Tenants' rights

savvykaz

Hi - I hope someone can help?

My mum is currently renting a property from a private landlord and gave her notice two weeks ago to vacate the property 02/03/07. The landlord has found new tenants who want to be in on the 2nd, the woman is 3 months pregnant. Now today, my mum has learnt that she cannot move into her new property for another couple of months so she phoned her landlord who said "That is not my problem, you need to be out by the 2nd, I have your notice in writing and the other young woman is pregnant." My mum told him she will be homeless but he just doesn't care :mad:
Does she have to move or can she insist that she stays, tenants' rights and all that? She is 66, has high blood pressure, suffers with angina and asthma and does not need this!!! I live 60 miles away so cannot go with her tomorrow to see a solicitor, just wondered if anyone had any advice please?

scrummy_mummy_2

You don't say what type of tenancy agreement she has.
If it is a fixed term assured shorthold tenancy the dates of her tenancy will be dictated by the dates on the agreement.
EG: She may have rented for a set period of 6 months from 01 October 2006 till 31 March 2007. When 31st march arrives, she should have arranged to vacate and surrender possession of the property to the LL unless another fixed period was agreed.
If she originally signed a fixed term agreement and it had come to an end but the LL said she could stay, it would have lapsed into what is called a periodic agreement, where the terms of the original AST apply but the tenancy goes month to month rather than for a fixed period....if this is the case the LL must give her 2 written months' notice to quit.

Tell me what sort of agreement she has and the dates and I can help you more.

scrummy_mummy_2

I forgot to say...if you read this tonight, don't worry, there are lots of really knowledgeable posters on this chat room, Silver car, doozergirl, Prudryden, Gorgeous George to mention a few I have become familliar with, who can help you with solid and sound advice.
I am away tomorrow (dad in Southampton General having just had bypass surgery) so if I don't get back to you, it's not that I have abandoned the thread, just got a bit on at the minute!
Don't worry....it can be sorted out.

savvykaz

Hi scrummymummy and thanks for your reply.
As far as I know it was not a fixed term rental. The LL said she could stay as long as she wanted.
I have told her to go see a solicitor and CAB tomorrow, so I will update when I have spoken to her.

All the best with your dad. Don't parents cause a lot of worry?

silvercar

The landlord should not have handed over a new tenancy agreement while your Mum was still in the property. He should have waited until the property was empty. Fine for him to look for new tenants, not fine for him to sign new tenancy agreements when he has not got a vacant property to put them in.

It all sounds reasonable. Your mum gives a months notice, LL finds new tenants, your mum moves out, new tenants move in. Life is not that simple.

He should have told the tenants that the property was expected to be available, given the new tenants the contract to look at and done any credit checks. He should only have signed off the contracts when the property was vacant.

Now all your Mum needs to do is tell him she can't (and won't) be moving out on the agreed date. He then could try going to court to evict her, but that would be hassle for him and a judge could easily allow your Mum to stay. The landlord now needs to tell the new tenants that the property won't actually be available for a few more weeks. Your Mum is, of course, expected to pay rent for the following rent period if she is still there.

prudryden

This looks like one of those unfortunate twists that life throws at us. To be fair, your Mother did give notice to vacate in writing. The LL has accepted the notice in good faith and has located new tenants, who probably want to stay for an extended period of time.

His obligation of duty is first to himself, the new tenants, and finally to your Mother. Your Mother can refuse to leave, forcing the LL to initiate court proceedings, which will undoubtably increase the costs for both sides and cause untold stress on your Mother.

Is there anyway she can stay with you or other relatives/friends for 8 weeks?