Sod landlord protection wheres the protection for tenants!

thelem

seachelle007 wrote: »

Oh well lesson learnt, hopefully buying a house will be less stressful.:rotfl:

Sorry to disappoint you, but it's usually much more stressful. You've still got lying agents involved, but there's much more money at stake so everything takes longer and costs more, and that's before you start to think about buyers pulling out, property chains etc. I don't mean to be depressing, and there are lots of advantages to owning your home, but I don't want you to have false expectations.

tbs624

seachelle007 wrote: »

We have been renting a house since January and were told that the landlord was looking for a long term let which suited us perfectly, although we were told that we could only initially sign up for 6 months and then let the contract go on to a rolling monthly one, we assumed this was normal practice as with other houses we had rented,. So as you do we brought all our furniture and signed up for our phone/broadband 18 month contract thinking we would be in this house for a good couple years while we saved for a deposit on a mortgage and our wedding in september.
However we received a letter the other week saying that the landlord requires the property back and we have to move out at the end of the 6 months!

Has LL/original LA scheme registered any tenancy deposit paid by you *and* given you the scheme's prescribed information? If not then any s21 will be invalid.

However, if there is an issue there, keep it to yourself for now. As has been suggested by a previous poster it is likely that the LL has to pay a hefty fee to the original LA if the LL wants to extricate himself from their contract but keep you as a T. Chat to the LL first and see whether this is the case.

If this wasn't bad enough we got a phone call from another estate agent a couple days later saying they wantd to come round and take photos as they had prospective tenants wanting to move in!!!:mad:

Again, talk to the LL first. You are not obliged to agree to viewings/photo sessions if you don't wish to. New T cannot be signed up until/unless your own occupation of the property is resolved - even if s21 is in fact valid, you do not have to move out on the Fixed Term expiry date. s21 is notice that LL may want repossession *after* the FT expiry and if you choose not to go at that point LL will have to seek a Court Order.

Now if we hadn't paid our rent on time were troublesome etc i can understand why new tenants would be needed BUT we look after the house properly pay on time every time and after phoning the estate agents who we originally signed with were told that the landlord was 'just' moving agents and it was nothing personal!!!.........plus we have to pay to have the carpets professionally cleaned which is another chunk of money wasted and takes the mick really!

LL can ask that carpets are "cleaned to a professional standard", but only if the LL can adequately show that the carpets were\ in that condition at the start of the tenancy.

Unfortunately, a s21 is a no fault notice but most LLs prefer to stick with a currently reliable T rather than boot them out to replace with one who may turn out to be a rogue, despite referencing etc.

It is likely to be down to costs/pressure from either of /both LAs ( some LAs don't like to inherit a LL's existing T) or possibly there is a potential T who is already known to the LL.

Do try talking direct to the LL first and seeing if there is any compromise that could be reached.

Tazocin

Not a massive consolation but speak to your phone/BB provider, Ive found them to be reasonable in the past about contracts and moving houses/reducing services for short periods. Other option could be to transfer contract to parents if theirs is cheaper to reduce in interim? Not a fix but might soften the sting if you do have to move on.

G_M

If the property is to be re-let, I suspect this is all driven by the agent, who can then
* charge the landlord new 'tenant-find' fees and
* charge the new tenant application fees etc.

Agent? :beer:
Landlord?
Tenants?

Contact the LL. He may have been told YOU want to leave. If he knows you want to stay, he can instruct his agent to stop advertising the property, and let you stay. He can also tell them to let you stay on a Periodic Tenancy (so neither he, nor you, need to pay the agent for a new contract.

Or you and he could agree a 12 or 24 month contract. Security for both of you :beer:

tbs624

G_M wrote: »

If the property is to be re-let, I suspect this is all driven by the agent, who can then
* charge the landlord new 'tenant-find' fees and
* charge the new tenant application fees etc.

Agent? :beer:
Landlord?
Tenants?

Contact the LL. He may have been told YOU want to leave. If he knows you want to stay, he can instruct his agent to stop advertising the property, and let you stay. He can also tell them to let you stay on a Periodic Tenancy (so neither he, nor you, need to pay the agent for a new contract.

Agreed that T should talk direct to LL but note that the LL has chosen to change LAs - likely that original LA seeking ongoing fees if current T remains in situ

fishpond

benjus wrote: »

Have you tried writing directly to the landlord to ask if they would be happy for you to stay in the property with the new agent? Most landlords would be happy for a good tenant to stay on, while the agents are probably keen to change tenants so they can make a bit of profit.

Exactly why I would of said.

Now I had better read the rest of the posts

Naf

tbs624 wrote: »

most LLs prefer to stick with a currently reliable T rather than boot them out to replace with one who may turn out to be a rogue, despite referencing etc.

THIS!!

AND THIS:!!

G_M wrote: »

Contact the LL. He may have been told YOU want to leave. If he knows you want to stay, he can instruct his agent to stop advertising the property, and let you stay. He can also tell them to let you stay on a Periodic Tenancy (so neither he, nor you, need to pay the agent for a new contract.

A thousand times these!!

Too many LLs are not fully up to speed with what's going on and LAs lead them in a merry dance because of it.

Brock_and_Roll

If the LL does want you out, make sure you let any prospective new tenants know not to put any roots down!

This country is crying out for some form of mutually secure long term rental structure.

Naf

Brock_and_Roll wrote: »

This country is crying out for some form of mutually secure long term rental structure.

What isn't mutually secure about the existing tenancy system? If anything it favours tenants. A periodic tenancy gives tenants 2 months security vs. 1 month for LLs; 6/12/etc. months give equal security to both parties.
If, as a tenant, you want long term security you can discuss a longer term lease with your LL; if they decline, then you must be prepared to either dig your heels in for them to take it to court, or to move at relatively short notice.
There isn't any issue with the system in place with respect to security and fairness - but LLs and Ts ought to be more clued up, and LAs need to act more responsibly in their business.

RupertTheCat

I would second contacting the landlord directly as unless they are selling the property it makes no sense for them to find new tenants. I'm a landlord and I hate 6 months ASTs, I love long term tenants - they cost me less! And I love good tenants too - I usually give them rent reductions for renewing their leases.

Believe me there isn't that much protection for landlords. We get shafted just as much as tenants - often by letting agents who exist purely to annoy everyone I've decided.