Just got told we are getting evicted

RPinho

Hello,

Me and my 3 flatmates live in East London, we have been living for the past year together and our contract finished on the 23rd of July since May we have been asking the Estate Agent what was going to happen when the contract finished but we never got any reply.
So we just continued to pay rent as usual.
Yesterday (3rd of September 2012) I got a call from our agent saying that we have to leave the house by the 2nd of October. and that starting on the 5th of September there will be people visiting our place.
Besides the phone call I later received an SMS saying:

"Hi,

I refer to our telephone conversation and confirm that landlord requires £1800 (it was 1300£) per month rent.
You will be required to leave on 02/10/12 if you do not wish to renew for £1800 per month.
You have to pay rent for period 23/09/12 to 02/10/12.

We will be marketing property from Wednesday (05/09/12) and will be coming to show property to prospective tenants. We will text you every time we come.

Regards"

My question is, is this normal and shouldn't we receive a notification by paper or at least something better than a sms.
and is 1 month normal notice period as well ?

Thank you if someone can answer this question.

jjlandlord

This SMS has no value both the rent increase or the demand to leave.
If you acknowledge that you receive it, it's just an informal offer to increase the rent.

Some agents will never learn it seems.

theartfullodger

Verbal notice has no legal effect.

Only correctly served paper notice (s21 or s8) will do. Even so the notice is simply a notice stating legal action MAY be taken on expiry. It does not end tenancy, you do nothave to leave.

You do not have to permit viewings.


However maybe ccompromise: what do you want? Eg rent reduction, good reference, peace&quiet?

The agent just might not realise they know nuffink...

Cheers

Annabee

Plus they have to give you at least 2 months notice.

Yorkie1

Is the £1800 an increase in rent? If so, it isn't properly done. Assuming no new tenancy has been agreed, it has to be done in writing, citing a particular statutory provision (others will remind me what it is), and give at least one month's notice.

Sit tight and don't pay any increase.

As for the notice to end the tenancy, as already said, it can only be ended by a written notice from the LL. Assuming your rent is up to date, this will be a s.21 notice. As you are now on a periodic tenancy, the LL must give you 2 months' notice, ending at the end of a [STRIKE]rental[/STRIKE] [edit: tenancy] period.

You say your fixed term tenancy ended on 23 July. Did it therefore start on either 24 January or 24 July - just checking your dates?

If the LL was to serve a s.21 notice today, it would expire after 23 November. You do not have to leave on that date; it just means that he can then start proceedings in court for an eviction notice.

By the way, is your deposit protected? If not, he can't issue a valid s.21 anyway.

As for allowing people to view the property, you have the right to refuse this. You can write to the LL / LA stating that you have the right to quiet enjoyment and do not permit any viewings. If you think they won't do as you ask, change the barrell of the locks.

Alternatively, you could allow viewings only at certain specified times / days of the week, on prior confirmation 24 hours in advance. However, that might lead to a new T signing a contract when you have no intention of moving (and are entitled to stay put for the time being).

As others have said, what do you want out of this? Ultimately, once the LA gets its act in gear, you will have to leave. It all depends how forcefully you want to stand by the rights you do have / let the LA find out its errors over time, or to reach a compromise.

RAS

Annabee wrote: »

Plus they have to give you at least 2 months notice.

To end in line with the rental period so probably notice before 23.9.12 to vacate by 23.11.12.

And you are not even required to leave then, or to accept any marketing of the property mean-time.

Or pay the increased rent.

is you deposit protected? Which scheme?

have you changed the door locks?

DVardysShadow

Yorkie1 wrote: »

...
As for the notice to end the tenancy, as already said, it can only be ended by a written notice from the LL. Assuming your rent is up to date, this will be a s.21 notice. As you are now on a periodic tenancy, the LL must give you 2 months' notice, ending at the end of a rental period.

You say your fixed term tenancy ended on 23 July. Did it therefore start on either 24 January or 24 July - just checking your dates?

If the LL was to serve a s.21 notice today, it would expire after 23 November. You do not have to leave on that date; it just means that he can then start proceedings in court for an eviction notice.

By the way, is your deposit protected? If not, he can't issue a valid s.21 anyway.

Just to add to this - sit tight and do not complain that the agent is getting it wrong. Their dates are wrong, and their process for giving you notice is wrong. Just ignore it till after 23 September and the earliest any notice they serve correctly can take effect is 23 December.

RPinho

Thank you very much for all these replies,

I asked the estate agent about this Section 21 document and he got all angry "kind of threatening us". we do not want to continue in this flat but it did seem very strange how the whole process was done.
I really appreciate all these answers as I and my flatmates do not understand any of these things (we are from Portugal).
we will continue our search for a better flat but we dont want to be bullied around when it is not right.

PS: does anybody have some favorite websites to search for flats/houses ? East London Area

Yorkie1

Note that when you do decide to move out, you must give one month's notice, also to coincide with the end of a [STRIKE]rental[/STRIKE] [edit: tenancy] period. So, if you gave notice today, you would be liable for rent until 23 October unless the LL agreed an earlier surrender in writing.

Is your deposit protected and have you received information about where it is protected?

Do you have an inventory of the flat's condition / contents from when you moved in?

princeofpounds

Hi there.

As stated by the others, the rent increase demand has no effect. It can only apply if you agree a new tenancy, or agree to continue with your periodic tenancy that you are now in at the higher amount, or a section 13 process is used (basically an official notice in an precise form).

As for the agent seeking to end the tenancy, the advice the others have given is right. You don't have to leave unless a court order is given.

However, just for your understanding the normal way things work is that after a proper section 21 notice a tenant makes a best effort to leave on expiry of the notice. That is so they get a reference and no-one normally wants a trip to court.

However, if you landlord and their agent is determined to abuse your rights then such mutual respect and cooperation is perhaps less relevant.

You also don't have to allow viewings, although the only practical defece against this is changing the lock barrels (and replacing them on exit) as there is no real penalty if the agent enters without permission, unless they damage things or threaten you.

RPinho

I asked him about the deposit and he said "it is protected in a segregated account and also insured with his deposits""deposit will be refunded once all bills are paid"
I dont know what this even means.

Thanks for the pointers.