Tenant refuses to move out

Stolley30

I have rented my property for 7 years whilst out of the country. It has been managed by a letting agent during this time. 9 months ago we told the agency this would be our final year as we would be returning to the UK. We rented for 6 months and the tenant was served his ample notice. In fact he took the property on 6 months ago knowing we were due to have it back. Tenant was due to move this weekend and we we're suppose to obtain keys on Monday, tenant has told letting agent he is not moving out. My husband and I have moved out from our rented property and are currently staying on a friends sofa with our 17 month old child. Does anyone have any advice on where we stand and how long it will be before we get our home back. We have been forced to put our belongings into storage and cancel the van we had for moving on Monday, thus losing our deposits. As well as having used all our annual leave to move this week.

kirkbyinfurnesslad_2

Well tbh it could take months!

Was the deposit protected? If the they know what they are doing you could definately looking at a good few months

Kynthia

I'm assuming you are in England or Wales, if not then be aware the law is different in Scotland. As someone who has been running a letting business for so long you should probably have been more aware on how a tenancy ends. Legally only the tenant and a court can end a tenancy and the landlord can't. The landlord can ask a tenant to go but they do not have to until the landlord gets a possession order and enforces it with court bailiffs.

So things to look at now are:
Has the tenant given any indication of when they might move out?
Did you issue a section 21 notice to the tenant as their notice and was it valid as many people get it wrong?
Was any deposit taken from this tenant? Was it protected within 30 days and did you give the tenant the prescribed information. This affects whether your section 21 is valid and affects your ability to get a possession order.

Stolley30

The deposit was protected as far as I know. The property is completely managed by a letting agent. All notice was served correctly. Am I entitled to any emergency housing, me and my family are homeless due to this one man. At least I have a sofa my poor husband is sleeping in a chair!

xylophone

https://www.gov.uk/evicting-tenants/rules-you-must-follow

http://www.independent.co.uk/property/house-and-home/property/when-tenancy-agreements-go-bad-how-to-get-them-out-7901659.html

might be worth a look.

Kynthia

Stolley30 wrote: »

The deposit was protected as far as I know. The property is completely managed by a letting agent. All notice was served correctly. Am I entitled to any emergency housing, me and my family are homeless due to this one man. At least I have a sofa my poor husband is sleeping in a chair!

You should check the deposit issue as it's the law and very important. Although you have a letting agent you are still responsible.

Your tenant hasn't made you homeless, they are acting lawfully as the tenancy hasn't ended. You were probably presumptuous in assuming they would leave when you asked them to. If the section 21 notice was valid then once it expires you must apply for a court date. You should be granted possession, most likely 14 days after the hearing. However if the tenant still doesn't leave then you will need to apply to the court for bailiffs to attend the property and this can take another 2-8 weeks.

As you can see this can take a fair amount of time so you should probably make alternative accommodation arrangements for your family. Has your tenant indicated when they might leave; do they just need a few more days or are they waiting for you to evict them? You could try offering them a financial incentive, but be careful that you don't harass them as forced eviction is illegal.

ruggedtoast

Did he really know he was going to be asked to move out on six months or did the letting agent just tell you he did?

If it were me I'd probably offer him a bung to go. He hasn't really made you homeless, you did that yourself.

silvercar

Stolley30 wrote: »

The deposit was protected as far as I know. The property is completely managed by a letting agent. All notice was served correctly. Am I entitled to any emergency housing, me and my family are homeless due to this one man. At least I have a sofa my poor husband is sleeping in a chair!

You could go tot the council and ask for emergency housing. They may give you a flatlet or something while they assess your claim.

Kynthia wrote: »

Your tenant hasn't made you homeless, they are acting lawfully as the tenancy hasn't ended. You were probably presumptuous in assuming they would leave when you asked them to. If the section 21 notice was valid then once it expires you must apply for a court date. You should be granted possession, most likely 14 days after the hearing. However if the tenant still doesn't leave then you will need to apply to the court for bailiffs to attend the property and this can take another 2-8 weeks.

Although your extra housing costs aren't claimable from the tenant, any court and bailiff costs you incur will be claimable.

Stolley30

I am clearly very nieve for thinking that these tenants would move out. Before owning my home I would never have dreamed of not moving out on a set day. Tbh it never occurred to me that he would not move out. He definitely was aware he had a short lease as the agent offered a discount rent for this reason. Feeling very foolish that I thought things would go to plan :mad:

BitterAndTwisted

Unfortunately the tenant isn't doing anything unlawful. If they are not amenable to bringing their tenancy to an end only a court can do so.

IF the deposit has been registered and the tenant was given the necessary confirmation paperwork within the correct time-scale AND your Section 21 Notice has been correctly served you should consider applying for accelerated repossession through the court.

Has your agent offered any guidance as to how you would go about this?

Or, of course, you could consider offering the tenant a financial inducement to go.

owitemisermusa

Unbelievable! If everything has been done by the book why can somebody just simply refuse to move out? It's just ridiculous IMHO.

I wish the law could be addressed so that people can't just mess about. There must be a penalty for tenants who wantonly disregard properly served notices.

I hope that there would be some sort of redress and a way to ensure that tenants who blatantly try to play the system are counter-sued and made to pay back the landlord.

Honestly, I thought the law had been rebalanced recently?

I am surprised that folks are having a go at the OP regarding the homeless issue. Very surprised.

OP, I feel for you. I hope things work out ok.