Removed text

JGB1955

AskAsk said:

turnitround said:

Feel another one of those 'My tenants wont leave' threads coming soon.

i hope not!  this would not be good.

But very likely...

michael1234

If it was me, I'd ask to see them and then would adopt a very nice, low-key attitude almost as if they are more important that you (because you definitely don't want to present yourself as the opposite). Then I'd explain I want to sell the house in March and even though the legal minimum is 2 months I would say I'm offering much more notice than that blah blah blah....

Putting up the rent or generally playing hardball is going to annoy/upset them. So much more chance of if it going badly wrong.

Sunsaru

OP, so far you've had advice from landlords, tenants and everything in between all saying the same thing. It sounds like the only person you need to convince is your husband so my advice is to get him to read the comments on this thread and then go be nice to your tenants.

lookstraightahead

Are these tenants relatively switched on, because you're talking about them as if they're not.

Remember, it's their home. If you increase the rent, they could just refuse and wait for you to go through the eviction process. Or maybe leave just before it affects them getting somewhere else. If you act nasty, they can too.

By your OH trying to manipulate the situation to squeeze another month's rent, it's almost lol. They do not have to leave in March. Maybe March 2023.

You're not particularly doing them any favours by giving them "plenty of notice" as it's their prerogative to stay. But being nice will help (as I said earlier).

You need to ditch the March option I think, and come back to it if it happens. Too much manipulation here which will go horribly wrong unless you're just open and honest, and don't put the rent up!

turnitround

Can you serve a valid section 21?

lookstraightahead

AskAsk said:

lookstraightahead said:

Are these tenants relatively switched on, because you're talking about them as if they're not.

Remember, it's their home. If you increase the rent, they could just refuse and wait for you to go through the eviction process. Or maybe leave just before it affects them getting somewhere else. If you act nasty, they can too.

By your OH trying to manipulate the situation to squeeze another month's rent, it's almost lol. They do not have to leave in March. Maybe March 2023.

You're not particularly doing them any favours by giving them "plenty of notice" as it's their prerogative to stay. But being nice will help (as I said earlier).

You need to ditch the March option I think, and come back to it if it happens. Too much manipulation here which will go horribly wrong unless you're just open and honest, and don't put the rent up!

you haven't read the responses in the thread or maybe the responses are not appearing fast enough on the site.  read again about the rent increase.

Well if you're only going to increase the rent if they won't leave, then they still won't leave, they just won't pay the rent either.

ripplyuk

AskAsk said:

michael1234 said:

If it was me, I'd ask to see them and then would adopt a very nice, low-key attitude almost as if they are more important that you (because you definitely don't want to present yourself as the opposite). Then I'd explain I want to sell the house in March and even though the legal minimum is 2 months I would say I'm offering much more notice than that blah blah blah....

Putting up the rent or generally playing hardball is going to annoy/upset them. So much more chance of if it going badly wrong.

i would only increase the rent if they refused to leave next year even though i have given them plenty of notice as then they are being unreasonable and so playing nice is not going to work.

but the consensus is to give as much notice as possible to avoid them staying on, so i will do this, and if they still refuse to move out in march then i will have to recourse to the law.  however, as i had mentioned earlier, it is not in the tenants' interest to upset the landlord either and be unreasonable as they won't be able to get a landlord reference and this is critical to get a new place.

being marched out or receiving a court eviction notice is also not for most people unless you are that way inclined and don't much care to receive court orders.  not to mention court fees and some other costs will be recoverable from the tenants once evicted so most people will not want to be doing this.

Then you’ll be stuck with them even longer. It’s in YOUR interests to give them a good reference. As for increasing the rent, the tenants can simply refuse and then you’re back to square one, having to start court proceedings for eviction.

Being nice really is the best policy here, for all parties.  

lookstraightahead

Op, you said in your first post that you had told them you would give them six months notice. The best option is to stick to this.

ripplyuk

AskAsk said:

ripplyuk said:

AskAsk said:

michael1234 said:

If it was me, I'd ask to see them and then would adopt a very nice, low-key attitude almost as if they are more important that you (because you definitely don't want to present yourself as the opposite). Then I'd explain I want to sell the house in March and even though the legal minimum is 2 months I would say I'm offering much more notice than that blah blah blah....

Putting up the rent or generally playing hardball is going to annoy/upset them. So much more chance of if it going badly wrong.

i would only increase the rent if they refused to leave next year even though i have given them plenty of notice as then they are being unreasonable and so playing nice is not going to work.

but the consensus is to give as much notice as possible to avoid them staying on, so i will do this, and if they still refuse to move out in march then i will have to recourse to the law.  however, as i had mentioned earlier, it is not in the tenants' interest to upset the landlord either and be unreasonable as they won't be able to get a landlord reference and this is critical to get a new place.

being marched out or receiving a court eviction notice is also not for most people unless you are that way inclined and don't much care to receive court orders.  not to mention court fees and some other costs will be recoverable from the tenants once evicted so most people will not want to be doing this.

Then you’ll be stuck with them even longer. It’s in YOUR interests to give them a good reference. As for increasing the rent, the tenants can simply refuse and then you’re back to square one, having to start court proceedings for eviction.

Being nice really is the best policy here, for all parties.  

as i had said earlier, this would only happen if they don't move out next year and want to be unreasonable.

does anyone know if you can increase the rent after you have issued S21 notice so that if they refuse to leave and it takes a while to evict them, you would be entitled to the higher rent in the mean time?

I understand that. My point is that even if they are unreasonable, it’s still not in your interests to make it difficult for them to find a new property. You might want to do so as a point of principle but it still means you’ll be stuck with them longer. 

As for claiming back the increased rent, I believe that would be up to the court. Keep in mind that even a court judgment doesn’t mean you actually get the money. Enforcement isn’t always quick or easy. That’s if the tenants even have the money in the first place. 

michelle09

You talk about your tenants being unreasonable, but in your first post you say that you promised them at least six months notice and are now planning to sell in March (four months away).

Do you think the tenants will think you were the unreasonable one? You aren't required to give them more than six months notice but they also aren't required to leave when the S21 expires.

Not all landlords require a reference - I've never provided one (including in London) and only one of our lodgers asked for a reference when moving so they clearly didn't need them either. I also never had a landlord who could issue a valid S21 because they'd all missed something on the list.

If it were me I would sit down with them and have an open conversation.