The remedy will be different depending upon whether the tenant is taking action because the premises were not ready to move into, or any other breach of the agreement or the law.

The court has the power to allow a tenant to use the rent to pay for work you should be doing, but he must wait for the court to make that order.

When a court hears an application by a tenant to recover compensation from you, it can order that the tenant pay some or all of the rent for the premises to the court instead of to you. The court then decides whether the rent can be paid back to the tenant as compensation, or to you or a third party for reasonable costs incurred in carrying out your obligations. The balance of any money remaining is paid to you.

December 2005