Rant about Landlord - being evicted

moneysavinmonkey

liz545 wrote: »

This is what a section 21 (eviction notice) needs to look like: http://www.kingston.gov.uk/notice_requiring_possession.pdf and she needs to give you a written copy of this. The Residential Landlord's Association explains the process here: http://www.rla.org.uk/landlord/possession_proceedings/possession_overview.shtml?gclid=CIe45Pjdw44CFRcGEgodFyKzxA but for some reason I can't find a gov't link to the housing act itself!

thanks for this... i haven't had anything written from landlord yet - let along a set out form like that...

have found the relevant housing act at: section 4a is the relevant bit:
confirms that order of possession must give at least 2 months notice.
yay - now the difficult bit, applying this to the real world and persuading my landlord to agree + not annoy her so still get a good reference + get our deposit back etc.
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts1988/ukpga_19880050_en_3

msmicawber

I'm not saying you don't have rights, moneysavingmonkey, but the trouble with exercising them is that it can be time-consuming - time better spent finding somewhere good and more secure to live - and you don't want to shoot yourself in the foot by giving the landlord ammunition to give you a bad reference that could prevent you moving somewhere better.

Whatever you decide to do, I wish you the best of luck, but would urge you to make sure that you look after your long-term interests.

moneysavinmonkey

Thank you for your comment - that is what i mean by applying this all to the real world!

Main priority will be to find somewhere else to live for now, but either we move there very shortly or after november 5th as my "long-term interests" would be best served by doing well in my professional exams.

appreciate everyones advice on this. know where i stand now and will go about finding somewhere else and hopefully agree something with landlady that can suit us both. She has been very reasonable and professional up to this point so perhaps she is just stressed about her mum and will give my request more consideration over the weekend.

Alleycat

If your Landlord has yet to give you notice in writing, I would suggest staying quiet about the two month notice and concentrate on finding alternative housing. Once your Landlord does put the one month notice in writing, then you can advise them that you have just sought advice and been told that the notice is incorrect. This will give you even longer to find somewhere suitable.

It may also be worth requesting a reference from your Landlord now, so if things do go sour you at least have this for back up in finding another place.

liz545

moneysavinmonkey - if you can find somewhere to move before your exams, and she's concerned with making sure her mum has somewhere to live, perhaps she'd be prepared to compensate you for the lack of notice? After all, if you can get moved out sooner than you're legally obliged to, she might be persuaded to comp you a few weeks' rent?

barnaby-bear

moneysavinmonkey wrote: »

Thank you for your comment - that is what i mean by applying this all to the real world!

Main priority will be to find somewhere else to live for now, but either we move there very shortly or after november 5th as my "long-term interests" would be best served by doing well in my professional exams.

appreciate everyones advice on this. know where i stand now and will go about finding somewhere else and hopefully agree something with landlady that can suit us both. She has been very reasonable and professional up to this point so perhaps she is just stressed about her mum and will give my request more consideration over the weekend.

Very healthy attitude and nice sentiments to convey. I would write to the landlady explaning you fully understand the need for her to have the accommodation back for her mother but that it has put you in a difficult situation as you understood the AST to be two months as per the statutory legislation (and include the link/evidence) but stress you are actively looking and trying to accommodate the request and querying whether there is any room for compromise/negotiation as letting agents work on timeframs according with the legislation and that you hope with some give and her help speedily processing deposit and references that you will be able to move in an agreeable timeframe. I.e. letting her know the legal situation and that she needs to be nice to you to accommodate her (unreasonable) request.

red40

ts_aly2000 wrote: »

So if she informed you today, then you'd have to be out by the 14th November.

No, that is not correct unless you are assuming that the actual AST ended on the 13th. Nobody has asked the all important question and that is when did the tenancy start and end, the actual dates on the AST. They are the most important dates to work from!

As has previously been said you are required to be given written notice.

A minimum of two months notice is required and the day on which the notice expires must be the last day of a period of the tenancy. The period of a tenancy depends on how often the rent is paid.

Therefore, if the rent is paid monthly, then the period of the tenancy is one month. In order to find out what day is the last day of the period in a particular tenancy it will be necessary to refer to the original fixed term tenancy.

The periodic tenancy begins immediately after the fixed term expires.

If the period of the tenancy is monthly and if the first day of the current period is 5th August then the last day of that period would be the 4th September and so a notice served during the current period would need to be completed so as to expire on the last day of a period after a further two months (i.e. 4th November).

So say, if your AST started on the 10th August 2006 for 6 months and then went onto a periodic, your tenancy period would be from the 10th of each month to the 9th of the following month (periodic). The landlord can give you notice now, but it will not start until the 9th October (the end of the tenancy period) and then its 2 months from then, i.e the 9th December.

clutton_2

you may wish to inform your landlady that she cannot get you out without a court order - and that as neither you nor her want a long drawn out court affair, that she needs to be more more flexible in her approach. legallly she has to give you a Section 21 notice as per REd40s advice, but, you do not have to move out on the date speicifed. she then has to go to court to get a possession order, but, you still do not have to leave, she then has to go back to court to get a bailiffs warrant and when bailiffs turn up then you have to leave. This can take months and months - she clearly does not know the law as a landlady. Explaining all this to her in an amicable manner may help her be a bit more amenable. good luck

franklee

moneysavinmonkey wrote: »

thanks for this... i haven't had anything written from landlord yet - let along a set out form like that...

Are you absolutely for certain sure about that? Only it's common practise for landlords and agents to serve the Section 21 notice very early in the tenancy, for example on the first day. This is a time when the tenant moving in can be very busy and thus overlook the notice probably thinking it's just another bit of routine paperwork (nicknamed the Sword of Damocles). So my advice is to check all paperwork you have ever been given, a S21 served back then will probably still be valid!

If the section 21 notice hasn't already been served then the landlady needs to serve it now. As your tenancy is periodic the notice has to be at least two months and it has to end at the end of a period (typically the day before rent is due). Also it has to be the right kind of S21. If served after the tenancy has gone periodic it needs to be a 21(4)a not a 21(1)(b) as linked to earlier.

To be specific:

If a landlord serves notice during the fixed term he serves a Section 21(1)(b) Notice requiring possession giving a minimum two months notice. This does not have to end on any given day other than be after the fixed term.

If a landlord serves notice after the fixed term once the tenancy has become periodic he serves a 21(4)a giving a minimum two months notice but this time the notice has to end on the last day of a period.

Stick to your guns on this, the landlady cannot just ask you to leave, you need to put your exams first! If you do find somewhere and can leave early then get IN WRITING from the landlady that she agrees to your leaving and to what date you will be paying her rent. Otherwise you may move out and she will charge you for rent till the end of a notice period and you will have no proof you moved early at her request!

olly300

The OP can quite easily put everything in writing themselves to the landlady and ask her to respond to their letter in writing within 10 days if she doesn't agree that she has asked them via a telephone call on 14th September to move out by 14th October.

As long as the OP can prove the landlady got the letter i.e. recorded delivery, hand delivered with a witness, sending it to her by two methods- then if the landlady is later difficult they have written evidence. This is one of the easiest ways of proving somebody said something to you particularly if they intend not to stick to the law.