Do I need to give tenant writtwn notice to quit?

qwertyqwerty

Hi

I have a tenant who has signed a six month tenancy renewal till February 2018. The have lived in the house for nearly 10 years. I don't want the tenant to continue in the tenancy beyond their current agreement. Will I need to issue a section 21 telling them I want them to quit and if so how much notice do I need to give? Thanks,

G_M

Of course.

S21 with 2 calender months.

see

* Ending/renewing an AST: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?

Will your S21 be valid? Have you complied with all requirements?


A S21 is invalid if:

a) served before deposit is registered & the deposit's ‘Prescribed Information’ given to the tenant
b) incorrect dates/notice period
c) expiry date is within 1st 6 months of original tenancy
d) For tenancies starting from 1/10/15:
- served in 1st 4 months
- new tenancy Prescribed Information was not supplied (EPC, gas report, "how to rent), or
- council has served a repairing enforcement notice on the landlord, following a complaint by a tenant. See Enforcing repairs.

See S21 checklist here.

theartfullodger

qwertyqwerty wrote: »

Hi

I have a tenant who has signed a six month tenancy renewal till February 2018. The have lived in the house for nearly 10 years. I don't want the tenant to continue in the tenancy beyond their current agreement. ......

S21 does not end a tenancy nor require tenant to leave: Tenant has an absolute legal right to remain after expiry of s21 (just as you have an absolute legal right to issue a valid s21)

To get an idea of possible timescales if tenant digs their heels in (40+ weeks..) see....
https://forums.landlordzone.co.uk/forum/residential-letting-questions/77351-time-to-repossess-statistics

Tygermoth

As someone who's LL sold the house we were in for 10 years - I appreciate the contractual notice periods but you may from a decent human point of view give a little bit of extended notice.

10 years is a long time and there is a chance the tenants have a lot of stuff, kids in school - and have to look to find somewhere suitable go through checks etc. In the middle of all that you are going to have christmas and new year.

You are not obligated - my LL wasn't and suminarilily evicted a row of houses where some people had been in for 40 odd years (then found out about old protected tenancies lol)

But it was a very upsetting time - 10 years you get used to a home and attached to it, the neighbourhood, amenities and people - so if you can and you dont fall foul of rules or legislation please consider giving the tenants a heads up (if they have been goog nice people, obviosly)

Fosterdog

What is the reason for wanting to end the tenancy? If it’s that you want or need to sell the property it would be worth asking if they want to/are in a position to buy. They may well already be looking to buy but struggling to find the right house in the right area but after ten years of living there they must find sumoething acceptable about your property.

qwertyqwerty

Thanks for the replies. The reason I want to evict is because a neighbor has reported them to the environmental health about the state of the property. I have now since discovered there has been a rat infestation and a leaking roof which was not reported to me, and has now left the wood around the windows to rot, thus increasing my repair costs. I'm not really in it to make money out of it (became an accidental landlord), so would rather just evict(they are in no position to buy) and sell up.

[Deleted User]

Might be worth considering inspecting the property once a year to limit this kind of damage. Accidental LL or not, you could consider that you share responsibility for the situation getting out of hand?

G_M

It's surprising that it took a neighbour to advise you of this, and also that you've let the deterioration develop to this extent. When did you last visit the property?

You could consider eviction via a S8 ground 13 Notice, however this is discretionary so you'd probably need a surveyor's report to convince the court of the seriousness of the problem.

Ground 13

The condition of the dwelling-house or any of the common parts has deteriorated owing to acts of waste by, or the neglect or default of, the tenant or any other person residing in the dwelling-house and, in the case of an act of waste by, or the neglect or default of, a person lodging with the tenant or a sub-tenant of his, the tenant has not taken such steps as he ought reasonably to have taken for the removal of the lodger or sub-tenant.

. Might be easier to wait till Feb (serve the S21 in December).

If EH are involved, you might find this situation backfires. If the tenant complains and EH serve an enforcement notice on you, your S21 will be invalidated (see the S21 checklist here.)

LittleMax

qwertyqwerty wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. The reason I want to evict is because a neighbor has reported them to the environmental health about the state of the property. I have now since discovered there has been a rat infestation and a leaking roof which was not reported to me, and has now left the wood around the windows to rot, thus increasing my repair costs. I'm not really in it to make money out of it (became an accidental landlord), so would rather just evict(they are in no position to buy) and sell up.

Not my definition of accidental...
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/438793

m0bov

Lol, rumbled!

theartfullodger

qwertyqwerty wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. .......
, and has now left the wood around the windows to rot, thus increasing my repair costs. .....

Come on, get real! It's you the landlord who is responsible for Windows and you the landlord who failed to maintain or repair.

Disgraceful!