I will cut to the chase and give you the facts.

I verbally agreed (in August) to rent a room from a private landlord, with a view to moving in at the end of Sept. To hold the room the landlord asked for £100, which would then be deducted from the first month's rent. Due to financial difficulties (redundancy) I am now unable to take the room and would like my £100 deposit back. No contract was signed and there was no discussion about what would happen to the £100 if the agreement was cancelled.

THe only other point to note is that I wrote a letter when I sent the cheque saying "Please find the £100 as agreed and I agree that the balance of the first month's rent will be paid upon moving in", or words to that effect. I am concerned that this may work against me.

Any thoughts?