Will the council try to get her to evade the eviction?

sniperpenguin

Hi Everyone, I wonder if you could give me a little help with my upcoming situation.

I'm an "accidental landlord" - moved to another area after a divorce so the house (2 bed and loft conversion) was rented out to an old schoolfriend with 3 kids. There have been struggles with her paying rent on time / affording the rent but I'm not owed any money currently. However, she is on housing benefit and I often get calls regarding it being stopped.... A new partner has moved in (I was notified), but she is now pregnant again and her outgoings have increased further, putting a further strain on paying rent.

An AST is in place, the deposit is protected and things such as gas safety certs are in place. We're coming to the point now where she wants to move out (I have not received any official notice) to a council house instead (as the rent is cheaper) but she wants to try to go down the "house is unsuitable" angle to get housing quicker.... I disagree with this, as the house is not unsafe.

I have been hearing horror stories from another landlord (who ironically, is my landlord now ) about the council, and how they will give her advice on how to get around the Section 21 ( or at least delay the eviction) by just not paying and staying put - forcing me to follow the legal route.... Has anyone else encountered this?

Of course, I will be careful in the preparation of the S21 (All details correct etc),..

Thanks

DTDfanBoy

The house being "unsuitable" doesn't necessarily mean that it's unsafe, due to her having three children with another on the way in a two bedroom property, it may be unsuitable due to lack of bedrooms.

Pixie5740

A Section 21 doesn't end a tenancy. The tenancy can only be ended by the tenant or a court. Therefore if you want rid of this tenant then you will have to serve notice correctly and follow up with an eviction notice from court and possibly bailiffs to physically remove the tenant if necessary.

If a tenant is in arrears or persistently pays the rent late then you could issue a Section 8 notice but again this does not end a tenancy.

If you want rid of this tenant then follow the due process and next time you accidentally find a tenant and accidentally collect rent from them make sure you vet them properly.

Guest101

sniperpenguin wrote: »

Hi Everyone, I wonder if you could give me a little help with my upcoming situation.

I'm an "accidental landlord" - moved to another area after a divorce so the house (2 bed and loft conversion) was rented out to an old schoolfriend with 3 kids. There have been struggles with her paying rent on time / affording the rent but I'm not owed any money currently. However, she is on housing benefit and I often get calls regarding it being stopped.... A new partner has moved in (I was notified), but she is now pregnant again and her outgoings have increased further, putting a further strain on paying rent.

An AST is in place, the deposit is protected and things such as gas safety certs are in place. We're coming to the point now where she wants to move out (I have not received any official notice) to a council house instead (as the rent is cheaper) but she wants to try to go down the "house is unsuitable" angle to get housing quicker.... I disagree with this, as the house is not unsafe.

I have been hearing horror stories from another landlord (who ironically, is my landlord now ) about the council, and how they will give her advice on how to get around the Section 21 ( or at least delay the eviction) by just not paying and staying put - forcing me to follow the legal route.... Has anyone else encountered this?

Of course, I will be careful in the preparation of the S21 (All details correct etc),..

Thanks

1: Unsuitable is not to do with safety. Council guidelines maintain the room to occupant ratio, which applies more so as children (of different genders) get to a certain age. Because it is a 2 bedroom (the loft conversion may not be classed by the council as a bedroom) and a child has reached the age where sharing with a sibling of the opposite gender is outside the guidelines, the council may offer alternative accomodation.

2: It is often true that the council will tell the tenant to stay put until evicted. since this is the only way you can legally end the tenancy it's not bad advice. Just unhelpful all round. - no-one is 'forcing you to take the legal route', if you want to end the tenancy that is the only way you can do so. (basically you are forcing yourself is what i am saying - legally speaking. I understand that this is partly to help you and partly the tenant)

3: they will never tell her to stop paying, as that would be making herself delibberatly homeless.

sniperpenguin

Thanks for all the answers. The plan is for her to move out and refurbish and to be honest I do not expect legal action to be required, and an amicable solution to be found.

