Section 21/ Court Order help please!

Sibelius

I have been renting out a 2 bed flat. The flat is in desperate need of a complete overhall so I decided to give notice, renovate and then re-let the flat. One of the tenants has been there for 3 years and always paid rent on time. During the period of notice he lost his job and asked if for the remainder of the time if he could go on housing benefit. I allowed this as he was a good tenant (even though my mortgage agreement does not allow it).The tenant should move out today, but has now shown me a note from the council saying he should stay in the flat as to move out is making himself homeless and he will lose benefits. I had not realised the section 21 notice which he signed is not legally binding. Do I have to go and get a court order now? If you have been through this or know how to do this and how long it takes please let me know. Thank You.

deary65

You would be best to post your question here, Also provide more facts i.e is the tenancy periodic ect..
http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=3

thesaint

The council routinely advise this.

Your S21 has not been deemed invalid, it is simply the 1st step in getting someone to leave, if they don't leave, they are entitled to stay until the court bailiffs removes them.
They are liable to pay rent until the day they leave and will be liable for your court costs on top.The time it takes to remove them will be many months, so if I were in your position, I would write the tenant giving him 14 days after the eviction date to leave otherwise you will without further notice apply to the court for possession at his cost (the council do not tell them this).

Get your S21 checked, because if it has an error, it will be dismissed in court, and you have to serve a new one and repeat the process.

dnwilliams

If you need some help with this I've found Landlord Action to be worthwhile.
http://www.landlordaction.co.uk/

Guy_Montag

sounds pretty crappy for you, but worse for the tenant. If he moves out it sounds like he loses his benefits on the other hand if you go to court he get's lumbered with the bill for that.

I would get in touch with the council yourself & see what they have to say.

Doozergirl

Could you let him stay while you do the work? Obviously there will be upheaval but he probably won't mind if he's otherwise homeless.

You'd keep a bit of money coming in and would save on court costs etc?

jamesd

Do you want to keep the tenant if you can find a way to do the repairs without a change of tenant?

Assuming that the tenant is a single young male he'll be at approximatly the bottom of the emergency housing list. He has every reason to work with you to find a way to get it done if you're willing.