Landlord asked us to leave 4 months into tenancy agreement....can we do anything legally?

mrvillicus

Hello, in March 2022 we moved into a rental advertised as "long term". 4 months in and the landlord asked the estate agent to tell us she wanted to move back in. Cut a long story short, in December 2022 we found a new rental and moved out. During that period we were harassed by the landlord to move out and they also gave us a section 21 notice. As you can imagine being asked to move FOUR months into a new tenancy was not exactly ideal.

Although it's now over a year since, where do we stand legally? is there anything we can do against the landlord in regards to claiming moving expenses etc?

GDB2222

How long was the fixed term of the tenancy contract?

mrvillicus

GDB2222 said:

How long was the fixed term of the tenancy contract?

iirc 6 months I'll double check that though

GDB2222

Well, you shouldn’t have been harassed, but it is not clear whether that was actionable, as you have not given details.

Giving you 2 months notice, to expire at the end of the fixed term is acceptable.  And, of course, that needed to include a S21 notice.

The only real chance of getting some compensation is from the estate agent, as their advert was arguably misleading. I’m not convinced, though. 

mrvillicus

GDB2222 said:

Well, you shouldn’t have been harassed, but it is not clear whether that was actionable, as you have not given details.

Giving you 2 months notice, to expire at the end of the fixed term is acceptable.  And, of course, that needed to include a S21 notice.

The only real chance of getting some compensation is from the estate agent, as their advert was arguably misleading. I’m not convinced, though. 

ok I'll forgive and forget then, my only hope was something along the grounds of the landlord offering the property without being in the secure position to do so 

propertyrental

Assuming it's England (???) a S21 cannot be served earlier than 4 months, to expire 2 months later ie at the 6 month point. Is that what happened? No reason need be given.

That does not end the tenancy though. To do that, either the tenant must give notice, surrender the tenancy move out, or the LL must apply for a court order.

In this case, it's possible there was an illegal eviction, but that would depend on the exact circumstances ie what pressure the T was put under.

If the LL asked the tenant to surrender the tenancy and the T agreed, that would be fine.

I guess you could only claim expenses if there had been an illegal eviction, but the penalty for that is criminal fines, not compensation which I believe would require a separate civic case by the T.

To be honest, the time to fight this and/or agree to move subject to receiving a sweetener like moving expenses, was before moving out.

GDB2222

mrvillicus said:

GDB2222 said:

Well, you shouldn’t have been harassed, but it is not clear whether that was actionable, as you have not given details.

Giving you 2 months notice, to expire at the end of the fixed term is acceptable.  And, of course, that needed to include a S21 notice.

The only real chance of getting some compensation is from the estate agent, as their advert was arguably misleading. I’m not convinced, though. 

ok I'll forgive and forget then, my only hope was something along the grounds of the landlord offering the property without being in the secure position to do so 

Did they explain why they suddenly needed it back? If they intended that all along, then you may have been deliberately misled by the landlord or the estate agent. 

The estate agent is subject to an ombudsman, so you can make a formal complaint and there’s no downside risk for you. 

mrvillicus

GDB2222 said:

mrvillicus said:

GDB2222 said:

Well, you shouldn’t have been harassed, but it is not clear whether that was actionable, as you have not given details.

Giving you 2 months notice, to expire at the end of the fixed term is acceptable.  And, of course, that needed to include a S21 notice.

The only real chance of getting some compensation is from the estate agent, as their advert was arguably misleading. I’m not convinced, though. 

ok I'll forgive and forget then, my only hope was something along the grounds of the landlord offering the property without being in the secure position to do so 

Did they explain why they suddenly needed it back? If they intended that all along, then you may have been deliberately misled by the landlord or the estate agent. 

The estate agent is subject to an ombudsman, so you can make a formal complaint and there’s no downside risk for you. 

We were told "due to unforeseen circumstances" however we know that it was due to a relationship breakdown, it seems the LL met someone and they decided to move into his house together which obviously didn't last long.

HampshireH

mrvillicus said:

GDB2222 said:

mrvillicus said:

GDB2222 said:

Well, you shouldn’t have been harassed, but it is not clear whether that was actionable, as you have not given details.

Giving you 2 months notice, to expire at the end of the fixed term is acceptable.  And, of course, that needed to include a S21 notice.

The only real chance of getting some compensation is from the estate agent, as their advert was arguably misleading. I’m not convinced, though. 

ok I'll forgive and forget then, my only hope was something along the grounds of the landlord offering the property without being in the secure position to do so 

Did they explain why they suddenly needed it back? If they intended that all along, then you may have been deliberately misled by the landlord or the estate agent. 

The estate agent is subject to an ombudsman, so you can make a formal complaint and there’s no downside risk for you. 

We were told "due to unforeseen circumstances" however we know that it was due to a relationship breakdown, it seems the LL met someone and they decided to move into his house together which obviously didn't last long.

Well that would be "unforseen circumstances " then so they were correct.

If you signed a 6 month tenancy it was never "long term".

I would expect a minimum of a year.

I can't see they have done anything wrong as long as all in keeping with dates and notice was valid.

You moved in March were served notice on month 4 of 6 (or later) and you moved out in month 9.

I think you need to just move on emotionally (as you have moved on physically) and chalk it down to experience.

GDB2222

I agree that it’s worked out badly for you, but I don’t think you were deliberately misled. 

@propertyrental said, you could possibly have negotiated a contribution to your moving expenses as a condition of agreeing to move out. On the other hand, you needed a landlord reference…

propertyrental

mrvillicus said:

GDB2222 said:

mrvillicus said:

GDB2222 said:

Well, you shouldn’t have been harassed, but it is not clear whether that was actionable, as you have not given details.

Giving you 2 months notice, to expire at the end of the fixed term is acceptable.  And, of course, that needed to include a S21 notice.

The only real chance of getting some compensation is from the estate agent, as their advert was arguably misleading. I’m not convinced, though. 

ok I'll forgive and forget then, my only hope was something along the grounds of the landlord offering the property without being in the secure position to do so 

Did they explain why they suddenly needed it back? If they intended that all along, then you may have been deliberately misled by the landlord or the estate agent. 

The estate agent is subject to an ombudsman, so you can make a formal complaint and there’s no downside risk for you. 

We were told "due to unforeseen circumstances" however we know that it was due to a relationship breakdown, it seems the LL met someone and they decided to move into his house together which obviously didn't last long.

If a valid S21 notice was served, then the reason is irrelevant. No reason at all need be given.