Homeless

riderboy669

In need of advice me and partner both got an iva .and have been giving a section 21 to move out by end of April, trouble is with an iva we can't get any properties to rent because of it.and spoke to local housing and they basically laughed at us offering no help at all

boxer234

Is the s21 valid ? You don’t have to move out once it has finished.  Have you always paid rent ? If so you might be better of going to landlords not using and agency. 

MaryNB

It's unlikely the council will help you until you have actually been made homeless. That won't be until the S21 expires, the landlord applies to the court, the court issues an eviction order and bailiff turn up to evict you - then you go to the council, bags in hand. 

You are a long long way from being made homeless, unlikely it would happen this year. An S21 notice just means if you don't leave by a certain date, the landlord will apply to the court for an eviction order. It will take many many months to get a court date.

PRAISETHESUN

S21 is just a notice that your LL intends to start legal proceedings to remove you from the property - it does not compel you to leave. No-one except you or a court can end your tenancy, so if you don't agree to move then your LL will have to go through a long legal process to remove you, which realistically is a year or two from happening at this point.

See here: Post 4: Ending/renewing an AST

sammyjammy

Is there a reason why you both have an IVA when you don't own property?  Do you have any other large assets?

deannagone

Housing won't welcome you with open arms at any point, there are too many people needing too few houses, they can't cope.  So they do something called 'gatekeeping' and will even tell people they have a duty to house that they don't, jumping on the smallest thing to give this opinion that won't hold up when its looked at closely (happened to me, I was told that as I'd given up a council property to live in private rental in another area four years before, I'd voluntarily placed myself in an unstable housing situation - which was complete balderdash.  Four years isn't unstable lol.  The CAB laughed when I told them.).  

Look on your local housing policies website.  Usually there will be a time you have to be in the borough before they will help you.  Then it helps if you have some need that means they have a duty to house you. This can be children or a mental or physical disability, this will give you priority. But 'priority' means you could still be waiting in single room accommodation or B&B for over a couple of years (could be longer) before getting close to top of the bidding list.

Housing can also 'house' you by finding you a private rental property.  Or they might give loans/grants to cover the first months rent/deposit.  This very much depends on the area, which is why its useful to look at their housing policy webpage.