Renting when declared bankrupt

giddingsno1

Hi All,

I have a question which relates to one of my relatives.

He was made bankrupt about 2 years ago, they have been living in his mothers second house ever since then (obviously paying her rent) but she has recently sold her other house and will be wanting to move back into the house which they are renting from her.

They are very attention seeking people and have started panicking thinking they will have no where to live but I am sure the council wouldnt see them homeless would they??

Also they say they can't rent privately because of his bankrupcy, is this correct?? I thought there would be some way around this.

Does anyone know whay they can do??

Thanks

Jowo_2

Tenants with poor credit records who fail the tenant screening are usually expected to provide a guarantor or pay the full 6 months rent for the initial contract in order to be granted a tenancy.

The Shelter website has good information about how a local council process a homelessness application. Many councils operate a gate keeping policy whereby they instruct the tenants that if they move out ahead of the landlord seeking a possession order in the courts, they will consider that they've made themselves intentionally homeless and won't help them. Often they tell the tenants to ignore the notice and force the landlord to take them to court.

Are they working, do they have any kids or disabilities? Two adult healthy working people without dependents are going to be a fairly low priority by the council.

giddingsno1

Thanks for the reply, they have 3 young children and she works as a mobile hairdresser a couple of days a week (i think!).

so do you think that they will be able to rent as long as they have 6 months rent up front?

Jowo_2

Some landlords will not accept any tenants with poor credit records, others will do so if a guarantor or upfront payment of rent is offered.

If only one of them works part-time, then I expect they'll need to find a landlord that accepts Local Housing Allowance (housing benefit) which makes their task harder as some landlords will not accept benefit claimants.

Shelter offers free expert advice to tenants and can tell them their rights, so too does Citizens Advice.

As there are children involved, the council may have a legal obligation to house them if they can't secure onward accommodation but I expect they will want evidence that their mother has served them notice to leave and may also want to check why they had to leave their previous accommodation. It doesn't necessarily mean they will get a council house - could be more temporary housing or assistance in securing private rental.

The Shelter website has an emergency housing rights checker tool. I get the impressions that few councils do much when the landlord merely serves tenants notice and tend to intervene when the eviction is much more advanced. It's possible the council won't really act until the mother has taken them to court to get a possession order.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/downloads_and_tools/emergency_checker