Your landlords rights and obligations regarding your possessions

When you move out at the end of your tenancy, you may not be able to take all your possessions with you immediately.  For example, it may be a few days before your new accommodation is ready for you.

If this happens, you should ask your landlord or letting agent whether they are willing to keep your belongings at the property temporarily. If they agree, make sure that the arrangements are confirmed in writing, including:

• which items are being left;
• where they will be kept;
• when you will collect them; and
• whether you will have to pay any removal or storage charges.

Do not assume that you are entitled to leave your belongings at the property after your tenancy has ended.

An ‘involuntary bailee’

If you leave possessions behind, your landlord will normally become a “bailee” of them. If they did not agree to look after the goods, they are sometimes described as an “involuntary bailee”.

The goods still belong to you. Your landlord does not automatically become their owner merely because you have left them behind.

The landlord must not deliberately damage your belongings and should take reasonable care of them while they remain under the landlord’s control. However, what amounts to reasonable care will depend upon the circumstances, including the nature and apparent value of the goods.

The landlord does not normally have to leave the goods where you put them. They may move them to another room or arrange for them to be stored elsewhere, particularly if they need to clean, repair, sell or re-let the property.

You may be responsible for reasonable removal or storage costs, depending upon the terms of your tenancy agreement and the circumstances in which the goods were left.

You should therefore arrange to collect your belongings as soon as possible.

The Torts (interference with Goods) Act 1977

Your landlord cannot be forced to take care of your things indefinitely.  If he wants them gone he can call on the rather elderly Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977.  

Under this act, your landlord can put you under a legal obligation to collect your goods by writing to you, putting you on notice that if you fail to remove your items within a specific period of time (which must be ‘such as will afford the bailor (ie you) a reasonable opportunity of taking delivery of the goods’).  Failing which, he will be entitled to sell or dispose of them.

The landlord should give you written notice containing sufficient information to enable you to collect the goods. This should normally include:

• the landlord’s name and address;
• sufficient details to identify the goods;
• the place where the goods are being held;
• details of how you can arrange to collect them; and
• a reasonable deadline for collection.

What amounts to a reasonable period will depend upon the circumstances. For example, more time may be required where there are many possessions or where it will be difficult for you to arrange transport or storage.

This act dates from 1977 so before we had emails and texts.  The act requires landlords to give notice in writing to ‘be sent by post in a registered letter, or by the recorded delivery service’. 

If the landlord intends to sell the goods, the notice must also comply with the more detailed requirements in Schedule 1 to the Act. Where the landlord claims that money is owed in respect of the goods, additional requirements apply, including sending the notice by registered post or recorded delivery and allowing at least three months before the proposed sale.

This means that recorded delivery and the three-month period are not necessarily required in every case.

Give your landlord a forwarding address

So this is one reason why, if you leave things behind when you go which you will want to collect later, you should leave a forwarding address.

If you do not leave a forwarding address, then, provided your landlord is able to show that he has made reasonable attempts to trace you, he will be entitled to sell or dispose of your things – without you being informed first.

If your landlord sells or dumps your possessions

If belongings have a saleable value, the proper statutory procedure is generally to sell them rather than simply throw them away. The landlord must take reasonable care to obtain the best price reasonably available in the circumstances. Depending upon the goods, sale by a reputable auctioneer or through an appropriate online marketplace may be reasonable.

The landlord must account to you for the proceeds after making any deductions permitted by law, including the reasonable expenses of the sale. Whether other sums, such as storage charges or money you already owe the landlord, can be deducted will depend upon the landlord’s legal or contractual entitlement to make those deductions.

Goods that are obviously rubbish, unsafe, perishable or of no saleable value may be treated differently. However, landlords need to be cautious: an item that appears worthless to someone else may still have financial or personal value to its owner.

If your landlord disposes of your possessions unlawfully

If your landlord sells, gives away or destroys your belongings without lawful authority, you may be able to bring a claim for compensation.

You will need evidence showing:

• which possessions were left;
• that they belonged to you;
• their age, condition and value;
• what arrangements were made for their collection; and
• what the landlord did with them.

Photographs, receipts, bank statements, messages and witness evidence may all be helpful. Compensation will normally be based on the items’ value at the time they were lost, rather than the cost of buying equivalent items new.

If the goods were insured, you should also contact your insurer promptly. Whether the loss is covered will depend upon the terms of your policy.

If valuable or important belongings have been disposed of, you should obtain legal advice before starting court proceedings

Alternatively, you may be able to bring legal proceedings against your landlord for their value.  But this will not be easy, as you will need to prove that they had a value and that your landlord disposed of them unlawfully.  If you think you may have a claim, you should get advice before taking any action.