Landlord wants me to move during Fixed Term AST on Ground 1

dvenom999

Hello everyone,

I recently had an issue at my apartment (simple fix, required a replacement part). The landlord asked if he could come check if everything is fine. After he arrived, he started telling me this story about how he's lost his job 8 months ago and hasn't found anything since; his father is suffering from cancer and he had to move out and move in with him and so on.

Then, he said that he would want to move back in into the apartment that he is currently renting to me. After the story, he also alluded to being able to get an eviction. He proposed that I should look at other apartments in the area and he could "help" me by putting me in contact with other landlords nearby. I have paid my rent on-time always, have not damaged the apartment in any way / broke any laws / no anti-social behavior / did not break any contract agreement clauses.

I do not want to move out. The reason why i signed a 3-year contract was to fix my rent, which has skyrocketed everywhere else since a year ago. I would also have to deal with moving out costs (I have a lot of heavy musical equipment). Finally, it is a joint rental (me and my gf) and she recently (this week) lost her job and has no income. We are not in a position to have this housing uncertainty over our heads at such a time.

About my situation:

     0. Located in England (London)

1. Signed an Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement with him (through a letting estate agency). The tenancy started on the 26th of June 2023 and expires in 2026. Therefore we are 1 year into a 3-year fixed term AST tenancy.

2. There is no break clause in the contract.

3. I have always paid rent on time and have not broken any laws/terms of contract etc.

4. This is the extract from my tenancy contract in relation to the Protection from eviction act:

In order to exercise the Landlord's legal rights under this clause, 5.8 a Landlord will first need to obtain a court order.

Ground 1. The Landlord gives notice to the Tenant that possession of the Premises may be sought under Ground I of part 1 of Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988 in that:- At some time before the beginning of the Tenancy the Landlord,

or in the case of joint Landlords at least one of them, occupied the Premises as the Landlord's only or principal home; or, the Landlord, or in the case of joint Landlords at least one of them, requires the Premises as the Landlord's or the Landlord's spouse’s only or principal home.

NOTE: I do not know whether he has occupied this apartment at any time before the tenancy agreement as his only or principal home.

As per the above, I believe that the only possible ground he could evict me during the fixed term (as I haven't broken any agreements in the contract) would be under ground 1. However, after checking england shelter , it seems that this ground 1 can only be invoked AFTER the fixed term agreement has ended.

My questions is:

0. If he were to force me out of the house, would he have to file a Section 8 claim? From my understanding, section 21 does not apply. Does section 21 apply at all here?

1. Is the statement that ground 1 can't be invoked during the fixed period of the AST true?

2. As per the fragment in the contract I've highlighted above in relation to ground 1, can he evict me? I have not received any sort of notice whatsoever in relation to this before the contract has started. The ONLY time the landlord has told me about him moving into the apartment was just today, 1 year into the contract. And, even if he did give such a notice, can he evict me during the fixed term?

3. As the only way (as stated in the contract) for eviction would be doable through a court order, do you guys think he will indeed push to the courts (I assume it would take months to get a resolution) - and does he have a solid ground for eviction?

4. What should my next move be? He said he'll email me with a couple of suggestions for similar apartments to consider renting instead - which I will refuse. What should I expect next, the formal section 8 eviction notice? Which I would have to let expire; at which point he would have to serve me with a court possession claim?

5. Should I raise this with the letting agency - are they impartial in this situation? I have not yet received any formal, written request of eviction, for now everything is just what he has said verbally to me today.

Thank you very much

RAS

Did the LL issued you notice that he'd want the property back to live in before he granted you the three year tenancy? As that is a key requirement as well as living in the property previously. You might want to check paperwork.

Rule 1 really designed for people going to work overseas for a defined time. 

dvenom999

No, I have not received any notice from the land lord about moving back into the property before the tenancy was signed.  This is what someone else has commented about the situation on another platform:

The notice of this grounds being enforceable is the section you quoted in the contract which you signed. This grounds can be sought during AST. If he can show he lived there previously, (or I think from reading it he would be homeless without a repossession order) then a court must give a court order for possession. Unless you agree to surrender the tenancy then he will have to go to the courts, and a possession order will be granted. You could try negotiating a cash for keys deal to cover the extra rent cost or get a few grand for the hassle. But ultimately he would win this if it goes via courts.

