Landlord evicting us

kerrydrobertson

Hi

Hoping someone can give a bit of advice as citizens advice is closed over easter and need to put my mind at ease.

We have been renting a house since September 2009 and at the time we both (tenant and landlord) wanted a long term lease and both signed for 3 years. Have paid our rent on time each month, not damaged or done anything to the property as its brand new.

We received a letter this morning advising us we will have to move out on 11th June as the landlord wants his property back.
Had a look on Citizens Advice website but the only reasons they say the landlord can evict you is if you dont pay your rent, have damamged the property or have broken the terms of agreement and would still have to get a court order.

Do we have any tenants rights in this or are we going to have to look for somewhere else?

thanks!

scottn

Check what the lease you signed says about the duration of the tenancy and what the notice requirements are.

cabbage

Hi

have a look at http://england.shelter.org.uk/ they have a section on eviction. Check your tenancy agreement and then get an appointment to see CAB. There is not alot more that you can do until Tuesday.

caeler

I didn't think notice could be given during a fixed term however I may be wrong hopefully a few of the experts who post here will be along soon. I wonder if there is a get out clause for LL to give notice if they need the property (ie if circumstances change and they have to live there?)

Fire_Fox

Is there a break clause in your AST?

kerrydrobertson

thanks for your replies. Had a look on Shelter website and was really helpful.
It does state on their website that there are only 7 reasons a landlord can cancel the agreement early or evict you. The reason he has given is for his personal circumstances he needs the property back which was reason number 1.

Really not what we needed as we had just got settled and my son is meant to be starting school in August.
Will hopefully be able to speak to someone on Tuesday and get a bit further forward.

lizzielondon

kerrydrobertson wrote: »

thanks for your replies. Had a look on Shelter website and was really helpful.
It does state on their website that there are only 7 reasons a landlord can cancel the agreement early or evict you. The reason he has given is for his personal circumstances he needs the property back which was reason number 1.

Really not what we needed as we had just got settled and my son is meant to be starting school in August.
Will hopefully be able to speak to someone on Tuesday and get a bit further forward.

he cannot do this within the fixed term if there isn't a break clause- did you check your tenancy agreement to see if there is a break clause and to double check if it is a 3 year fixed term?

chewmylegoff

as others have said, he cannot just decide he wants his house back unless there is a break clause in the contract.

the practical reality is that you might not want to have a landlord who hates you because he wants his house back and you won't move (he sounds like an amateur landlord who thinks he can just have his house back any time he wants it, without regard to the contract). i would be minded to move in this situation, but only if the landlord was prepared to stump up some cash as a sweetener.

G_M

kerrydrobertson wrote: »

Had a look on Shelter website and was really helpful.
It does state on their website that there are only 7 reasons a landlord can cancel the agreement early or evict you. The reason he has given is for his personal circumstances he needs the property back which was reason number 1.

Not sure which bit of the shelter website you are looking at but:
assuming you are an Assured Shorthold tenant and
assuming your AST is indeed a fixed term of 3 years and
assuming there is no break clause then:


If a ground is needed (ie if they want to evict you before the end of the fixed-term), the most common grounds are because:

• you have rent arrears
• you are constantly or regularly late with the rent
• you have broken the terms of your tenancy, for example by subletting when you are not allowed to
• you have allowed the condition of the property or furniture provided to get worse
• you have caused nuisance or annoyance
• you landlord's mortgage lender is repossessing the property.

'Personal circumstances' is NOT a reason (except in a periodic tenancy which this does not appear to be).

Just because you are asked/told to leave, you do not have to.
The LL needs a court order to evict you.
Unless there is something we don't know (ie a break clause in your contract) the LL will not get a court order.
If the LL tries to physically remove you, that is a criminal offence and very serious.
Any harrassment is a criminal offence (threats, repeated visits, entering the property without permission, repeated phone calls etc)
If you are scared, change the locks (but keep them to replace at the end of your tenancy)

But you must be sure about the 3 year fixed term and the absence of break clause.

As suggested above, having an unhappy LL is not a good situation though, so a negotiated end tot he tenancy is a good idea - ie he pays you to leave early at a time and price you are happy with.

Corona007

Has the Landlord issued you with a "Section 21" or a "Section 8" notice or has he just sent you a letter asking you leave? I assume a s.21 as you haven't mentioned any disputes with him

If you have an AST in which the fixed term is 3 years and it states a specific end date to the fixed period (e.g XX September 2012) then he cannot issue a s.21 notice on you until 2 months before that date. The fact that he wants to end the tenancy unilaterally is not valid grounds and unless you agree to it, the contract stands.

It is worth checking whether or not your security deposit is protected in one of the 3 approved Government Tenancy Deposit Schemes and that he has provided you a valid copy of the certificate (see http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/tenancydeposit/index.htm). If not then a s.21 notice is invalid and cannot be enforced.

Do you know why he wants to end the contract? If he wants to sell the property then he can still do so with you as a sitting tenant.

scottn

I'm sorry to read about your situation.

I don't want to depress you but if your landlord has issued notice correctly (I don't think we established whether he has or hasn't yet or if the tenancy has a break clause) and you don't leave, it's going to make for a strained relationship between both of you for the rest of the tenancy and I'm sure it will be stressful. Yes, you could defend the notice if its been incorrectly issued, but that will cost money. I'd probably start having a look around to see what other rental property is available, perhaps you can find a bargain close to good schools too.