Help Needed: eviction rent increase/homeless

G_M

theoldcastle wrote: »

Thank you for the replies.
I will continue to pay the rent until I am evicted, I am not in arrears and have always paid on time, so the landlord hasnt got any reason to get me out other than they want to increase the rent.
The letting agency rand me and said over the phone that they will be increasing the rent.
I would like to thank Dizzy Dasher for the information you have posted and will be phoning Shelter regarding my situation to see if they can clarify things for me.

You need to clarify for us you situation:
My guess is that you have been signing new tenancy agreemnts every 6 months (with the rent increasing each time). Is this correct?

If so, when did your last tenancy agreement start, and when does it end?

When it ends, you do NOT have to sign a new 6 month tenancy contract just because the landlord, or agent, asks (tells) you to.

So long as you stay there (one day beyond the 6 month fixed term period) AND continue to pay the rent (that's the rent in the previous fixed term contract - NOT some new rent the agent rings up and ask you to pay!), then you will automatically have a Periodic Tenancy, with the rent UNCHANGED. Just continue paying it.

The LL/agent then has 3 options:
1) Do nothing and continue to accept your rent at the same amount as before
2) Serve you a S21 (2 month)Notice, then go to court (2 months?) then apply for bailiffs (1-3 months?). So between 4 and 6 months in all.
3) Serve a proper notice to increase the rent - this depends what is written in the (most recent) fixed term contract about rent increases, or if nothing is written, then a S13 Notice.

But the first step is for us to understand what tenancy agreement you currently have.

dcems

Hump wrote: »

What is wrong, and others have mentioned 'gatekeeping' is forcing you to wait until you get the inevitable 'warrant of eviction'. If they insist on this then get them to confirm in writing that they will pay the landlord's court fees, the landlord's legal fees and the landlord's costs in obtaining the eviction warrant - as the landlord will be asking the Court for you to pay most of these charges.

If they won't then make a 1st stage complaint and take a look at the Homelessness Code of Guidance http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/homelessnesscode see para 8.30 - 8.32a on pages 73 - 74

This is utter nonsense. As a tenant you have the legal right to remain in a property once the notice to quit has expired.

Homelessness Code of Guidance clearly says advice and assistance should be given, and most LA would do this in whatever form they felt was most effective at preventing homelessness. So in this case, the advice and assistance to give would be not paying the new rent increase, and if the l/l wishes tenant to leave then issue the notice. If the notice is issued then the LA can take steps to look at alternative housing to prevent the need to provide emergency housing further down the line should the tenant remain in occupation.
Every case is considered on its own merits. if its not reasonable to remain in occuption past a valid notice,such as affordability,violence,or disrepair, then obviously a duty to accept would be given.
Also consideration has to be given towards housing circumstances in that area, and the cost towards that LA,should an applicant insist on an application and interim accomodation being provided prior to a possession order.
As for court charges-yes, the l/l would want costs to the tenant. If you are in receipt of benefits you would not be expected to pay immediately(current costs £150). No LA in this country would be legally bound to write a letter saying they will pay the court costs, as they are working and advisng people within the remits of housing legislation.

theoldcastle

Hello G-M
My last agreement was in March, this is when the rent went up by £40.
On 22June I was given a section 21 ( 1 ) (
It was totally out of the blue, as previously I was sent a renewal of my tenancy. So I will just continue to pay the rent I have done for the last six months, and wait to see what happens next ......

Hump

dcems - I think the clue is in 'I have already been given a s21' and please, please, please read para 8.32 of the 'code of guidance' the bits in bold are presumably in bold because so many councils seem to have trouble understanding it.

finally I'd love to see the ombudsman get his teeth into a council making a vulnerable person incur totally avoidable legal fees - which is why the council will write that letter, but probably only with a threat of a complaint hanging over them.

G_M

theoldcastle wrote: »

Hello G-M
My last agreement was in March, this is when the rent went up by £40.
On 22June I was given a section 21 ( 1 ) (
It was totally out of the blue, as previously I was sent a renewal of my tenancy. So I will just continue to pay the rent I have done for the last six months, and wait to see what happens next ......

As I said in my earlier post:

...when did your last tenancy agreement start, and when does it end?

Start date.. 1st March? 28th March?
And does it have an end date: if so when? Or a period (eg 6 months, 12 months) if so what period?
If we assume it started on 1st March for 6 months, then it will end on 31st August. Correct? So LL cannot do anything till then.

On 1st Sept you pay the same rent as before and stay, now on a Periodic Tenancy. It is then up to the LL what to do.

warriorfullights

You could try to negotiate with the LL and see what he/she will say about it. Everything can be fixed with a nice and understandable talk. But sometimes, it depends on who are you talking to. That you could still give it a try and see if it will work.

neverdespairgirl

erdd2 wrote: »

OP, I truly empathise with your situation, have no knowledge on how you can deal with it and my previous comment is by no means directed at anything other than how insightful I found the comment of the poster I quoted. I truly wish you well with your dilemma.

It's not remotely insightful, because the LL is getting paid his rent. He can't just put it up unilaterally, either. So the LL won't be owed a penny, providing the OP goes on paying the amount in her contract.

dcems

Hump wrote: »

dcems - I think the clue is in 'I have already been given a s21' and please, please, please read para 8.32 of the 'code of guidance' the bits in bold are presumably in bold because so many councils seem to have trouble understanding it.

finally I'd love to see the ombudsman get his teeth into a council making a vulnerable person incur totally avoidable legal fees - which is why the council will write that letter, but probably only with a threat of a complaint hanging over them.

You are clueless.Your interpretation of 8.32 is just that-your interpretation. Just to be clear:

Each case must be decided on its facts, so housing authorities should not adopt a
general policy of accepting – or refusing to accept – applicants as homeless or
threatened with homelessness when they are threatened with eviction but a court
has not yet made an order for possession or issued a warrant of execution--every case is considered individually.no blanket policy in either accepting case early or not at all. In any
case where a housing authority decides that it would be reasonable for an applicant to
continue to occupy their accommodation after a valid notice has expired – and
therefore decides that he or she is not yet homeless or threatened with homelessness –
that decision will need to be based on sound reasons which should be made clear to
the applicant in writing (see Chapter 6 for guidance on housing authorities’ duties to
inform applicants of their decisions).-reasonableness includes if property is avaliable,suitable and affordable for client. The Secretary of State considers that where a
person applies for accommodation or assistance in obtaining accommodation,
and:
(a) the person is an assured shorthold tenant who has received proper notice in
accordance with s.21 of the Housing Act 1988;

(b) the housing authority is satisfied that the landlord intends to seek possession;main issue here-a sect 21 can be issued but landlord not neccessarily going to see it through to possession order stage. therefore if every single eligible client that was ever issued notice was accepted as homeless prior to PO stage,around half of those would never had faced court action in the first place, and therefore their housing was never in jepordy.
and
(c) there would be no defence to an application for a possession order;
then it is unlikely to be reasonable for the applicant to continue to occupy the
accommodation beyond the date given in the s.21 notice, unless the housing
authority is taking steps to persuade the landlord to withdraw the notice or allow
the tenant to continue to occupy the accommodation for a reasonable period to
provide an opportunity for alternative accommodation to be found.

73

Housing Ombudsman would not be interested in looking at any kind of complaint re legal fees. At the end of the day, tenants have the right to occupy the property at the end of the notice period if they havent secured alternative accommodation. Check any Section 21 notice that is in the correct legal format.

I find your ignorance extremley frustrating.