Depressed I and in danger of being evicted

Mrs-wizz

Please help me


My husband is in prison and I have a teenage daughter I am on disability benefits because of stress and anxiety and depression . My landlord has put the rent up from £606 a month to £800 a month I have applied for discretionary payment but the council are being very slow. I just about managed rent last month but I cannot pay more than £606 this month. The landlord has no sympathy and is already talking about chasing my guarantors and eviction, please I need help what can I do.

I been living in this house for 7 years ish ,the last time the rent went up was about the 7th January 2013 in line with inflation Fromm £577.50 to £606.

I have other debts as well and it is making my depression worse, one of the creditors was even shouting down the phone at me.

The last email from the landlord made me physically sick and I also hurt myself. My husband said my husband might help. Please help

pinkshoes

I assume you have a 2 bed because you have a daughter? What is the going rate for a two bed in your area?

How did the landlord go about increasing the rent? How much notice were you given?

Mrs-wizz

I have a 3 bed property and he said £800 is fare because it is below what other similar are going for. This also is an area where student property's are let out. I think this is not true as he is known to be a lier and has caused me even more stress , he gave me 2 months notice which he agreed to keep to the £606 till I got sorted out with council which is not solved yet. It was form 4b of the housing act 1988 section 13 (2) but he lied about the date rent increase from and to. It says on the form ,The first rent increase after 11th Feb 2013 is the 8th April 2016 which is untrue, it was risen 3 times since then £550 start then was £577.50 then £606 but the £606 to £800 is not fare I don't think

david_a

Well I'm confused. You said the last time it went up was January 2013 and now you say he's lying and it's gone up 3 times since February 2013

TBagpuss

Have you tried speaking to Shelter?

booksurr

you need professional help from those qualified to advise you. You do not need (well intentioned) advice from strangers on the internet

- see your GP and get a referral to the area mental health support teams
- talk to Shelter re your accommodation
- talk to Citizens Advice to get in touch with debt counsellors
- contact these groups: https://www.gov.uk/support-for-families-friends-of-prisoners

Cakeguts

If you have been living in the house for about 7 years would that mean that you moved in in 2009? What was the rent that you paid in 2009? Was it £550 in 2009?

So sometime between 2009 and 2013 the rent went up from £550 to £577.50 is this correct?

Then in 2013 the rent when up from £577.50 to £606? Is this correct?

Then in April 2016 the rent went up from £606 to £800? Is this also correct?

Now what you need to do is to have a look to see what rent 3 bed houses in the area near where you live are being rented for. You need to compare the house where you live with other 3 bed houses and see if you can find one that is cheaper. If you can't find one that is cheaper than £800 then that is now the price for a 3 bed house.

So this is some research that you can do. Then you can also at the same time find out how much a 2 bed house would cost in your area.

Having other debts when you have depression is a problem for you but you can't expect your landlord to make allowances for this because your health is actually none of his business. So don't try to influence him by telling him that you have depression as this is nothing to do with him.

KingS6

TBagpuss wrote: »

Have you tried speaking to Shelter?

This. It's important that you contact them ASAP as they can advice on your next steps to taking damage limitation. Tell them everything you've told us and see what they say.

With regards to the dispute about when or when not rent was increased, the more evidence you gather to show the landlord was lying, the better the chance you have of solving the problem.

Creditors should not be shouting at you full stop. Please try to take steps to record calls and preferably any interaction you have with them.
If you receive abuse or intimidation, please report it so the authorities can put a stop to it.

Whilst the landlord has certain entitlements under law, one thing they don't have an entitlement to is to exacerbate your health issues for their own personal gain.

It's often said that things in life come in three's. My advice is to ring CAB for the debt issues, ring the Samaritans for the health issues and ring Shelter for the landlord issue. The more people you have fighting your corner in this difficult time, the better.

Cakeguts

KingS6 wrote: »

This. It's important that you contact them ASAP as they can advice on your next steps to taking damage limitation. Tell them everything you've told us and see what they say.

Whilst the landlord has certain entitlements under law, one thing they don't have an entitlement to is to exacerbate your health issues for their own personal gain.
/QUOTE]

The health issues of the tenant are none of the landlord's business so should not be mentioned to him.

(You can't ask for a discount on something from a supermarket because you have depression.) I am not making a comment on whether the rent is fair or not in this case I am only pointing out that the health issues of the tenant are nothing to do with the landlord.

pmlindyloo

Have a read of this and see if your LL has followed the correct procedure.

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/content/rent-increases-with-assured-shorthold-tenancies

Please note that the LL cannot increase the rent until one year after the last increase so was the last rent increase more or less than a year ago?

Landlords can basically charge what they like for rent so if you are unable to accept the new rent (and the LL has followed the correct procedure) then you need to think about alternative accommodation.

I am presuming that you are on housing benefit at the local housing allowance? How much is this? is the current rent more than that and are you supplementing this with child tax credits or DLA/PIP?

Whatever the outcome of the rent increase the LL can ask for possession for any reason (as presumably you are on a statutory periodic tenancy - month to month).

However, this is not going to happen any time soon so you have time to sort things out.

Options are:

1. Find a 2 bed property privately
2. When/if you receive a section 21 for possession go to the council and register for social housing
3. Hope they grant you a discretionary housing payment to cover the rent increase


The landlord will have to give you 2 months notice, then go to court for possession (another 2 months?) then if you still don't leave, go to court for a bailiffs warrant.

All sounds scary but basically if the LL seeks possession you will have to leave.

What has the council said to you?

KingS6

Cakeguts wrote: »

KingS6 wrote: »

This. It's important that you contact them ASAP as they can advice on your next steps to taking damage limitation. Tell them everything you've told us and see what they say.

Whilst the landlord has certain entitlements under law, one thing they don't have an entitlement to is to exacerbate your health issues for their own personal gain.
/QUOTE]

The health issues of the tenant are none of the landlord's business so should not be mentioned to him.

(You can't ask for a discount on something from a supermarket because you have depression.) I am not making a comment on whether the rent is fair or not in this case I am only pointing out that the health issues of the tenant are nothing to do with the landlord.

Supermarkets is an exeptionally poor comparison. This is someone's property on one hand and a home on the other. A long term home as well at seven years. When I visit a supermarket I don't have any sort of long term relationship or interaction to a member of staff and I'm certainly not paying £800 odd a month. Apples and oranges, pun intended.

This is an individual arrangement between two people. Happy tenants and happy landlords go hand in hand and are worth their weight in gold. It's within both parties interests to keep it that way.

Having health issues that can be as debilitating as the OP's being exacerbated even further is not conducive to getting this resolved amicably especially if one of the parties is adding to it. OP has a long term custom with this landlord and sometimes all that is needed to get a margin of safety is to mention just how dire things are for OP. This is about doing whatever is necessary to get immediate respite.

Being a landlord can throw some curveballs your way and the OP never knows they may offer a third way if they are aware of a horrid situation. If you don't tell you'll never know.

I would follow other poster's advice and seek some support from the mental health services in the area. If the LL challenges you or calls you out, you've shown you made good effort to get issues resloved.

There are two sides, sometimes even three to every story. Unless the LL appears on here to give their version we can only go off OP's. If someone was causing me those sort of issues they have made it their business and its as black and white as that.

All of this is just short term respite, you'll need to start seeing what alternative & cheaper accommodation is available in the long run. If they are being dishonest and will continue you to be you need an exit strategy.