What are the consequences of not vacating the house before the notice period?

am.jovial

greatcrested said:

You served notice.

The legal position if you fail to clear the property is either

* the tenancy continues as you've failed to vacate. You can be charged double rent (Distress for Rent Act) until such time as you hand over the tenancy, or

* the tenancy has ended but you left 'abandoned possessions'. The LL/agent can clear the property, at your expense. As the possessions are yours he has to keep them safe for you to collect, again at your cost. If you fail to collect them he can sell them and use the money to pay for the storage/removal costs. Unless of course you have given him written authority to dispose of the items - this is your cheapest option if you do notwant the items back, so talk to the LL/agent.

I don't know about where you are, but my local recycling/waste centre is open for commercial businesses, not the general public, so you could pay a 'man with a van' or removals company to clear the property and dump the stuff.

We are in Writtle, Essex. And, google says the recycling place is closed. When I check here, it says all recycling centers are closed. I had called couple of removal guys and they had said, removal services and recycle places are closed (guess tile 3rd may as of now, not sure about the exact date). 

Slithery

Slithery said:

There are plenty of authorised waste removal firms still working. Have you tried contacting any of them to clear the property for you?

?

am.jovial

Slithery said:

Slithery said:

There are plenty of authorised waste removal firms still working. Have you tried contacting any of them to clear the property for you?

?

Our regular cleaning guy agreed to do end of tenancy cleaning and removal. Hopefully they will be able to sort it out. Thank you for all the help and pointers in the right direction.

Crashy_Time

greatcrested said:

Speak to the landlord or his agent, explain your predicament, and see what agreement you can reach.

Who served notice - you or the landlord (via S21)?

If you served notice, you cannot "extend the tenancy" without the LL's agreement. You could of course 'hold over' on 15 May but might then be liable for double rent

Very unlikely in the present situation, more likely that the landlord will be happy to keep taking normal rent instead of having a "rent holiday" imposed on him, with legal proceedings later that he won`t win, unless of course he has new tenants lined up, then in that case the OP could allow the landlord to clear the flat and bill them for removal/storage. The OP should be seeking advice from Local Authority/Government website/hotline, not the landlord or his agent.

Crashy_Time

greatcrested said:

You served notice.

The legal position if you fail to clear the property is either

* the tenancy continues as you've failed to vacate. You can be charged double rent (Distress for Rent Act) until such time as you hand over the tenancy, or

* the tenancy has ended but you left 'abandoned possessions'. The LL/agent can clear the property, at your expense. As the possessions are yours he has to keep them safe for you to collect, again at your cost. If you fail to collect them he can sell them and use the money to pay for the storage/removal costs. Unless of course you have given him written authority to dispose of the items - this is your cheapest option if you do notwant the items back, so talk to the LL/agent.

I don't know about where you are, but my local recycling/waste centre is open for commercial businesses, not the general public, so you could pay a 'man with a van' or removals company to clear the property and dump the stuff.

That is in normal times, we are not in normal times and the government has said that the eviction process is on hold or changed for the duration of the crisis.
Dump the stuff? They presumably want their belongings back and transferred to a new place?