Advice on how to make eviction as smooth as possible for 'good' tenants

7sefton

I currently have tenants in my London flat that I now need to sell to free up capital next year.

I found the tenants (couple + child) through a local council housing scheme (essentially the council paid a deposit and incentive for me to rent to them, as they are on housing benefit and entitled to council housing): they've been great and looked after the property well. I explained to them at the start of the tenancy 18 months ago that I couldn't guarantee how long they could have the flat, but know how much this will be stressful for them.

I'm also aware the council will advise them to stay put until bailiffs arrive, so am prepared for a long-ish wait to effect repossession.

Obviously there are formal procedures to go through, but I wondered if anyone has any advice on how to make this as painless as possible for my tenants and also encourage them to remain cooperative throughout the process. I'm worried they might suddenly change and become resentful.

Thanks for any thoughts.

Slithery

Offer them a cash incentive to leave early, if they make things difficult it could take you years to evict them.

theartfullodger

Speak to them, calmly politely and in a friendly manner.  Possibly not in front of kids.

Problem is one option (bribery) would mean they'd made themselves "intentionally homeless" and would not be entitled to rehousing plus not much advice from council.

In your shoes I'd assume this will need complete going through steps of notice, notice expiry, court, court order, order expiry, bailiffs/hceo, thanks to Thatcher's granting tenants absolute right to go that way under 1988 Housing Act.

Guess timescales of 12-18 months.

lookstraightahead

Slithery said:

Offer them a cash incentive to leave early, if they make things difficult it could take you years to evict them.

I don't understand this. How much cash would you ask for to move out of your home? 

The op knows there's a process. The op knows it will take time.

Where do you expect the tenants to go with a bit of cash in their pockets? 

Op, whilst you don't want to get overly involved in their situation, hopefully they have the same morals as you and you can work together.

aoleks

have you checked if your flat is even sellable? most flats in London don't sell, not even at prices as they were 5 years ago.

theoretica

Have you looked into selling the flat as a tenanted rental property?

7sefton

aoleks said:

have you checked if your flat is even sellable? most flats in London don't sell, not even at prices as they were 5 years ago.

Yes, it's an old, low-rise period block with no cladding etc.

Slithery said:

Offer them a cash incentive to leave early, if they make things difficult it could take you years to evict them.

What exactly could they do the 'make things difficult' and drag it out for years? I understand there are backlogs in the courts etc, but surely 12 months is reasonable case scenario. Even if they become uncooperative, surely when the bailiffs come that's the end of the matter?

elsien

Could they go back to the council and speak to the housing officer about support to get another property on the same scheme as yours? 

AdrianC

7sefton said:

I currently have tenants in my London flat that I now need to sell to free up capital next year.

I found the tenants (couple + child) through a local council housing scheme (essentially the council paid a deposit and incentive for me to rent to them, as they are on housing benefit and entitled to council housing): they've been great and looked after the property well. I explained to them at the start of the tenancy 18 months ago that I couldn't guarantee how long they could have the flat, but know how much this will be stressful for them.

I'm also aware the council will advise them to stay put until bailiffs arrive, so am prepared for a long-ish wait to effect repossession.

Obviously there are formal procedures to go through, but I wondered if anyone has any advice on how to make this as painless as possible for my tenants and also encourage them to remain cooperative throughout the process. I'm worried they might suddenly change and become resentful.

First off, you need to learn the difference between <looks at thread title> "eviction" and giving notice.

You give them s21 notice.
That simply says you'd like the property back in two months, if that's OK with them.
If all is good, they move out, everybody's happy.

If they don't, that's when the fun starts.

This is the point at which whether the local authority will find them accommodation or not, and whether a financial inducement would help or not, starts to become relevant.

Eviction - when a court gives you a grant of possession, and you can hire some large chaps to help them move out even if they don't want to - is a LONG way down the road.
Potentially a couple of years into the future - the backlog for the courts is LONG.
Quite possibly, if you aren't sharp on your paperwork, the court will refuse and you'll be back to where you are now.

One question... If the local authority paid you an inducement to grant them a tenancy, is there a minimum period specified there?

7sefton

elsien said:

Could they go back to the council and speak to the housing officer about support to get another property on the same scheme as yours? 

Yes that's what they will do, but because there's such high demand the council will tell them to sit tight in my flat until the last possible moment (i.e. bailiffs). 

elsien

7sefton said:

elsien said:

Could they go back to the council and speak to the housing officer about support to get another property on the same scheme as yours? 

Yes that's what they will do, but because there's such high demand the council will tell them to sit tight in my flat until the last possible moment (i.e. bailiffs). 

I thought that the demand was for people  hoping for council properties, rather than private rentals such as yours? 
Or is  it now both?