However I am not sure I agree that the existence of the requirement of a notice in the contract agreement is itself the notice - I would assume some other form of notice would have had to be provided separately.

_Penny_Dreadful

dvenom999 said:

Hello everyone,

I recently had an issue at my apartment (simple fix, required a replacement part). The landlord asked if he could come check if everything is fine. After he arrived, he started telling me this story about how he's lost his job 8 months ago and hasn't found anything since; his father is suffering from cancer and he had to move out and move in with him and so on.

Then, he said that he would want to move back in into the apartment that he is currently renting to me. After the story, he also alluded to being able to get an eviction. He proposed that I should look at other apartments in the area and he could "help" me by putting me in contact with other landlords nearby. I have paid my rent on-time always, have not damaged the apartment in any way / broke any laws / no anti-social behavior / did not break any contract agreement clauses.

I do not want to move out. The reason why i signed a 3-year contract was to fix my rent, which has skyrocketed everywhere else since a year ago. I would also have to deal with moving out costs (I have a lot of heavy musical equipment). Finally, it is a joint rental (me and my gf) and she recently (this week) lost her job and has no income. We are not in a position to have this housing uncertainty over our heads at such a time.

About my situation:

     0. Located in England (London)

1. Signed an Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement with him (through a letting estate agency). The tenancy started on the 26th of June 2023 and expires in 2026. Therefore we are 1 year into a 3-year fixed term AST tenancy.

2. There is no break clause in the contract.

3. I have always paid rent on time and have not broken any laws/terms of contract etc.

4. This is the extract from my tenancy contract in relation to the Protection from eviction act:

In order to exercise the Landlord's legal rights under this clause, 5.8 a Landlord will first need to obtain a court order.

Ground 1. The Landlord gives notice to the Tenant that possession of the Premises may be sought under Ground I of part 1 of Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988 in that:- At some time before the beginning of the Tenancy the Landlord,

or in the case of joint Landlords at least one of them, occupied the Premises as the Landlord's only or principal home; or, the Landlord, or in the case of joint Landlords at least one of them, requires the Premises as the Landlord's or the Landlord's spouse’s only or principal home.

NOTE: I do not know whether he has occupied this apartment at any time before the tenancy agreement as his only or principal home.

As per the above, I believe that the only possible ground he could evict me during the fixed term (as I haven't broken any agreements in the contract) would be under ground 1. However, after checking england shelter , it seems that this ground 1 can only be invoked AFTER the fixed term agreement has ended.

My questions is:

0. If he were to force me out of the house, would he have to file a Section 8 claim? From my understanding, section 21 does not apply. Does section 21 apply at all here?

1. Is the statement that ground 1 can't be invoked during the fixed period of the AST true?

2. As per the fragment in the contract I've highlighted above in relation to ground 1, can he evict me? I have not received any sort of notice whatsoever in relation to this before the contract has started. The ONLY time the landlord has told me about him moving into the apartment was just today, 1 year into the contract. And, even if he did give such a notice, can he evict me during the fixed term?

3. As the only way (as stated in the contract) for eviction would be doable through a court order, do you guys think he will indeed push to the courts (I assume it would take months to get a resolution) - and does he have a solid ground for eviction?

4. What should my next move be? He said he'll email me with a couple of suggestions for similar apartments to consider renting instead - which I will refuse. What should I expect next, the formal section 8 eviction notice? Which I would have to let expire; at which point he would have to serve me with a court possession claim?

5. Should I raise this with the letting agency - are they impartial in this situation? I have not yet received any formal, written request of eviction, for now everything is just what he has said verbally to me today.

Thank you very much

A section 21 doesn’t apply to this situation. The landlord cannot issue a valid section with more than 6 months to go before the end off your fixed term.

