Impending homelessness, because of bankcrupcy

dancingfairy

Have you applied for help from the council? I appreciate that they probably won't help until the last minute but it might be better to do it now and then move up the queue rather than having to worry about all that and submitting all the paperwork at the last minute? You may get extra points for disability/health issues, I don't know.
Unless you can find somewhere you have very little choice apart from to stay put. As has been said it can take a while for the whole court process. First your landlord has to apply for possession (it can take a while for the hearing depending on how busy your local courts are and it is by no means certain that your landlord will get onto it straight away). IF the landlord is granted possession (which they will be if they get the paperwork right) then they will still have to appoint bailiffs (this will lead to further delay depending on how busy the bailiffs are). All this could be over fairly quickly (say 6 weeks) or could drag on and on.
You should check the details over on the housing board as if your landlord hasn't done everything correctly then the S21 would be invalid and the landlord would have to start the whole process again. Your landlord is likely to get you out eventually but it can take a while, especially if all their paperwork is not in order (and it seems it's not that easy to get right).
Is your deposit registered?
What length of term was your tenancy?
When did it go periodic (ie when did the fixed term end)?? Was the deposit registered when it went periodic as it should have been (note this is the recommended approach but it has yet to be fully tested in court I believe).
Were you given all the correct information about the deposit was it regaistered/reregistered?
When was the S21 served? Was it correctly served in terms of the dates matching up with your rental period and was it for 2 rental periods?
Like I said if you are able to post the answers to these questions, the experts on the housing board will be able to give you further help and let you know whether there are any grounds to challenge the S21.
df
(challenging the S21 will not mean you can stay in the house but could obviously buy you a lot more time). Obviously you need to be pursuing a new house first and foremost but challenging the S21 is perhaps worth a shot.
Unfortunately the issues you are facing are not those faced by people who have become bankrupt, a lot of people for various reasons find themselves in a similar predicamanet.

onedayfreedom

A s21 notice can only expire at the end of a fixed term of a tenancy, providing two months notice have been given. If the tenancy is periodic, the landlord must again, give two clear months notice and the notice should expire at the end of a period of a tenancy (the day before rent falls due again). A recent case helped slacken the rigidity of notice requirements.

The Local Authority only has a duty to take a homeless application from you, if you are homeless or will be homeless within 28 days. A s21 notice is a 'no fault' notice, served because the landlord requires possession of his property. You will not have an application taken and the local authority has no duty to accommodate you, until the court has granted possession in favour of the landlord and many will wait until a warrant has been issue by the court bailiff for your eviction. Most local authorities are likely to make you wait until this happens. You are lucky, if you are assisted earlier. This is because you are not homeless, or will be so, within 28 days, at the moment.

A s21 notice does not require any breach of tenancy, but can only be lawfully served if your tenancy deposit (if paid) has been correctly protected, AND the prescribed information about it, given to you, within 30 days of the inception of any assured short hold tenancy which began after April 6th 2012. S213-215 Housing Act 2004, as amended by the Localism Act 2011. If your tenancy began or was renewed between April 2007 and April 2012, the landlord had 14 days to carry out the same process with your deposit. The rules since then have been tightened to prevent rogue landlords protecting the deposit after the notice has been served and before the tenant can claim the up to three times award available, if the landlord fails to protect it.

Without this protection, the s21 notice will be invalid and your remedy is an application to the county court for up to three times the deposit. Or, the landlord must return the deposit to you, immediately and before he can serve valid notice.

The local authority will investigate:
Whether you are eligible for assistance
You are homeless
You have a priority need (dependent children, pregnancy, vulnerable, elderly, prison leaver (Wales) and other reasons.)

At this point, if you have an apparent priority need, the local authority has a duty to place you into s188 Housing Act 1996 interim accommodation, whilst it carries out investigations into your homelessness. (If you have no apparent priority need, the local authority must provide tailored advice and assistance to you.) This can be anywhere in your local authority area.

The local authority will then consider whether you have made yourself homeless intentionally, and whether you have a local connection to your area of application.

If you have been served with a s21 notice and lose your home because of this, you should not be found to be homeless intentionally. The local authority may offer you temporary accommodation s193(5) HA 1996, or a permanent offer under s193(7) HA 1996. It will make ONE offer of suitable accommodation only and you will have 21 days FROM THE DATE YOU RECEIVE the homeless decision letter, pursuant to s184 HA 1996. If you do not agree with the decision, or you believe that the offer of accommodation is not suitable, please contact Shelter for assistance with any review of the decision. If you are offered temporary accommodation, you can only argue that the property is not suitable. If it is an offer under s193(7), you can also argue on reasonableness of the accommodation , in addition to suitability.

Please contact Shelter for more assistance.

The local authority can also discharge its duty to house you by offering a bond to assist you to find privately rented accommodation. It may also nominate another social housing association property for you, through either s193 route.

You may be better applying through the general allocation list for local authority housing. You may be given more choice, but you will still receive the homeless points, to boost your application.

If your landlord brings court proceedings against you for possession under s21, you are likely to be liable for costs and if there is a valid tenancy agreement and any deposit protected, he can gain possession without a court hearing, under the 'accelerated procedure' . You will be given a copy of the court order, then, after this expires, the landlord must apply for a bailiff's warrant, to evict you lawfully.

There is no defence to a s21 notice; you can only ask a court to consider more time because of hardship, up to 42 days. Local authorities will try to use this one, to prolong them having to house you, if you are eligible. But, as before, you will likely be liable for the costs in this. Contact Shelter.