landlord not renewing tenancy - Help

RAS

Make sure HA know that you now have court papers as this may give you extra points.

jules-2005

I wasn't aware of that RAS. Thank you I shall ring them this afternoon

aeb_2

princeofpounds wrote: »

Yes it's tough, but the landlord will eventually have to realise that he is the one who messed up

Hi, don't bite my head off for asking but I have a question. I'm not a landlord so not on either 'side' but have kept reading this thread; I feel for the tenant with 3 young children and nowhere to go but can I just ask:

The landlord gave notice at the end of Feb to move out start of May, so over two months and as I understand protected the deposit and gave her the paperwork. If that is all correct how did he 'mess up'?

I realise he has messed up recently by having a go at the tenant, that is out of order but what should he have done early on to get possession at the start of May?

I hope it gets sorted soon.

Pixie5740

The LL has messed up by telling his ex-wife that the property will be available for her to move in when it won't be because the OP is still living there.

The LL seems to think he can end the tenancy and he can't, only a court or the tenant can do that.

AlexMac

Good luck Jules. I have nothing to add beyond best wishes, and the observation that you seem incredibly well organised and sorted for someone under a lot of pressure; so I bet that you will eventually be OK, whether in achieving your new social rental, or in defending yourself against the LL's excesses, including TDS or court action if it comes to that.

As a small LL myself, I had to help a tenant, also a single mum, by going through the charade of court and bailiff repossession as her local authority demanded this as part of confirming her tenancy offer, and she found that really stressful, even though it was a game we had to pay, and I swallowed the court costs as she had done me favours by being a model tenant.

Andwhile I am doing nicely now, I recall the !!!! housing, bed n breakfasts and hostels my mum and I lived in during the time she was desperately trying for a council flat in post-war London. So right on sister!

And who knows, when this is all over, you might even spare a smidgen of forgiveness for your LL, whose terrible conduct is in part reflecting his own unhappy recent relationship

aeb_2

OK, thanks. So if the tenant can't/won't move out does it always have to go to court even after the S21? notice is served 2 months before. That seems stressful on both sides. And the bit about the council can't/won't act till its gone to court.....
Everyone delaying because basically too many people and too few homes.

Pixie5740

aeb wrote: »

OK, thanks. So if the tenant can't/won't move out does it always have to go to court even after the S21? notice is served 2 months before. That seems stressful on both sides. And the bit about the council can't/won't act till its gone to court.....
Everyone delaying because basically too many people and too few homes.

If a section 21 notice is issued and the tenant can't/won't move at the end of the notice period then yes the LL will need to go to court to get an eviction notice.

A section 21 notice is just the first step in a LL regaining possession of the property, it cannot evict the tenant.

00ec25

aeb wrote: »

OK, thanks. So if the tenant can't/won't move out does it always have to go to court even after the S21? notice is served 2 months before. That seems stressful on both sides.

legally - yes
the Section 21 is not an eviction notice, in legal terms it is a precursor written advisement by the LL to the tenant to inform them the LL is seeking possession after a specified date (with precise rules that define the date)

only a court can actually give ("grant") possession to the LL, and only when armed with the possession notice in their hand can a LL appoint bailiffs to physically remove (ie evict) a tenant, if they are still there.

the LL owns the property but whilst a tenant lives there the tenant has a right to occupy it until either a court grants it back to the LL or, in grossly oversimplified terms, the tenant leaves voluntarily thereby relinquishing their right to live there

aeb wrote: »

And the bit about the council can't/won't act till its gone to court.....
Everyone delaying because basically too many people and too few homes.

in the past their approach was that someone is not homeless until the legal process is concluded by the grant to the LL. This came to be called "gatekeeping" as councils would not open the gate to social housing until you were legally homeless. It was considered cost effective for councils as not every S21 issued physically resulted in someone ending up on the street so councils were spending time and money on admin that led nowhere as some tenants managed to rehouse themselves before getting anywhere near social housing

However, as others have said, the government has changed the rules in the Localism Act to outlaw gatekeeping, but as with many things in life old habits die hard and the public sector is no different in that respect

princeofpounds

Hi, don't bite my head off for asking but I have a question.

haha I'm not going to bite anyone. all I meant was this, as helpfully typed by Pixie:

The LL has messed up by telling his ex-wife that the property will be available for her to move in when it won't be because the OP is still living there.

The LL seems to think he can end the tenancy and he can't, only a court or the tenant can do that.

Still nothing happening council/housing association wise. I ended up 3rd in line on a house last week but think that's because its not in a good location. There are very few properties available each week

It does seem like the council is cutting it rather fine on the gate-keeping. Remember that at some stage they should offer emergency accommodation, which won't be great, but that will put you even higher up the list.

I was under the impression that courts were really busy and it could take 4 - 6 months for the eviction

It can take a long time, but remember that the actual judgment normally comes well before the actual eviction. 4-6 months would be very unusual however, if the eviction is done properly; normally we might talking 4-6 weeks for a hearing, and the same again for bailiffs to attend and enforce it. But it varies widely.

SnooksNJ

RAS wrote: »

So he knows the solution

Can you get a council house if you already own a home?