How soon before I'm homeless? Urgent

BigAunty

Ashwagandha wrote: »

...

Alternatively I could offer the landlord a written agreement that I will give up the tenancy in 3 months, continue paying rent until I leave and come to an arrangement re the arrears. I'm wondering which of these options is more appealing to a landlord. At the end of the day they just want their money and no unnecessary hassle I'd have thought

Personally, I don't think the section in bold is going to be accepted by many landlords and I doubt they would withdraw the legal case against you - your primary contract is the actual tenancy agreement and a little note to the effect that you promise to leave in 3 months isn't really worth the paper it's written on.

By law, a landlord only gets their property back if the tenant leaves of their own volition or they secure a court order. That note that you offer to supply is just unenforceable.

BigAunty

Ashwagandha wrote: »

It's a rolling contract....

In your original post, you said you were in a fixed term contract that expired next year? If so, that's not a rolling contract (known as a periodic tenancy).

Ashwagandha

I called the local county court and they said the waiting time to get a hearing date at the moment is approximately 6 weeks.

I was surprised to note that the woman at Shelter told me I can get more breathing time by adjourning the initial hearing date. I asked her on what grounds I'd adjourn it and she said she shouldn't really be telling me about it

Ashwagandha

BigAunty wrote: »

In your original post, you said you were in a fixed term contract that expired next year? If so, that's not a rolling contract (known as a periodic tenancy).

My initial contract was a one year AST. The landlord has yet to send the signed copy of the most recent contract. Shelter said nevertheless legally speaking I have the same rights as AST and this is a periodic tenancy. However the landlord could get me out with just 2 months notice should he wish.

RAS

What we are trying to get at is that if the S8 fails, the LL can still use the no fault S21.

Note the S21 means the LL can start proceedings in 2 months, not that they are entitled to reclaim the house in 2 months.

BigAunty

Ashwagandha wrote: »

I called the local county court and they said the waiting time to get a hearing date at the moment is approximately 6 weeks.

Right, well, it's only going to be a rough guess or average anyway.

So if the landlord proceeds to the next stage and applies for a PO on the 5th March, the court case may take place around mid to late April.

Perhaps, the date the PO would take effect would be late April to mid May.

According to Shelter, "You may be able to ask the court for more time before the possession order takes effect. This can only be done for up to six weeks and only if you are suffering great hardship." So you can't take this delaying strategy for granted so I haven't factored this in with my rough timings.

If you still remain in place and ignore the PO, perhaps it may take somewhere like 2 to 4 weeks for the landlord to get the bailiffs to enforce it, so perhaps this is heading towards early June to mid June? Happy for some other posters to double check my estimated timings but the OP must realise that there are lots of variables that don't make this reliable.

EDIT - I don't understand any process where you can actually adjourn the original intended date of the hearing like the Shelter representative said, I wonder if this is by complaining about the lack of repairs or something? Anyone know what delaying tactic a tenant has to delay the start of the court case?

BigAunty

Given that you are not going to be paid for a while, and that you've no other sources of income to pay down the arrears other than your employment, how many months arrears will you realistically owe by mid May when the court case may be heard?

And given that you appear to have a high rent with apparently no or limited access to housing benefit and nothing in the way of savings, perhaps its time to consider a much cheaper property? One that leaves you less vulnerable to homelessness if your income dips?

Ashwagandha

RAS wrote: »

What we are trying to get at is that if the S8 fails, the LL can still use the no fault S21.

Note the S21 means the LL can start proceedings in 2 months, not that they are entitled to reclaim the house in 2 months.

Yes he can do that. I'm confused as to why he didn't just serve the S21 straight away

Ashwagandha

BigAunty wrote: »

Given that you are not going to be paid for a while, and that you've no other sources of income to pay down the arrears other than your employment, how many months arrears will you realistically owe by mid May when the court case may be heard?

And given that you appear to have a high rent with apparently no or limited access to housing benefit and nothing in the way of savings, perhaps its time to consider a much cheaper property? One that leaves you less vulnerable to homelessness if your income dips?

I can get it down to below 2 months arrears by mid May as long as I eat very little food from now until then. As for finding a cheaper property, I've been looking for one, obviously. I found nothing below £800 a month and by the time I'd factored in having to cough up a 6 week deposit, month rent in advance and moving costs it wasn't a huge improvement on the current situation. Sharing a flat is not an option due to personal problems

BigAunty

Ashwagandha wrote: »

I can get it down to below 2 months arrears by mid May as long as I eat very little food from now until then. ...

How do you plan to hold down a job in a malnourished state?!

EDIT

If you manage to remain in this property by thwarting the S8, how do you plan to mitigate the very real risk that the next dip in income sees this whole cycle repeated again, perhaps by S21 which can't be sabotaged by the tenant?

You may find the landlord will not let you stay on past the fixed termeven if you've made up the arrears - how are you going to pay off the slightly less than 2 months rent owed by the date of the court case, then your rent for the rest of the fixed term, and then save up enough to pay the fees, deposit and first months rent on your next place?

I'm not going to pry about the reasons why you won't share a property which may slash your living costs by half but have you got a strategy whereby your lifestyle matches your income rather than your preferences?