cousins ex-boyfriend ignores her asking him to leave house SHE owns!

coventrian

I am wondering if anyone has any sound advice on how to go about removing an ex-boyfriend.

From what i have been told, he pays no rent and simply ignores her when she has asked him to move out/leave.

He is not on the deeds and has no tenancy agreement.

Some have said that she has to be careful before going down the route of changing the locks when he goes out of the property as he can claim against her for denying him legal access to his stuff(and his collection of pigeons in the garden shed). He cannot supply any documents/bank records as evidence of rent payments but i suspect he will say he's paid her in cash.

This really affecting her and i know she will struggle to afford a solicitor.

I greatly appreciate any help/advice.

Thanks for reading.

elsien

Has he paid for any work on the house that may have improved its value and which he can provide evidence of? Or paid towards the mortgage.
if neither of these apply, then paying towards his share of the bills doesn’t create any sort of tenancy or beneficial interest.

In which case she can change the locks, lock him out and then give him access to his possessions by arranging a date for him to come and fetch them which is convenient for them both.

Keep_pedalling

Her boyfriend is no more than a lodger and has no rights regarding being able to live in her house.

sheramber

Surely he can still get access to his pigeons if they are in a shed in the garden.

thegreenone

Put all his belongings in the pigeon shed (yes, I know ) and change the locks.  Ask a local solicitor for a free 30 min discussion and ask them to write a Leave and remove pigeons by X date letter, probably cost about £30.

propertyrental

I assume this is England? And she lives in the property herself?

If so, even if he has paid rent, he's done so as an 'Excluded occupier' (lodger) (ie excluded from any protection from the Housing Act 1988).

He has (rather, 'had') a licence to occupy, not a tenancy. She has apparently withdrawn that licence (ie by asking him to leave). Povided she gave 'reasonable' notice, she can then change the locks.

In the absence of a written agreement, 'reasonable notice' is usually deemed to be a week if rent is paid weekly, or a month if rent was monthly.

If no rent was paid, then no notice required as there was no contract.

Change the locks.

She has a duty to
a) care for his possessions and
b) allow him a reasonable opportunity to collect them (after which she can dispose of them and give him any money she might get from selling them. She need not give him access for tis but could eg pack them up and arrange for him to collect from the front garden at an agreed time.

The pigeons he can collect at a agreed time from the shed, after which she could sell to another pigeon fancier?

Murphybear

thegreenone said:

Put all his belongings in the pigeon shed (yes, I know ) and change the locks.  Ask a local solicitor for a free 30 min discussion and ask them to write a Leave and remove pigeons by X date letter, probably cost about £30.

Some Citizens Advice people can do this for free.  

ThisIsWeird

Does she have any concerns about how he'll react when she gives him this deadline? If so, I suggest she has a discrete camera set up to record the conversation. It'll be evidence that he's been categorically told to leave by X date, and it'll also capture any unreasonable response from him.

FreeBear

propertyrental said: The pigeons he can collect at a agreed time from the shed, after which she could sell to another pigeon fancier?

A local butcher might be interested, but I doubt you'd get much for them.

coventrian

ThisIsWeird said:

Does she have any concerns about how he'll react when she gives him this deadline? If so, I suggest she has a discrete camera set up to record the conversation. It'll be evidence that he's been categorically told to leave by X date, and it'll also capture any unreasonable response from him.

No she doesn't. But it is a good point you make, so recording the episode would be a sensible thing to do.

Thanks for that.

Section62

coventrian said:

From what i have been told, he pays no rent and simply ignores her when she has asked him to move out/leave.

Is there a reason why he won't go?  E.g. he can't afford to rent elsewhere, or he thinks they might get back together if he stays?  Understanding why someone is doing something is often important to find the right solution.  ('right' in the sense he goes voluntarily and happily, rather than being forced out by a lock change)