Potential Squatter

mywifeislovely

Hi All.

I have been renting out my old 4 bedroom house for a couple of years to a lady and her family on housing benefit.

I received a letter from the council saying she had left so i booked an inspection and went to see it yesterday.

I found another lady there who handed me a letter from the old tenant saying she has had to do a runner as she is involved in domestic violence and please let the house out to my friend who is the ideal tenant!

This new lady was pregnant and very rough. I asked her if she had any kids, to which she said she had two other boys who she is fighting custody for as they were taken off her. Her housing benefit allowance will not cover the rent as its a 4 bed house and she is only 4 months pregnant. I suggested she had to leave (not immediately) in the coming days.

To which she replied very agressively that she aint going anywhere!

Would she be classed as a squatter?

I pressume i cant just go and board the house up and change the locks?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks
James.

silvercar

I think you can formally evict the previous tenant. At which point the previous tenant would have to give you vacant possession, taking all her belongings with her - this would include any "guests". The fact you have a letter asking you to give the tenancy to the new person doesn't oblige you to do so.

evoke

Kick her out by force. It's your house and she's living in it illegally.

PRINCESSX87

evoke wrote: »

Kick her out by force. It's your house and she's living in it illegally.

I'm no expert, But i'm pretty sure the OP cant just go and kick her out with force! What a really stupid thing to suggest in the first place.
Did you not read the part, She's pregnant?

N79

This is a minefield.

Your first priority must be to end the tenancy.

Does the letter from the old T contain a clear indication that their intention is to surrender the tenancy? If it does, write to the T at the property (the old T) and accept their surrender as of now. This ends the tenancy.

Otherwise you will need to end the tenancy in a normal way, through the courts either via a S21 or via a S8 notice. Of course, when and whether you can use these notices will depend on the current situation.

That gives the new person no legal right to remain at the property. You should apply to the court for a possession order (you can do this within 24 hours provided that you can give an assurance to the court that you will pay should a later hearing decide that the new person had a legal right to remain in the property) - as the new person would be what is colloquially called a squatter .

However, the above is my opinion. There is the potential for you to incur costs or even obtain a criminal record if you get it wrong so I would strongly suggest you find a good housing specialist lawyer to advise you on your options.

N79

evoke wrote: »

Kick her out by force. It's your house and she's living in it illegally.

No, she is living in it lawfully at the minute as a guest of the old tenant. Once the tenancy is ended (via surrender or the courts) then she would be living there unlawfully. At no point would she be living their illegally.

Your course of action, however, is illegal. It is only advisable if you are very rich or happy to spend some time trying to avoid dropping the soap.

Triker

Sounds like one very sticky situation, I did have something vaguely similar to deal with a few years ago, a tenant told me in no uncertain terms that she would not vacate my property at the end of notice until the council gave her a 3 bedroomed council house...unbelievably she got her wish.

I would ring for advice from the council, dates that your former tenant vacated. Then ring your local courts and explain your situation and start proceedings to gain your property back.

What a nightmare and I fully sympathise with you.

BitterAndTwisted

OP, the first thing I think you should do is to contact the Local Authority and tell them to stop any HB/LHA payments to the old tenant for this property. If she's still receiving it the LA may come back to you for repayment even if the old tenant hasn't forwarded the monies on to you.

Then, go through the legal process of seeking possession. Only then can you evict this squatter/illegal occupier.

In the meantime I would inform this pregnant woman that you will not be offering her a tenancy and would like her to move on at her earliest convenience. This might be better done in writing with a letter addressed to "The Occupant" if she's a bit rough.

abc1989

sorry. someone already said basically what i was saying...

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/squatters.htm

clutton_2

I disagree that this lady is a guest - OP says ""she has had to do a runner" - this to me clearly says she has abandoned the tenancy and that this new pregnant lady is a squatter. Getting a squatter out is supposed to be a much faster process than a tenant.... so i would go down this route and apply for an Interim Possession Order immediatley (it has to be done within 28 days of you discovering her)

Triker

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

OP, the first thing I think you should do is to contact the Local Authority and tell them to stop any HB/LHA payments to the old tenant for this property. If she's still receiving it the LA may come back to you for repayment even if the old tenant hasn't forwarded the monies on to you.

Then, go through the legal process of seeking possession. Only then can you evict this squatter/illegal occupier.

In the meantime I would inform this pregnant woman that you will not be offering her a tenancy and would like her to move on at her earliest convenience. This might be better done in writing with a letter addressed to "The Occupant" if she's a bit rough.

I would maybe also advise her that you will be contacting social services to state that your address is not her address and that she does not reside there...this is re her information that she is hoping to get her children back, if she states that she legally resides at your property and has her children placed with her there, this offers up another whole can of worms.