When to proceed to court to obtain eviction

Fresen

Hello, my partner owns a house, that he owned before I met him. He would like to sell the house, however there is a tenant in at the moment, who is on a two year tenancy, which ends mid November this year. The tenancy is managed by an estate agent.

The tenant has been served a section 21 notice, with a four month notice period, which runs out approx mid October. The tenant has contacted her local council to try to obtain council housing, and she has been given the advice not to leave, which I understand is pretty much standard.

My question is, at what point can we proceed to go to court to try to have the tenant evicted, I thought we would need to wait until the end of the agreed lease period, unless they leave voluntarily. However the estate agent seems to think we can do it at the end of the notice period given? 

Any clarification would be appreciated and please let me know if I have missed out anything you would need to know. Thank you.

grumiofoundation

When you say tenancy ends in november I presume you mean the fixed-term ends in november (to clarify - fixed-term ending does not end tenancy).

If that is the case the section 21 to expire in October would be invalid. 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-and-renting-guidance-for-landlords-tenants-and-local-authorities/technical-guidance-on-eviction-notices

      "Landlords can only use a Section 21 notice to ask their tenants to leave their property:

• If the notice expires at or after the end of the fixed term."

There is a backlog of cases so even if you try to go to court in november it will take months, at which point (in my opinion from info provided Section 21 will be invalid and will have to start again). 

Considering the (apparent) lack of understanding by agent are all the other ducks in the row that need to be for serving valid Section 21, e.g. GSC, deposit protected.
(can you confirm if you are in England/Wales/Scotland/NI as rules differ). 


Has partner tried to sell house with tenant in-situ?

cymruchris

I can't answer your question - but there's a couple of options to suggest that you might not have considered - one is to sell the property with a sitting tenant - there are investors that would go for that - or another option would be to financially incentivise your tenant to leave by for example offering to pay the deposit on a new place, which might make things more amicable and smooth during this period. You don't know the tenants financial situation - they may be able to afford the 'rent' - but might not be in a position to take out a new tenancy with a deposit. The friendly approach might work better than the 'let's drag it through the courts' approach. 

Fresen

Sorry, I am trying to use my mobile to work the forum, sorry if my reply is weirdly formatted. Yes, correct, fixed term ends in November. Yes everything else has been done correctly, I think the estate agent are not very clear, so I asked them to send evidence the tenant had been provided with all the needful upon starting tenancy, and I am fairly assured that has been done correctly. I just felt they were wrong on the notice.

So from what you know, would we/they need to resend the section 22 with a correct notice period to reflect the end of the fixed term? Thank you.

Fresen

The issue with the tenant leaving is that she had a dog, a parrot, and a gun, which my partner agreed to. I think she will struggle to find another tenancy at all. I suppose he could try to sell with the tenant in situ, but he thinks it would be much easier with vacant possession. 

Skiddaw1

Lordy! I'd be a bit nervous about the gun part of it under the circumstances....

london21

Fresen said:

The issue with the tenant leaving is that she had a dog, a parrot, and a gun, which my partner agreed to. I think she will struggle to find another tenancy at all. I suppose he could try to sell with the tenant in situ, but he thinks it would be much easier with vacant possession. 

The gun part caught me off guard LOL. She might struggle to get a new tenancy but surely someone will accept her like your partner did.

The problem with selling the property with tenant in is that you will get less money and liley only attract BTL and cash investors.

Jack_bauer24

Fresen said:

The issue with the tenant leaving is that she had a dog, a parrot, and a gun, which my partner agreed to. I think she will struggle to find another tenancy at all. I suppose he could try to sell with the tenant in situ, but he thinks it would be much easier with vacant possession. 

God, what is she doing with a gun? I doubt she will be accepted for another property, I doubt landlords will accept a gun. 

ilikewatch2

Jack_bauer24 said:

God, what is she doing with a gun? I doubt she will be accepted for another property, I doubt landlords will accept a gun. 

I had no issue renting to a tenant with a gun - they agreed to (and did) make good the holes where their steel gun cabinet was bolted to the wall when they left.
Other than that I regarded it as a bonus that they'd been vetted for gun ownership and the police conducted inspections of the property to ensure their guns were being stored safely and securely. 

efes_shareholder

Its common for the council to advice tennants who have been given notice to stay put.
If they move out within the notice period they will be deemed as making themselves homeless and not be provided with any assistance.
Residents receiving council assistance will be told to stay put until the bailiffs are at the door to evict them , sorry but I think it could be quite a lengthy and costly experience to evict them if you are in this situation

martindow

God knows why she has a gun, but prospective LLs are not likely to specifically ask about armaments so she does not need to volunteer this information. They almost certainly will ask about pets.  Mind you, with the gun this potential problem could be easily solved ...