complications: type of tenancy

rza

Hi, I own my place and live in it very occationally, I asked my dad to let out some of the rooms so i could recieve some sort of additional income on the side. i didnt have time to actually do this my self as i was very busy running my business.

Now i am not sure what my dad agreed with some these tenants as it was orally agreed at the time (so neither he remembers).
Now what has happpened is the building is in need for some refurbisment and i have let go of all the tenants except one. Now this one person is causing alot of stress for me as i have given him verbal notice of over 5 weeks, and he does not want to leave, he says he will contact his soliciters and get the council HATRO A Tenancy relation officer involved which he has, and i am a bit worried of what to do. Now what i have done is changed the locks, but his stuff is still upstairs and i havent chucked it out cause i dont want his stuff to be stolen while out in the street. Getting hold of him seem impossible and the only way is through the Council Tenancy Officer.

Now i do own the property and have very rarely lived in my room, i do use the facilities such as toilet, kitchen, but i'm always at my parents place, when it comes to sleeping.

Help me out Guys.

melee67

Oh dear, you're in a bit of a pickle.

Technically, if you were living there too, the people in the other rooms should have been deemed 'lodgers' not 'tenants'. It is much easier for an owner-occupier to get rid of unwanted lodgers as the law will be on your side if it's your permanent residence. However, this does not appear to have been your permanent residence if you were not staying there... and you are referring to the residents as 'tenants', which suggests that your Dad offered them a tenancy. How long ago was this, and can he really not remember what the terms were? i.e. how long did he say they could stay, what was the notice period, etc.?

In any case, you have given 5 weeks' notice, so that would, in most cases, be adequate. However, if you didn't have a proper written contract in place, have you been doing everything else by the book? e.g. declaring the income, putting any deposits in an assured scheme (this recently became law for tenant's deposits). This might not go in your favour if you need to get official people involved in the dispute.

You need to talk to the tenant, and to get their stuff back to them asap. There seems to be little way round this if you only have one way of contacting them.

And next time, draw up proper contracts!

tbs624

rza wrote: »

. Now what i have done is changed the locks, but his stuff is still upstairs and i havent chucked it out cause i dont want his stuff to be stolen while out in the street. Getting hold of him seem impossible and the only way is through the Council Tenancy Officer.

Now i do own the property and have very rarely lived in my room, i do use the facilities such as toilet, kitchen, but i'm always at my parents place, when it comes to sleeping.

You haven't said how long this verbal agreement has been in place, nor what arrangements were in place for paying the rent, nor whether your father has any stake in the property. It's also not clear whether you do in fact live at the property or just let yourself in there now and again because you can.

I suspect that you already know that if you as a LL live on the premises then this "tenant" is likely to be classed as an 'excluded occupier' and therefore has minimal protection. If however, it could be demonstrated that you do in fact live somewhere else ( ie, registered address for bills, Council Tax etc)then the situation is different and changing the locks because you want someone to leave is likely to leave you open to charges of tenant harassment and illegal eviction.

My suggestion would be that you get some qualified legal advice locally asap, especially as the tenant has already contacted the TRO.

Andy_Hamilton

Where does all your post go?
If you can prove you actually do your living from the house then you can claim they are a lodger, this gives them very little rights.
Also have you put their deposit in a protection scheme? This can be a bad thing as if they are lodgers you don't have to.
If you can't prove any of the above then your in a very sticky situation.

PasturesNew

Could you right now go to the address, let yourself in, go to your room, get your bubble bath, run a bath, slip into a bathrobe, go downstairs, open up the fridge and look for the cheese you left in there, go into the living room and turn the TV on and get one of your videos off the shelf and put it on ... and if he walks in you'd go "hi" and neither party would think this was unusual because "you live there, allbeit part-time"?

If so, it sounds like he's a lodger.

If he would see you and say "What are you doing? Get out of my house!!" then it starts to sound like he has a tenancy.

PasturesNew

You say you've just changed the locks ... and his stuff's on the inside.

How will he get hold of you?
He might kick the door down.
Where are you now? In the house?

You really are on very dodgy ground because even if you're legally in the right, it sounds like you've not managed this well - and asking us for advice now you've already changed the locks is a bit late.

poppysarah

And watch out - make sure you declare all rental income. If officials are getting involved you'll be checked up on that you've told the tax man.

zzzLazyDaisy

Have you split up with your gf? When you had problems with your tenants/lodgers last month, you were living mainly at her house.


http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=863507

PasturesNew

*reads* ... ooooh dear.

Looks like those guys aren't in your home at all then. And you're renting them rooms.... which most likely in law would be deemed as having tenancies. And now you've changed the locks... and that guy was most likely legally entitled to a minimum of 2 months' notice from the next rent date (which means by now it'd be 2-3 months depending on that date). And that should have been issued properly/legally .... aaaand ... you're letting space above a business premises (NOT your home) probably in contravention of the planning permission on the building ... aaaaand probably in contravention of your insurance cover on the business premises ......

AAAAAND ... so now you've got illegal eviction ... aaand did you put the deposit into a Tenancy Deposit Scheme ... aaand....

You need to get up to speed QUICK on all these laws you've most likely broken. This could cost you a packet!

N79

For heavens sake, STOP RIGHT NOW.

If the tenant has a valid tenancy (and it looks as though they might) then you are already in for a huge amout of costs for an illegal eviction. You are also very close to criminal actions which will end up with you getting a criminal conviction.

Seek legal advice immediately and if your possible tenant returns and requests access to the property my opinion is that you arrange for them to have a key asap. The law is on the tenants side and will come down harshly on rogue landlords. This is far beyond a forum!

N79

zzzLazyDaisy

Penalties for unlawful eviction

http://www.brent.gov.uk/phiu.nsf/24878f4b00d4f0f68025663c006c7944/434714edbe7da4c68025679a002a46f1!OpenDocument