, as long as you get a final bill, and correctly split it between you and the current housemate.

As for the new tennant going in, i should imagine that they and your current housemate will sign a new contract, and that the deposit you have will be returned, and your current housemate can just put that towards their half of the deposit on the new agreement.

Former Member

First of all its not your fault its the law surrounding ending a joint tenancy is an absolute take the mick, I would say the best way to approach the situation is to ring each company in turn as they will have different rules. depending on if the account is in your sole name they should ask for a final meter reading close your account and open hers up straight away. if they mess you around with recieving a final bill or changing it threaten to complain to energy watch.

Some companies such as sky may just let you transfere it into her bank or if they wont and you dont have long left on your contract you could see if your housemate wants to just pay u the remaining amount and you pay it off, (if she has the money) then she can just collect from the next person. unfortunatly sky/broadband arnt like enrgy companies they sign u up on a contractual basis so you are tied in for the year and cant leave when u leave. (S***ting on the little guy)

Unfortunatly it will take sitting down with a pen and paper ringing each company.

As for the letting agency I don't know why they are messing around, if you have a joint tenancy then your deposit is seen as a whole contribution from both of you therefore it should be as simple as her new flatmate giving you your share, and putting her name on the tenancy agreement. if the tenancy ended then they should just inspect the house deduct for any damage then have her new flat mate contribute the other half of the deposit. Don't let the letting agency or bill companies exploit or take the mick with you.

Hope this helps Pm us if they mess you around it shouldn't take them more than a day to have issued final bills/new account starts.