Unlawful Eviction

engrut

Long story short: my friend lives with his landlady in the same house, but they do not share any room/kitchen etc; his flat is located on the second floor of the house and landlady never entered his flat; usually she lefts notes under the door. they did not signed the contract, all hes got is her email saying that she confirms the arrangement for him to live as house-guest and also stated agreed monthly rent payment and also deposit payable in advance.

she asked to pay cash in hand as she doesnt want money to appear on her bank statement as extra income and all was ok until one day she accused him not paying the rent. he doesnt have receipts or any evidence just those notes where landlady requested the money. so she sent him email saying he has to move out within a week.

he stayed at my house for a weekend and once he came back home and went to work, after work he found changed locks and wasnt able to get into the house. he called to police but police told he should speak to council and there is nothing they can do. that was late time so my friend had to travel over 100 miles as he had nowhere to stay there. obviously he will go to council tomorrow first thing in the morning, but need to know what and how can be done to sort this out

any advice appreciated

HappyMJ

He has a tenancy and can legally break into his own home by drilling out the locks and changing them. It's a civil matter so the police won't get involved. The landlady may call the police while he's drilling away and they won't do anything except be there to prevent a breach of the peace.

zzzLazyDaisy

He may not have a tenancy as the landlord lives in the house.

OP you say the 'flat' is the upstairs of the house. Does it have its own separate front door and entrance, or does he share the entrance with the landlord, and, for example, have to go through her hallway and up the stairs in her house?

Also does the 'flat' have separate utility supplies/meter? If not, how is his share of the bills calculated?

Does he pay council tax on the flat, or does the flat come within the council tax paid by the landlord on the whole house?

Does the flat have a lock on the entrance upstairs, or could the landlord simply walk in if she so wished?

These are some of the considerations which may be taken into account in assessing whether he is a tenant or a lodger, albeit a lodger who occupies the top floor of the house.

redlady_1

Report her to the Inland Revenue too. There are ways and means to catch people like this.

lynzpower

How many other "flats" are the building? how self contained is this flat?

It souns a little bit like a lodgers agreement as opposed to a tenancy and therefore it can be terminated at reasonable notice.

engrut

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

He may not have a tenancy as the landlord lives in the house.

OP you say the 'flat' is the upstairs of the house. Does it have its own separate front door and entrance, or does he share the entrance with the landlord, and, for example, have to go through her hallway and up the stairs in her house?

Also does the 'flat' have separate utility supplies/meter? If not, how is his share of the bills calculated?

Does he pay council tax on the flat, or does the flat come within the council tax paid by the landlord on the whole house?

Does the flat have a lock on the entrance upstairs, or could the landlord simply walk in if she so wished?

These are some of the considerations which may be taken into account in assessing whether he is a tenant or a lodger, albeit a lodger who occupies the top floor of the house.

the landlord uses another entrance as there are two entrances in the house, however they share stairs as landlord has more rooms on the second floor. they do not share bathroom and kitchen and his flat has no locks so she can enter any time she wants, but as I mentioned, she never did. all bills and council tax are in-calculated, he pays rent only. I think because she wanted to get cash in hand, she pays council taxes only as she is living on her own. my friend has his letters, payslips with the address to prove he lives there, but in the meantime he cannot enter the house as it locked.

engrut

lynzpower wrote: »

How many other "flats" are the building? how self contained is this flat?

It souns a little bit like a lodgers agreement as opposed to a tenancy and therefore it can be terminated at reasonable notice.

the house is very big and there are alot of bedrooms and few bathrooms, not sure how many. my friend and his landlady lives there at the moment, but as far as I know she has plans to rent another part of the house. all she did, she sent email that hes got one week until 31 Oct 11, but she already changed the locks yesterday; so its not unreasonable one week notice, id say its no notice at all.

macman

The notice period is not really important. If he is a lodger, he has no rights at all and can be asked to leave without notice. If he is a tenant, then he cannot. That's the issue to be resolved.

HappyMJ

engrut wrote: »

the landlord uses another entrance as there are two entrances in the house, however they share stairs as landlord has more rooms on the second floor. they do not share bathroom and kitchen and his flat has no locks so she can enter any time she wants, but as I mentioned, she never did. all bills and council tax are in-calculated, he pays rent only. I think because she wanted to get cash in hand, she pays council taxes only as she is living on her own. my friend has his letters, payslips with the address to prove he lives there, but in the meantime he cannot enter the house as it locked.

So behind the main door of his flat is a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. i.e it's all self contained? What is behind the main door to the street? Is it just a hallway and stairs leading to the flats upstairs and the main part of the house downstairs? I still think it's a tenancy and he can legally break into his own home by doing it himself or employing the services of a locksmith.

Soot2006

It is a shame he has no proof of rent - any bank statements for cash withdrawals, etc?
... Oh and of course the call to the council, Inland Revenue and everyone else he can think of regarding her splitting her house into "flats" and presumably not paying tax on the income.

In fact, I think I would write a to-the-point letter to council and IR, CC'ing the landlady for the LOL of it, and then backing it all up with a phone call to make sure they are interested .

.. And THEN pursue the idea that exclusive use of the facilities might have created an AST (someone more informed will tell you if this is the case) ... but if not, he should be due his deposit at least.

engrut

HappyMJ wrote: »

So behind the main door of his flat is a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. i.e it's all self contained? What is behind the main door to the street? Is it just a hallway and stairs leading to the flats upstairs and the main part of the house downstairs? I still think it's a tenancy and he can legally break into his own home by doing it himself or employing the services of a locksmith.

yes, behind the main door there are 2 bedrooms, office room, kitchen and toilet room that he uses only. he also has bathroom that is located outside the main his door but the landlady never uses that bathroom as that is his bathroom. all they share is stairs and hallway. she has her own kitchen and other rooms that my friend never uses; they also share utility room. I dont think he is a lodger as he shares only stairs and hallway. he doesnt have formal contract but he has written agreement to pay rent and deposit.