Evicting Family Members!

Micromat

Hi, first post!
For the last 6 years we have shared our house with our daughter her husband and their 2 now late teenage sons. We don't stay there all year as we have a holiday place so only stay there 3/4 months during the winter but last year (October 2014) when we came back, because of bad health, my wife decided she now wanted to live in our house all year so we asked our daughter and husband to find their own place.
Although the rent has been very low we knew they'd not saved any money so offered to pay their security deposit and first months rent when they found a suitable place.
It's now nearly February and because of high rental prices and a lack of places to rent they have not been able to find a place and we are all still sharing!
One option is the council but very hard to get a place unless they were homeless and that would mean we would need to evict them....
Does anyone know where we stand and if the council would rehouse them? There's no contract and they pay the rent weekly, can we just evict them with reasonable notice?

[Deleted User]

As others more knowledgeable than me will go into more detail over, if they are paying rent, however low, there is an implied contract/agreement even if not a signed official tenancy agreement.

You are probably going to have problems.., legal as well as emotional resolving this situation.

Your daughter might have to consider moving to a cheaper area.., is there any reason she can't do this i.e. there's a school that offers facilities that can't be found in another area.., otherwise there's no reason she can't move.

You have offered to help with first month's rent and deposit.., will they pass credit checks that letting agencies set? Are they earning enough to rent a higher priced property (as in market rate as you imply you haven't been charging that)? They will have problems finding another property if they don't.

They probably need to go to the CAB for advice re housing, budgeting, benefits if they aren't earning much etc.

You probably also need advice.

pmlindyloo

Micromat wrote: »

Hi, first post!
For the last 6 years we have shared our house with our daughter her husband and their 2 now late teenage sons. We don't stay there all year as we have a holiday place so only stay there 3/4 months during the winter but last year (October 2014) when we came back, because of bad health, my wife decided she now wanted to live in our house all year so we asked our daughter and husband to find their own place.
Although the rent has been very low we knew they'd not saved any money so offered to pay their security deposit and first months rent when they found a suitable place.
It's now nearly February and because of high rental prices and a lack of places to rent they have not been able to find a place and we are all still sharing!
One option is the council but very hard to get a place unless they were homeless and that would mean we would need to evict them....
Does anyone know where we stand and if the council would rehouse them? There's no contract and they pay the rent weekly, can we just evict them with reasonable notice?

Well, yes, you can evict them with reasonable notice but this is easier said than done when it is family as you will be making them homeless.

In theory you could write a letter confirming that they need to leave by the **** and they could go to the council and declare themselves homeless.

However, in practice, the likelihood of their getting a council house is slim simply because of the lack of council housing.

Are they both working? On a low income?

They could check whether they would be entitled to any housing benefit and/or council tax support and that they are receiving the correct benefits (do they claim tax credits for example?)

The council can suggest that they look for private accommodation and obviously in the event that there are no council houses available this is what they should do.

Getting suitable private accommodation may depend on their working status but you are being very supportive by helping out financially.

It may be just a case of their being comfortable where they are and not making efforts to find accommodation.

You need to be quite assertive and as well as supportive if you really want the out.

TBagpuss

do you have any kind of formal tenancy, lodger or licence agreement with them?

If you live in the house too, then they may be lodgers rather than tenants in which case it s easier to evict.

It sounds as though they are prepared to go but need to jump through the right hoops, is that correct?

If so, I would suggest doing a letter stating something on the lines of "We are giving you notice that we no longer wish you to continue as lodgers in our home and you must move out no later than [date one month from the date of the letter]"

Clesrly, if they seek to claim that they have a tenancy then you may have to take more formal steps to bring it to an end.

Depending on where you live, however, they may well still not be able to get a council property - in many places there are far more people waiting for houses than there are properties available. I would anticipate that this is likely to be the case where you live as the fact that rental properties are scare, and rents high, is likely to mean that there will be a lot of people trying to get council housing.

pmlindyloo

As regards their status in their current situation I believe they are your non dependants and have no tenancy agreement whether verbal or written.

But this may be different because, from what you say, you haven't been living in the house for most of the year.

Did they pay the council tax whilst you were away? What about household bills?

You may have to seek advice (CAB/Shelter?) about whether they are classed as tenants and what notice you have to give.

Micromat

Hi, thanks for your swift replies.