However, I did not want the story of "The council have not given me a house yet" to be a repeated excuse for non / part-payment of rent, followed by an expensive drawn out legal process to evict (section 8?) for which I would unlikely be reimbursed for costs due to the tenants financial situation.

benjus

sniperpenguin wrote: »

I do not expect legal action to be required, and an amicable solution to be found.

She may have the most amicable of intentions, but if the council tells her they won't rehouse her until she's turfed out by bailiffs then she will stay put. I doubt she would try to resist the S21 though, as it would be in her interests to get evicted asap.

Is the tenancy fixed term or periodic? Have you checked exactly when you could serve the S21? As for S8, you can't serve one on mandatory grounds until she's 2 months in arrears anyway. You could try an S8 notice on the basis of her erratic payment history but you'd have to convince the judge that eviction is warranted.

mrginge

sniperpenguin wrote: »

Thanks for all the answers. The plan is for her to move out and refurbish and to be honest I do not expect legal action to be required, and an amicable solution to be found.

However, I did not want the story of "The council have not given me a house yet" to be a repeated excuse for non / part-payment of rent, followed by an expensive drawn out legal process to evict (section 8?) for which I would unlikely be reimbursed for costs due to the tenants financial situation.

Although i have sympathy for your situation, this is a pretty standard tale tbh and the associated risks and costs of potential eviction should have been accounted for when you came up with a rental figure.

You should never expect to get reimbursed for evicting a tenant, (especially one on HB) because of exactly this type of scenario.

You should start the s.21 process asap to minimise any potential costs. Assume that the tenant will not go until the bailiffs arrive.

silvercar

I wouldn't be playing these games. You are her landlord, either she pays the rent or you evict her for rent arrears. Make that clear to her. That leaves her with 2 options, either to find a property of suitable size herself (likely to be private rented or possibly HA) or you evict her and site "rent arrears" as the reason, that way the council won't necessarily classify her as priority need, more likely intentionally homeless due to rent arrears.

She is the one who decided to have a fourth kid in a 2 bedroom property and she needs to take responsibility.

Guest101

silvercar wrote: »

I wouldn't be playing these games. You are her landlord, either she pays the rent or you evict her for rent arrears. Make that clear to her. That leaves her with 2 options, either to find a property of suitable size herself (likely to be private rented or possibly HA) or you evict her and site "rent arrears" as the reason, that way the council won't necessarily classify her as priority need, more likely intentionally homeless due to rent arrears.

She is the one who decided to have a fourth kid in a 2 bedroom property and she needs to take responsibility.

Oh my!

Except the LL wants to evict under s.21 to refurbsh the property.

But dont let that get in the way of a good old rant.

OP if you dont facilitate the eviction and the house is overcrowded the council may (and it is only a may) look to investigate you.

Legal action will likely be required, as per the previous reasons.

G_M

I'm not clear what you actually want:

sniperpenguin wrote: »

....she is on housing benefit and I often get calls regarding it being stopped.... A new partner has moved in (I was notified), but she is now pregnant again and her outgoings have increased further, putting a further strain on paying rent.

An AST is in place, the deposit is protected and things such as gas safety certs are in place. We're coming to the point now where she wants to move out (I have not received any official notice) to a council house instead (as the rent is cheaper)

* So she wants to move out? That's up to her, not you. Wait for her to serve notice.
* or you want her to leave because of the new partner/pregnancy? Serve a S21 validly. Council is nothing to do with you.
* or she's in rent arrears (though you don't say this)? Then serve a S8 Notice. Again - council is irrelevant.

silvercar

Guest101 wrote: »

OP if you dont facilitate the eviction and the house is overcrowded the council may (and it is only a may) look to investigate you.

Investigate you for what? Allowing someone to move their partner in? Tenant getting pregnant? Up to tenant what they do in their own home.