1. The is correct. A section 8 using ground 1 cannot be used to end a tenancy before the end of its fixed term as per Housing Act 1988s7(6)(a).
2. Your tenancy can only be legally ended in one of three ways. The first is by you, the tenant, serving valid notice but as your fixed term doesn’t end until 2026 you cannot do that yet. The second is for the tenancy to be ended by a court and for that to happen your landlord would have to serve a valid section 21 (which he cannot do yet) or a valid section 8 notice but at present he has no valid ground to use. Thirdly, is for you and your landlord to agree to a mutual surrender of the tenancy but as you don’t want to move I would not recommend doing this. 
3. The landlord cannot legally end the tenancy by himself, only you or a court can do that. A section 8 requires a ground and we have already established that ground 1 cannot be used during the fixed term. As long as you don’t fall into arrears then what other ground could he possibly use? 
4. If the landlord emails you reiterate that you won’t be moving before the end of your fixed term. Should he go as far as issuing a section 8 using ground 1 and applying to court you can easily defend this by showing you have a fixed term AST until 25th June 2026. 
5. The letting agent is paid by the landlord to act as the landlord’s agent. You have no contract with the letting agent. 

born_again

Aside from the above.
The cynical amongst us would think. Great sob story. Now the truth will be far different. They have realised what a mug they have been & how much rent they are losing now 🤷‍♀️

BonaDea

I seem to recall from the days when I was a landlord that in order to invoke 'ground 1' the landlord had to have given the tenant notice BEFORE the tenancy began that they would be entitled to do this at some future point.  I only remember this because the last time I let out the property I knew I would want to move back in myself at the end of the term so made sure I gave this notice to the tenant the day before his tenancy started.  Is this still the case?  I'm assuming your landlord didn't give you any paperwork of this kind just before you took on the tenancy?

theartfullodger

On the basis of what you have stated you have a stupid &  over optimistic landlord.  Ignore him for the moment.  If you receive any court papers post again in this thread and we'll do our best.

Which country? (e.g NI, Wales....) ? ?

Artful, landlord since 2000.

dvenom999

@BonaDea no, he did not provide me with any notice of that kind before the tenancy. The first time was today, verbally.

Thank you @_Penny_Dreadful for the advice. When the LL reaches out again I will state that I am not willing to move before the end of the tenance agreement term.

dvenom999

@theartfullodger this is in England. Yes, I will not do anything unless he serves me official papers.

Bookworm105

born_again said:

Aside from the above.
The cynical amongst us would think. Great sob story. Now the truth will be far different. They have realised what a mug they have been & how much rent they are losing now 🤷‍♀️

or the cynical would think tenant once again pulls on heart strings about how difficult life is 

propertyrental

dvenom999 said:

My questions is:

0. If he were to force me out of the house, would he have to file a Section 8 claim? From my understanding, section 21 does not apply. Does section 21 apply at all here?

1. Is the statement that ground 1 can't be invoked during the fixed period of the AST true?

2. As per the fragment in the contract I've highlighted above in relation to ground 1, can he evict me? I have not received any sort of notice whatsoever in relation to this before the contract has started. The ONLY time the landlord has told me about him moving into the apartment was just today, 1 year into the contract. And, even if he did give such a notice, can he evict me during the fixed term?

3. As the only way (as stated in the contract) for eviction would be doable through a court order, do you guys think he will indeed push to the courts (I assume it would take months to get a resolution) - and does he have a solid ground for eviction?

4. What should my next move be? He said he'll email me with a couple of suggestions for similar apartments to consider renting instead - which I will refuse. What should I expect next, the formal section 8 eviction notice? Which I would have to let expire; at which point he would have to serve me with a court possession claim?

5. Should I raise this with the letting agency - are they impartial in this situation? I have not yet received any formal, written request of eviction, for now everything is just what he has said verbally to me today.

Thank you very much

I'm happy to be corrected but slightly disagree with some of the advice above:

0) No - S21 does not apply here. He'd have to use one of the S8 Grounds

1) I've just re-read S8 of the Act and schedule 2 G1 and don't see any mention of whether it can or cannot be applied during the fixed term. If it's silent, I'd assume it can be used at any time - happy to be corrected

2) The relevant notice to you is in the tenancy agreement. Provided you were given the TA before the tenancy started, he has complied with the requirement. However he still has to serve you a formal notice that he now intends to apply to court using S8 G1.

3) He might or might not apply to court. If he does not, nothing changes. If he does he may succeed (subject to my assertion in 1) above - which might be wrong).

4) Do nothing. If he does serve a S8 notice he would have to wait till it expires and apply to court. Or you could negotiate eg offer to surrender your tenancy provided he a) pays your removal costs, b) finds you another flat at the same rent c) pays you £1000 d) whatever else you can think of!

5) No. They act for the LL and will just do what he instructs. The S8, if it comes, may be issued by them but at his instruction.