Renting advive

mum2boys83

Hello,
im currently renting through a agency and have been given a section 21, landlord would like the house back for personal reasons. I need to be moved by the end of January.


I have put my name down for the council, they have said they it will be unlikely I would be housed by the end of January and said I have a right to stay in the property even if it comes to that date. the landlord could just start court to have me moved out.
I don't want this to happen.
I rand the agency to keep them up to date but they said if im not moved out by that date they will give me a bad reference, but they will let me know if anything becomes available.
Has anyone else been in the same boat? whats happened? I have children and I would just like to have a simple move.

Renting in the area and within 5miles has increased and im at my limit with what I can afford. with xmas to there is not a lot available

Guest101

mum2boys83 wrote: »

Hello,
im currently renting through a agency and have been given a section 21, landlord would like the house back for personal reasons. I need to be moved by the end of January. - no you don't, they'd like it if you moved out by then.

I have put my name down for the council, they have said they it will be unlikely I would be housed by the end of January and said I have a right to stay in the property even if it comes to the date. the landlord could just start court to have me moved out. - indeed, this is standard by the council
I don't want this to happen. - Why not? just curious, there are many good reasons, but some people think the worst
I rand the agency to keep them up to date but the said if im not moved out by that date they will give me a bad reference - oh no, not some nasty words... , but they will let me know if anything becomes available. - your contract is with the LL not the agency. So speak to him/her
Has anyone else been in the same boat? whats happened? I have children and I would just like to have a simple move. - If you have children you are guaranteed some form of housing, that may well be a bnb for a few weeks.


Renting in the area and within 5miles has increased and im at my limit with what I can afford. with xmas to there is not a lot available

well it sounds like your only options are social housing or moving area

da_rule

I would take it that you know the landlord to an extent and you don't want to worsen what ever the personal reasons are by refusing to move out?
As has been said, as you have children the local authority will have to do something, but it might be very basic. If you do stay past the date the landlord can take the matter to court and you could end up with people at the door evicting you. Whilst this will buy you some extra time in the property it might just be delaying the problem.

Guest101

da_rule wrote: »

I would take it that you know the landlord to an extent and you don't want to worsen what ever the personal reasons are by refusing to move out?
As has been said, as you have children the local authority will have to do something, but it might be very basic. If you do stay past the date the landlord can take the matter to court and you could end up with people at the door evicting you. Whilst this will buy you some extra time in the property it might just be delaying the problem.

Sorry I think you misunderstood my point, so i'll clarify.


Only the tenant or a court can end a tenancy. So as far as the council is concerned, the OP has a valid tenancy until the court (and or the bailiffs) have evicted her, at which point there is typically a 14 day interim period in a BNB, followed by a longer period in a 'almost there' property, before finally receiving a house. Alternatively the council may choose to house the OP and children in another private rental, but where they finance the deposit and fees etc.


If the OP leaves before this time, she is intentionally homeless and will receive much less help.


People don't 'turn up at your door' as such (ignore Cant Pay...) you get written notice. Have your possessions packed and ready to go and simply accept the executed warrant and hand over the keys, it's a legal formality.

mum2boys83

I would like to do what is asked lol
I do worry it would be like "cant pay, take away", and if having a bad reference gets in the way of renting, credit checks etc.


I could try and speak to the landlord just worried about talking to them. And not sure if I could.


Storage ideas will need looking in2 aswell.
worried about living in a b&b, not nice for children.
and I don't want to lose the children as I cant house them.

mum2boys83

I don't know the landlord that well.
I know that I rent from a older couple, they are not people who rent lots of properties out.
This is the first rented property I have been here nearly 3 years.

Guest101

mum2boys83 wrote: »

I would like to do what is asked lol - then you will need to move to a cheaper area.
I do worry it would be like "cant pay, take away" - what that show doesn't tell you is that 1: court case has already happened, but they make that very unclear. and 2: the law has changed / been clarified and now a letter is sent to the tenant in advance. , and if having a bad reference gets in the way of renting, credit checks etc. - the reference must be truthful, and has little meaning.


I could try and speak to the landlord just worried about talking to them. And not sure if I could. - You suffer from medical conditions? Or? - sorry confused


Storage ideas will need looking in2 aswell. - yep, good idea to have storage sorted for eviction day
worried about living in a b&b, not nice for children. - It's 2 weeks. They'll get over it.
and I don't want to lose the children as I cant house them. - that wont happen. Do you know how much it costs to take children in to care?!

Do you have any other concerns?

Guest101

mum2boys83 wrote: »

I don't know the landlord that well.
I know that I rent from a older couple, they are not people who rent lots of properties out.
This is the first rented property I have been here nearly 3 years.

Most people don't know their landlord at all, but the tea and cake approach can be very successful.


If you explain you need to be evicted, they may work with you.

Arleen

Don't worry about the "bad reference" as many landlords do not even attempt to carry them out, and if they do you can explain exactly what happened and most will see that they tried to use it to bully you out. Also, section 21 requires to give you at least two months (or till end of tenance if it's fixed term), when did you get the notice?

Speaking with the landlord is also a very good idea, as you have nothing to lose from it, and putting a human face on the issues he has caused can go a long way. Maybe you can figure something out together.

As explained before, you will be housed somewhere. It may not be nice and cosy, but it will be habitable for you and children. You absolutely won't lose your children because of it.

AlexMac

As you have children, is there a serious prospect of Social Housing? Is there anyone in the Council who is human(e) enough to comment?

I ask, because in my experience, what guest 101 says is the case. I had a tenant, with a child, who asked me to serve her notice and then, when she didn't move out, to go through the charade of a court re-possession and bailiff eviction. Nonsense, but our local Council would only consider her if she was actually technically homeless by compulsion, not by making herslf "voluntarily"homeless by leaving after a S21 or end of a tenancy. In other words, the Council were using the Courts as part of their housing allocation process which seemed hugely cynical.

I went along with it, up to the point that she got the bailiff notice, at which time she had evidence of imminent homelessness and so I rang the bailiffs and called them off. It worked out, in that a few years on, she now has a decent Council house, and, as her child is now at secondary school, a job, albeit not well paid.

I don't know how she presented to the Council, or whether she spent interim time in homeless shelters or B&B, which is grim (I speak from experience of several years of this kind of very insecure temporary accomodation as as a child although I'm sitting pretty now).

But it might be worth testing that as a course of action, especially if you can also have a conversation with your landlord too as Arleen suggests.

But whatever happens, good luck and best wishes

[Deleted User]

This thread may be of some use http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5556173 to explain the eviction procedure.

The council will have to consider you as a homeless person as you have children (unless you have rent arrears, this can cause you to be regarded as intentionally homeless but the council will then give you emergency housing for say 30 days). But emergency housing can be just one room in a B&B.., mine don't do that but a lot of councils do. You need to ask where they place people. I was able to make a successful case against one room housing because I had evidence of my kids special needs and that one room housing in a hostel etc would be unsuitable (from medical professionals). But if you can't find an alternative, its better than nothing. In my area, rents are £1,100 plus, LHA is £750 (for three beds) so no way I could find a private rental and moving to another area would have meant starting again with assistance my sons were getting, plus made a mess of the efforts I'd made to find schools my sons could actually attend.

It looks like I will be in the maisonette we are in as emergency housing for many years. It could be a long haul.