"friend" landlord kicking us out 6 months early for her to live there

upavon1

Hi - My friend needs help. She has rented a house with her husband and two children off a distant relative of hers. It was all done with an agent, deposit given, contract signed. However her relative has now told her she has to be out by the end of next month (she has notified her of the 2 months notice in writing). This is so that the relative can move in temporarily to the property so she can get her daughters into the local school as her permanent address is out of the catchment area of the school she wants her children to go to so is going to register them living at this property). My friend is going to seek legal advice but she told me today that her relative went into her house without my friends permission when they were on holiday recently to fix a radiator and lay some carpet on the stairs. My friend had actually text her and said not to come into the property whilst they were away (and this text has been saved on her phone) and not to worry about fixing the radiator (the carpets have been fitted for the relatives benefit when she hopes to move in at the end of October!). If anyone could let me know whether the Landlord can just give notice on a 12 month contract (they only moved in April/May) without any justifcation and whether she is just allowed to go into the property without my friends permission. All comments appreciated. Many thanks everyone.

Fire_Fox

Is there a break clause in the AST? Has the damage deposit been lodged with one of the three schemes? Why is your friend communicating with her landlord via text message? This should only be used for mates not formal or semi formal communication.

Landlord cannot legally enter the property without consent, that breaches the tenants right to quiet enjoyment. How willing is your friend to fall out with the relative? If she is write a letter quoting the contract and the legislation, being clear there is no consent to enter the property and that the family intend to honour the dates in the AST.

It's worth running a search, both issues have come up many many times.

Yorkie1

Is the property in England / Wales?

As FF says, is the deposit registered?

As FF says, is there a break clause in the tenancy agreement?

What did the 'notice' letter actually say? Did it refer to any legislation in it?

Mrs_Imp

Some schools and Councils take a very dim view of people falsely claiming their children live at an address just to get their child in to the catchment area of a school. Is the distant relative and the other family aware of this??

Yorkie1

Mrs_Imp wrote: »

Some schools and Councils take a very dim view of people falsely claiming their children live at an address just to get their child in to the catchment area of a school. Is the distant relative and the other family aware of this??

But it wouldn't be a false claim if the relative has moved back in by the relevant time ...

chris_m

Yorkie1 wrote: »

But it wouldn't be a false claim if the relative has moved back in by the relevant time ...

It would be if they then moved out again once the sprogs have been accepted or started at the school.

Werdnal

OP, we need some more info before we can give accurate advice.

Does the tenancy agreement contain a break clause? Some 12 month agreements allow either party to break the tenancy on or after the 6 month point. However, even if it does, the LL has to go through a strict procedure and cannot just hand over written notice and expect the tenants to move out.

In order to end the tenancy, either at break clause or end of the term, the LL needs to serve correct, valid notice - this takes the form of a Section 21 notice, and must be correctly issued, with proof that it was served, and give 2 months full notice. However, this does not end the tenancy in itself - after the 2 months, tenants need not move out, and the LL then seeks a court possession order to end the tenancy. This can take another 2-3 months on top of the original 2 months notice.

Did the LL provide tenants with any details of a protection scheme used for their deposit? This is important, as if the LL has not protect the deposit and/or provided the correct documents from the deposit scheme (known as the prescribed information), then even of they issue the correct notice, it will be invalid, as LL cannot use a section 21 unless they have correctly protected the deposit and supplied the documents to the tenant within 30 days of the deposit being paid to them.

Until you confirm the info above, no-one can confirm whether the notice issued is correct, but for now I would advise the tenants to ignore the notice, not enter into any discussions with the LL at all, and seek their own legal advice.

As for entering without permission, no the LL should not enter if the tenant has specifically refused them entry whilst they are away. Tenants are permitted to change locks if they feel the LL will persist in entering the property without consent.

Unfortunately, this is one of the perils of renting to/from friends or relatives - never a good idea! However, relative or not, the LL here has to abide by the legally binding agreement, and if they want to end it, adhere to the legal route to evict their tenants. Just because its family, they cannot ignore the law!

Yorkie1

This all assumes the property is in England / Wales, which the OP hasn't yet confirmed ...

Ulfar

Yorkie1 wrote: »

This all assumes the property is in England / Wales, which the OP hasn't yet confirmed ...

England/Wales or Scotland makes no difference for deposit regs. they have all been bought into line.

Yorkie1

No, but the references to s.21 and the right to stay on until court order are completely different.

upavon1

Wow. Thank you all so much for your comments and advice. I will pass all this on and get her to go through their contract. The property is in England. Thanks everyone