@ Deannatrois
Yes we have suggested they move to an area where rents are cheaper but that would be a distance from here and they are not keen.
I believe they are earning enough to afford a more expensive place but the rent probably would be 60% more than it is now so they could find it hard.

@pmlindyloo
He works our daughter doesn't and the income isn't what I'd call low.
Yes they do pay the council tax and utility bills but when we stay we give them back our fair share.

@TBagpuss
No, there is not any written agreement with them and yes they are prepared to go but want to make the right decision. We are not about to throw them out if they would end up suffering although at some point soon they will need to go!

pmlindyloo

Micromat wrote: »

Hi, thanks for your swift replies.

@ Deannatrois
Yes we have suggested they move to an area where rents are cheaper but that would be a distance from here and they are not keen.
I believe they are earning enough to afford a more expensive place but the rent probably would be 60% higher so they could find it hard.

@pmlindyloo
He works our daughter doesn't and the income isn't what I'd call low.
Yes they do pay the council tax and utility bills but when we stay we give them back our fair share.

@TBagpuss
No, there is not any written agreement with them and yes they are prepared to go but want to make the right decision. We are not about to throw them out if they would end up suffering.

In that case then it is just a case of waiting to find the right place. Don't forget to ask friends/colleagues about rental places/look in the local papers/look in newsagents' windows as well as the usual letting agents.

Might be worth running their details through a benefit calculator (https://www.entitledto.co.uk) using an advertised rent just in case they are missing out on help.

They are going to have to do some budgeting adjustments if they haven't saved and now have to take on a higher rent, so a read of some of the articles on this site about budgeting might be useful.

xylophone

Can your daughter get a job?

If your son-in-law is on a good income, then he can afford to pay a market rent?

Your grandsons are of an age to get Saturday jobs to cover pocket money or if late teens, should soon be working full time/at university?

BigAunty

Micromat wrote: »

One option is the council but very hard to get a place unless they were homeless and that would mean we would need to evict them....
Does anyone know where we stand and if the council would rehouse them?

See the Shelter website for the actual homelessness process and what the council do when approached by the potentially homeless. In England, the law changed a few years ago - there is not now a mandatory requirement for a local council to offer social housing housing to the homeless. They can discharge their statutory obligations by offering a 1 year private tenancy.

BigAunty

Micromat wrote: »

I believe they are earning enough to afford a more expensive place but the rent probably would be 60% more than it is now so they could find it hard.

If they are paying less than half of market rent for a number of years, and their budgeting despite this is so poor that despite subsidized rent, they don't have a bean, then I'm not surprised they are resisting the reality of the market place. Are they hankering for a non-existing property - a cheap place in the same area? 4 months have passed and there's no sign of them moving!

You could encourage them to download the MSE budget planner and work through the site to identify where they can slash their outgoings to free up a bit more disposable income. (In tandem with the suggested benefit entitlement/HB check).

AlexMac

Returning to your original Q...

Micromat wrote: »

Hi, first post!
For the last 6 years we have shared our house with our daughter her husband and their 2 now late teenage sons. ...
One option is the council but very hard to get a place unless they were homeless and that would mean we would need to evict them....
Does anyone know where we stand and if the council would rehouse them? There's no contract and they pay the rent weekly, can we just evict them with reasonable notice?

I suspect that it would be tricky to evidence homelessness in these circumstances...
In that when a tenant of mine tried to get a Council tenancy, as a (then) benefit-dependent single parent with kids, this (Inner London) Council required a Court repossession Order and Balliff referral; they wouldn't even accept a Statutory notice to quit!

She had a real chance of a Council house with a garden (so, much better for a family than my upper storey flat) and she'd been a good tenant, so I went through the ludicrous charade of eviction via the Courts as that Council obviously had chosen to waste court time as part of their allocations policy.

So unless the local authority in your area is softer and awash with spare homes (mega-unlikely!) I'd say they have little chance.

So its probably down to negotiation with them; good luck with that!

And a bit off-message, and back to my own experience; in case there are any sanctimonious custodians of public money out there who think it was wrong of me to collude to help my ex-tenant into a Council House can I say...

she's now in a stable, long term relationship; both of them with service-sector jobs, albeit very low paid ones. Exactly the people who deserve affordable public housing; unless you don't think a city like London needs shop assistants and van drivers!