Renting- do we have any rights to stay a bit longer?

namieco

We have been in rented accommodation for about 10 years, the perfect tenants. This summer our landlord contacted us to say they want the property back as they need to downsize and live there, then sell it. They gave us 4 months under the COVID regulations, meaning we need to move by the beginning of December.

It's been almost 3 months now. We have been refreshing the property websites every day and have had no luck. When we have seen a house we like, I call up straight away to book a viewing, only to be told they are already oversubscribed and I can only join the waiting list to view if someone drops out. So we never even get to see the house.

We have gotten lucky on a couple of occasions and been able to view the house, but its been so small its been unliveable- we live in a one bedroom property as it is, but these houses have had literally nowhere for us to fit basic furniture such as a sideboard, a table to eat at, etc.

Then there's the 99% of houses that we really don't want (rough areas, make us depressed to click through pictures, etc).

We aren't being fussy, promise. We WANT to move out. It's actually getting really stressful. I want nothing more than to just set a date for a suitable house and go.

My husband wants to contact the landlord to ask for an extension. Here's my question- do we have any rights to insist on an extension, in the event we REALLY can't find anywhere suitable yet?

As soon as we find somewhere we will go, but at this rate we are worried it won't be in time and want breathing room.

user1977

You don't have to go unless and until a court orders an eviction.

pinkshoes

The S21 is just a request for you to leave. The landlord cannot FORCE you to leave until he takes the S21 eviction notice to court, the court grants the eviction, then he employs a bailiff to get you to leave.

This whole process can take MONTHS, if not over a year as apparently there is quite a waiting list for bailiffs!

So just talk to your landlord. Tell him that you are doing everything you can to find something else but there is nothing suitable at the moment so you won't be able to move. Perhaps even give him your criteria and ask him to help!?

namieco

Thanks we will contact him and see what happens. I don't want the relationship to go sour and for him to end up going to court- we would rather move and just let him have the property. 

lookstraightahead

user1977 said:

You don't have to go unless and until a court orders an eviction.

True but then you're unable to rent anywhere else.

donemedosh

As you have been there 10 years I would have a word with the landlord & tell them the issues you have been having. As the landlords are downsizing they may have room to manouver dates. They have followed the rules by giving notice but if you cannot find somewhere to live then you can make the landlord go through the courts (As user has said). Have a look at thetenatsvoice co.uk website. As a lever to get your landlord to give more time remind them that court action is costly & can take months to complete. Best of luck

user1977

lookstraightahead said:

user1977 said:

You don't have to go unless and until a court orders an eviction.

True but then you're unable to rent anywhere else.

Do they want to? Their other threads suggest they're planning to buy (admittedly not clear from the OP).

JohnBravo

A lot of tenants are taken by surprise by the landlords because they want to sell the property NOW FAST.
This is because the prices started to fall and they want to exit before it's too late but IMHO it's already late and not really a good time of the year (before Christmas) to sell properties. That is why you were a spot on tenant for 10 years paying off their mortgage but priorities have changed mid 2021.

It's still nice they gave you 4 months notice but the time is not that good to change place, the rents went up by 20% and you get a worse place for more.

Please check with the landlord if your deposit is registered with any of the deposit schemes.

If not then there is a red flag and that you could lose all the deposit at the end of the tenancy.
Mine didn't register it to save on the annual service fee (it says in the contract that landlord should do that).

This bit of information is important when you end your tenancy before you are about to pay the last rent.

grumiofoundation

lookstraightahead said:

user1977 said:

You don't have to go unless and until a court orders an eviction.

True but then you're unable to rent anywhere else.

What exactly do you mean by this?

Although I am in no way recommending doing this unless no other choice there is a common misconception, from both tenants and landlords, that staying past notice expiry date until landlord goes to court is in some way is 'illegal' or 'squatting' which isn't true - and your post could be taken to mean a tenant staying past the notice expiry is 'wrong'. 
For clarity for anyone reading not leaving when a section 21 notice expires (which you have no legal requirement to do so) does not automatically prevent you being able to rent anywhere else.

Obviously staying past expiry and forcing landlord to take you to court may result in you getting a poor reference from your landlord (which maybe is what you meant?) which could make it much harder to rent elsewhere (still doesn't inherently make you unable to rent elsewhere). 

grumiofoundation

JohnBravo said:

A lot of tenants are taken by surprise by the landlords because they want to sell the property NOW FAST.
This is because the prices started to fall and they want to exit before it's too late but IMHO it's already late and not really a good time of the year (before Christmas) to sell properties. That is why you were a spot on tenant for 10 years paying off their mortgage but priorities have changed mid 2021.

It's still nice they gave you 4 months notice but the time is not that good to change place, the rents went up by 20% and you get a worse place for more.

Please check with the landlord if your deposit is registered with any of the deposit schemes.

If not then there is a red flag and that you could lose all the deposit at the end of the tenancy.
Mine didn't register it to save on the annual service fee (it says in the contract that landlord should do that).

This bit of information is important when you end your tenancy before you are about to pay the last rent.

It's not 'nice' they gave 4 months notice - it was the minimum notice required by law.

If deposit was not protected that would actually be a good thing for the OP
a) means Section 21 was invalid
b) means they* can sue the landlord for compensation and a court would be required to make the landlord pay a penalty of between 1x and 3x the deposit. As well as landlord being forced to protect it/pay it back.



*maybe you can too? If your ex-landlord didn't fulfil their legal obligations? (depending on when tenancy ended. 

lookstraightahead

grumiofoundation said:

lookstraightahead said:

user1977 said:

You don't have to go unless and until a court orders an eviction.

True but then you're unable to rent anywhere else.

What exactly do you mean by this?

Although I am in no way recommending doing this unless no other choice there is a common misconception, from both tenants and landlords, that staying past notice expiry date until landlord goes to court is in some way is 'illegal' or 'squatting' which isn't true - and your post could be taken to mean a tenant staying past the notice expiry is 'wrong'. 
For clarity for anyone reading not leaving when a section 21 notice expires (which you have no legal requirement to do so) does not automatically prevent you being able to rent anywhere else.

Obviously staying past expiry and forcing landlord to take you to court may result in you getting a poor reference from your landlord (which maybe is what you meant?) which could make it much harder to rent elsewhere (still doesn't inherently make you unable to rent elsewhere). 

I did mean a poor reference.