I want to ask some advice on our rental situation. last sumer we moved from out of the area to sheffield and rented a property in sheffeild. The rent is 450, pcm. for a 3 bed terrace, we recently applied to council for housing benefit and had a visit from rent officer. he was surprized how high rent was and now we find out he says it should be 320 pcm. Question 1. is it usual in sheffield for there to be a difference in rent amount set by housing officer and what you to landlord?
Question 2. various jobs need doing to the house, eg damp sorting out, heating repairing the landlord keeps promising action but after 6 months we still have none how do we get this sorted?
question 3. We are tied into a 12 month contract if we can't resolve above is there anyway we can break it?

The best advice i can give you is to call Sheffield Hallam Uni Law Clinic on 0114 2252504, they are a free service run by law degree students but supervised by qualified solicitors - I used to work there in my second year. They usually take on cases in the new year and could write letters to your landlord etc and advise you what to do. Alternatively contact Citizens Advice. :)

what area of Sheffield is the house in? £320 sounds too cheap for a 3 bed terrace anywhere I can think of.

Not an answer to all your questions but as a rule the housing benefits people screw you over.. I don't know of any instances where they actually pay the required amount of rent, they are quite out of touch. They will also repeatedly loose paperwork you have handed in so get a receipt for EVERYTHING you send them, then they will take ages and then screw everything up again. They are also good at not pay from the dates requested claiming that you did not get the forms in on time or they can't backdate that far! Usually all because they have taken so long..
Good luck!

Wow! Sounds like my old house. Is it in Hillsborough? A lot of houses in Hillsborough have damp.

The landlord kept going on about clearing it, but never did, that was over the entire 12 months.

The heating had issues too. He never wired the two fires up in the whole 12 months!

Contact a Citizens Advice Bureau or Advice Centre asap re: HB and your dodgy landlord. I know Sharrow CAB (London Rd) and the Law Centre on Joiner St both have Housing Specialists - and its free!

The previously mentioened Hallam Law Clinic can be good - but only take on a VERY limited number of cases (they use cases to give law students real life expereince of the law - and due to the very close supervision - can only take on a few cases each year). Advice Centres do it day in & day out.