Best way to evict a tenant when they fully agree with and welcome it because she wants council House

sevenhills

Aubrey_Thicket wrote: »

So, she has been informed by a friend that the most suitable way of going about this is if I write to her telling her I intend to sell the house soon. Obviously this then makes her homeless and subsequently she will get a council house (which is what she desires).

It helps if she is on the waiting list. How long has she been on it?
I waited 4/5 years, I got a house, no priority.
Every local authority has different letting criteria, you both need to read their lettings policies.

Aubrey_Thicket

Hey guys. No offence meant or taken. I was literally asking for advice to enable everybody to be happy. I have no knowledge of these matters. It’s clear that you guys are more knowledgable and I respect that. I think me/her/we are in for a bit of a lesson?

AlexMac

I did this to my tenant; but she was a single parent, and had already presented to the Council; who confirmed waht evryone above has said; tat she was in need, but heeded to be compulsorily homeless

So with her knowledge, and at her request, I technically evicted her, took her to Court, got a baliff eviction notice (whichsatisfied the Council) andthen , when the Council had the pointless bit of paper they required, I phoned the baliff and said don't bother to visit.

Ten years on she has a settled home, a new relationship, a job and every chance that her kids will do well

But she had taken the initiative, done her research, paved theway, approached the Council, had kids, so had the priority to get re-housed. And it was 10 years ago when there were still occasional Council homes available .

Trickier now- but good luck. Tell her to do he homework

And in case anyone out there thinks thatmy working the system for her was immoral, let me observe that I believe that in an ideal world, everyone who can't afford to buy, or rent commercially , should nevertheless deserve a decent home.

My first five years were spent in 40-50 different insecure lodgings; a caravan, BnBs, crap rentals, tied accommodations, hostels and Homeless Persons Units. When I was six, we got a Council flat and so I was able to settle down and get an education. Fast forward to a successful life, career, properity and comfortable retirement,

...cast the first stone?

silvercar

Aubrey_Thicket wrote: »

Hey guys. No offence meant or taken. I was literally asking for advice to enable everybody to be happy. I have no knowledge of these matters. It’s clear that you guys are more knowledgable and I respect that. I think me/her/we are in for a bit of a lesson?

It could all depend on what accommodation is available from your council at the time she applies.

Welcome to MSE, I hope some of the advice has been useful. Do stick around and report back on how you and she get on.

Mikela78

I've been "evicted" 3 times through no fault of mine.

1st time unknowingly sublet, council told me to go back where I came from. (Another county)
Luckily my boss took me in, as working in the area didn't give me enough council points to stay.

2nd Time served sec 21 as property company wanted to redevelop the site, best council could offer was a homeless hostel and me pay to stay there. I had a young child and was pregnant. So I moved 100+ miles to live with family.

3rd Time it was because my landlord hadn't paid the mortgage due to illness. I had 3 children by now and council homless dept helped me get a further 2 months notice, but couldn't help with housing unless I waitied for the bailiffs to remove us. I couldn't bear that with my children so I left the day before.

[Deleted User]

Has she looked at lodging? She could rent a room for anywhere between £50-£100 per week. My mate does it and remember he showed me an app or website that listed all the rooms for rent in the local area.

As others have said as a young single person with no children she is going to be way down on the priority list for a council property so her only options really are to stay put or find something else that she can afford.

Its admirable that you're doing so much to help your niece but where exactly are her parents in all this? Are they still around?

LocoLoco

Aubrey_Thicket wrote: »

Hey guys. No offence meant or taken. I was literally asking for advice to enable everybody to be happy. I have no knowledge of these matters. It’s clear that you guys are more knowledgable and I respect that. I think me/her/we are in for a bit of a lesson?

OP, it used to be a case of simply writing a letter asking someone to leave would get them a council place but things are very different now and yes, I think the current situation might be a bit of a wake up call. Her best bet is probably to just speak to someone at the local housing office and explain that the house she's currently living in is going to be put up for sale and then they can explain to her exactly how it all needs to work from their end, whether or not she'd be any kind of priority, if she'd be put in bed and breakfast or moved out of the area, all that sort of thing. She can check whether she can go on the list regardless - some authorities have such a lack of housing now that even going on the list is only possible if you meet certain criteria. So I would check with them as to the likelihood of them re-housing her and see if there's any chance.



There are local authorities who can help with relocating to another private landlord so that might be an option for her, or you might find you can help her get another private rental by offering to be her guarantor (if that's acceptable to you) and gifting/lending her the money for the deposit and so on. But I would check it out very carefully and not go ahead assuming she'll just be handed a nice new flat because the chances of that are very slim.



Similarly, depending on how short she is of the rent now, she possibly could just stay where she is, if you can afford to drop the rent any more? Memories of bad relationships and unhappy endings can fade, especially if you work at replacing them with happy ones If ex is giving her a lot of hassle it might be worth looking into restraining orders if it's serious enough for that? I do understand the desire to move when something ends but equally know from experience the feelings tend to come with you anyway so it might be easier for her to come to terms with everything where she is rather than adding to the stress by moving house again ( I only say that as a serial mover who knows from past experience that you often end up with the same problems, just in a different house Lol). Either way, I hope you are all able to work something out, she sounds very lucky to have someone like you willing to help her like this x

SmashedAvacado

I have been through exactly this issue with a tenant recently

Firstly, the idea that you have to wait for bailiffs is wrong.
You will have to make her homeless and she will have to present herself on the expiry of her s21 to the LA on that basis
They will likely house her in hostel accommodation until something more permanent comes along.

SmashedAvacado

See the Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities (the Guidance).

The Guidance Provides at 6.35 The Secretary of State considers that where an applicant is:
(a) an assured shorthold tenant who has received a valid notice in accordance with section 21 of the Housing Act 1988;
(b) the housing authority is satisfied that the landlord intends to seek possession and further efforts from the housing authority to resolve the situation and persuade the landlord to allow the tenant to remain in the property are unlikely to be successful; and,
(c) there would be no defence to an application for a possession order;
then it is unlikely to be reasonable for the applicant to continue to occupy beyond the expiry of a valid section 21 notice, unless the housing authority is taking steps to persuade the landlord to allow the tenant to continue to occupy the accommodation for a reasonable period to provide an opportunity for alternative accommodation to be found.

The Guidance Provides at 6.37
Housing authorities should not consider it reasonable for an applicant to remain in occupation up until the point at which a court issues a warrant or writ to enforce an order for possession.

AdrianC

...(b) the housing authority is satisfied that the landlord intends to seek possession and further efforts from the housing authority to resolve the situation and persuade the landlord to allow the tenant to remain in the property are unlikely to be successful...

Well, that knocks this particular situation right on the head.