Landlord kicking out the lodger.

ACCA

Hello all - the below is a copy of the my post in the "covid" section, but copying it here, maybe i get some luck. Happy to delete it once the issue is sorted.

The situation is as follows: I am a lodger renting one bed room in two bed rooms flat. Another room is occupied by the landlord (not sure whether he is the owner or subletting) who lives with his daughter.

Yesterday the landlord has given me a written notice to quit the rent agreement due to the covid issue currently developing, as he isn't willing to expose himself and his daughter to the potential risk. He has given me 2 weeks notice (not a month as stated in the contract) given that these are "extreme circumstances". Moreover, he has mentioned that there he doesn't allow me to leave the house for more than an hour to do the essential shopping, if do leave for longer then I am not allowed back. I am struggling to understand how am i supposed to be looking for another housing with such restrictions. I can work from home until June if needed.

I've searched through the internet articles talking about "no-fault evictions" and found the following "Emergency legislation will be taken forward as an urgent priority so that landlords will not be able to start proceedings to evict tenants for at least a 3 month period. As a result of these measures, no renters in private or social accommodation needs to be concerned about the threat of eviction.", source gov.co.uk dated 20 Mar 2020.

Question: could you please give me a piece of advice of what would be the best way of this situation. Where to seek for assistance/ help and what may be my rights?

Thanks in advance for your time,
Regards,
A

PasturesNew

As you are a lodger, he can request you leave, with short notice - and, mostly, any contract is irrelevant as once they've given you notice it's horrid to be there anyway.   If you have a signed/dated contract giving an end date and not a rolling occupancy, then he'd be legally bound to that date... but most don't have that.  In any case, it's not now nice where you are is it.

There was one in the newspapers who was asked to go almost immediately as he works in the NHS and his LL thought he'd bring the virus home.  

His one hour rule is utterly ridiculous and he is taking the Govt guidelines on when people can leave the house to an arbitrary amount of time oft-quoted on the Internet. 

Your LL is an utter idiot.  You need to be out of there.  

Find yourself somewhere else on spareroom.co.uk, or post your situation on Facebook.... the reason you're being asked to leave and ask if anybody has rooms.  Many people have rooms at the moment and they are struggling to fill them as few are moving/looking for a room.

Good luck.  You don't want to live with somebody like that in any case. 

Honeylife

PasturesNew said:

... Your LL is an utter idiot.  You need to be out of there.  

Find yourself somewhere else on spareroom.co.uk, or post your situation on Facebook.... the reason you're being asked to leave and ask if anybody has rooms.  Many people have rooms at the moment and they are struggling to fill them as few are moving/looking for a room.

Good luck.  You don't want to live with somebody like that in any case. 

and post on Twitter too adding @bbcnews and other news outlets!  This is utterly appalling!

MoneySeeker1

Good luck with getting sorted out.

It's understandable why no-one would want a stranger living in their home right now and I'd be in a heck of a quandary if I were still taking in lodgers, but I can see your side of this too.

This is one issue I'm very conscious of though, thank goodness it doesn't affect me (being a home-owner and living on my own). But I've had to share a house with strangers before now (houses of bedsits back in the 1970s) and then taking in lodgers for a while when I bought my first house and I do think the Government seems to have given no thought whatsoever from what I can see to what "households of strangers" are supposed to do, compared with "households of family or friends". Every household is being told equally "You'll just have to get on with it" at the moment and the Government is simply not being at all realistic expecting them to act the same way as "households of family or friends". It ain't gonna happen.

Do hope you solve your own particular dilemma. I wonder whether you might even find someone nearby hasn't considered their holiday caravan they keep nearby might be possible temporary accommodation for a (carefully vetted by them of course) stranger in temporary need? EDITED TO ADD: Such caravans would have to be nearby (ie somebodys garden or wherever locally they store it) - because many people living in holiday areas are being more than a little verbally aggressive towards the thought of anyone from elsewhere in the country coming to live in their area at the moment (there has been a LOT of vicious stuff posted on local Facebook groups in some of these areas designed to deter this).