Unlawful Eviction

engrut

Soot2006 wrote: »

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.

that might be the case her wanting to get paid cash in hand. so simply to call Inland Revenue and Council and tell the story or do that in writing?

macman

engrut wrote: »

she saw him sitting in the car yesterday evening while she was walking her dog but still didnt let him in, just ran inside and locked the door. not sure thats gonna work. id say things need to be done legally so next time she wont do the same to somebody else

Then he should phone her if she won't meet face to face. He has every right to come in and get his possessions, whether he was a tenant or not. Telling her that he will be reporting her for income tax evasion (and maybe CT evasion) might focus her mind more clearly? Plus possibly failure to supply a landlord's gas safety certificate (which is an offence punishable by imprisonment)?

zzzLazyDaisy

engrut wrote: »

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

He is a lodger.

The 'flat' is not self contained.

He has to use a door to the landlady's house and go through the downstairs to access 'the flat'.

'The flat' has no bathroom. The bathroom is outside his rooms, and if the landlady chose to rent out other rooms on that floor he may well find himself sharing the bathroom with others.

He shares the landlady's utility room (which may also mean that he has to go through other parts of her house to access it)

Importantly there is no lock on the door to his 'flat'. This means that the landlady has free access to go in any time she chooses. The fact that she doesn't, is simply acknowledging his privacy, but it does not make the flat 'self-contained'.

'the flat' is not in fact a flat at all, but a suite of rooms in some-ones house, it is not self contained for council tax purposes, it does not have its own utility meters, and it does not have its own front door.

As has been stated, a lodger has few rights and can be asked to leave without notice.

He cannot legally break into the house - he does not have a key to his rooms, he has a key to an external door to the landlady's home. He is not entitled to break in.

There is no tenancy agreement, and he has no rights. This is not an unlawful eviction.

If he still has possessions at the house then obviously he needs to speak to the landlady and make arrangements to collect them at a mutually agreeable time.

Wickedkitten

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

He is a lodger.

The 'flat' is not self contained.

He has to use a door to the landlady's house and go through the downstairs to access 'the flat'.

'The flat' has no bathroom. The bathroom is outside his rooms, and if the landlady chose to rent out other rooms on that floor he may well find himself sharing the bathroom with others.

He shares the landlady's utility room (which may also mean that he has to go through other parts of her house to access it)

Importantly there is no lock on the door to his 'flat'. This means that the landlady has free access to go in any time she chooses. The fact that she doesn't, is simply acknowledging his privacy, but it does not make the flat 'self-contained'.

'the flat' is not in fact a flat at all, but a suite of rooms in some-ones house, it is not self contained for council tax purposes, it does not have its own utility meters, and it does not have its own front door.

As has been stated, a lodger has few rights and can be asked to leave without notice.

He cannot legally break into the house - he does not have a key to his rooms, he has a key to an external door to the landlady's home. He is not entitled to break in.

There is no tenancy agreement, and he has no rights. This is not an unlawful eviction.

If he still has possessions at the house then obviously he needs to speak to the landlady and make arrangements to collect them at a mutually agreeable time.

Not exactly. They would still be termed as an occupier rather than a lodger or excluded occupier because they don't actually share any living spaces and the landlord would still need to serve him notice to leave.

As far as not having a tenancy agreement goes, the landlord is taking rent and its in writing so they still have rights.


OP I would suggest you actually get your friend to contact the local housing officer as well as Shelter.