Eviction with no contract

Danair888 · 24 March 2019 at 10:02PM

Hi All

I rent a room in a flat and I don’t have a written contract. I’ve been here paying a monthly rent for 7 months and there are 3 other tenants, the landlord is a live-out landlord.

The flat is above a restaurant, my landlord owns the whole building and rents out the lower floor to the restaurant owners. He rang me yesterday and said that the restaurant want to turn our living area into a wine bar so we need to move out in a week as the builders are starting on April 1st.

Can anyone advise on my rights and how much notice he should be giving please? I assume he can’t just give a weeks notice (he hasn’t put anything in writing yet, just a phone call).

I’ve done some research and the amount of notice he should give seems to range from 7 days to 3 months (!) so any clarification would be really appreciated.

KR

Cakeguts · 24 March 2019 at 10:11PM

Did all the tenants move into the flat at the same time?

Danair888 · 24 March 2019 at 10:20PM

No, I moved in first. Then another 1 month later and the other 2 a couple of months after that

G_M · 24 March 2019 at 10:37PM

England/Wales?

You have a verbal contract for a Assured Shorthold Tenancy. What are it's terms? Were they discussed/agreed? eg

* rent
* notice
* period of occupation
* utility payments
* use of what parts of the property

Do you pay rent weekly? Monthly?

Either way, you can only be legally evicted by a court (not the landlord) and the landlord would have to serve you a valid S21 Notice before applying to court. Such notice cannot be served during the first 4 months, and provides 2 months notice - so the eariest the LL can apply to a court is 6 months.

The notice must also comply with a number of other requirements. See

S21 checklist (Is a S21 valid?)

Having said that, it sounds like this landlord either does not know the process/rules, or does know but intends to ignore them.

What evidence do you have of your tenancy?:

* receipt for deposit? What does it say. And was the deposit protected? See
-Deposits: payment, protection and return
* Rent payments: Receipts? Bank transfer staements?
* utilities - who pays them? Who's name on accounts?
* evidence of occupation: address on your driving licence? At bank? HMRC? Employer? I ask in cae you need to show the police you live there in case of an illegal eviction

See: Protection from Eviction Act 1977

Note that the police often misunderstand that the Act above is a criminal offence - an local police ofte regard it as a civil matter (not their concern). In such a case you need to quote the Act, and request a more senior officer. this of course is in the extreme case where the LL is physcally denying you access or removing you.

You could, as a first step, report this to the local police station, stressing that you fear an illegal eviction is going to take place, with a potential Breach of the Peace. They will take no action at present, but getting it on record with them in advance will help if there is any unpleasant action next week.

Also worth contacting Shelter, or a local neighbourhood legal centre, CAB, or even the Private Tenancy Officer at the council (if they have one).

deethebee · 24 March 2019 at 10:53PM

That is shocking that a landlord can expect people to find somewhere else to live within a week!! Disgusting. There really aren't enough rights for tenants as I don't even think a month is enough time to find somewhere to live in the current climate. Anyway, G_M above has given some good advice. You have a verbal contract and if you're paying rent he can't just chuck you out whenever he feels like it - he has to give you a reasonable amount of notice, usually 4 weeks minimum from what I understand. Did you agree on a minimum term when you moved in? From what I've read, the only time a landlord can give as little as a week's notice is when 1) You're a lodger - which you aren't and 2) You pay them rent weekly.

Also, like was mentioned above, the only way he can have you legally removed from the property is to serve you with an eviction notice and he has to go through the courts to do that. This also can be of benefit to you because if you can't find anywhere to live by the time the court says you have to leave then you are entitled to help from the local council if you're effectively homeless. So whatever he says, as you're paying monthly rent and more than likely have a month to month agreement at the least he can't force you out of the property without a court eviction.

Have a look at this page for more information:

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/eviction/eviction_notices_from_private_landlords
https://www.gov.uk/private-renting-evictions

Danair888 · 24 March 2019 at 11:04PM

Thank you both for your detailed responses, much appreciated.

A little more info based on your questions. Through my own fault I never requested a contract or anything in writing, I move around a lot for work so it seemed easier to move into a place where I wasn’t tied into a contract (does this now make me a hypocrite for complaining about getting evicted?! :-)). Nothing was officially agreed when I moved in other than my rent was paid monthly and would be essentially a rolling contract. All bills are included so I technically have nothing in my name to say I live here, my only tie to the place are my monthly bank transfers to the landlord that have ‘Rent’ as the reference and ‘Deposit’ for the deposit.

No notice period was agreed but had I chosen to leave I would have given 1 month as I assumed this was expected. I have access to my room plus communal areas I.e kitchen, bathroom.

To clarify, regardless of how much notice he should give, until he puts something in writing can I assume he has no right to kick me out? The impression I have is that this is the first place he’s let out and doesn’t have much of an idea of what he’s doing, as you eluded to below.

G_M · 24 March 2019 at 11:49PM

Danair888 wrote: »

....... I technically have nothing in my name to say I live here, my only tie to the place are my monthly bank transfers to the landlord that have ‘Rent’ as the reference and ‘Deposit’ for the deposit.
well that plus the keys is your evidence of a tenancy.

.....
To clarify, regardless of how much notice he should give, until he puts something in writing can I assume he has no right to kick me out?

As stated already, he has to serve you a S21 Notice giving you 2 calander months notice. After that he can apply to a court for possession.

Perhaps a polite friendly letter thanking him for the phone call, and for informing you of the planned disruption downstairs, but pointing out that you will require written notice via a S21 Notice (S21 Notice (Form 6a) with a 2 month expiry date, if he wishes to see the tenancy end.

You could add (if you wanted) that you would be willing to discuss the terms of an Early Surrender if that would help him, but that you'd need help with your onward move if that were the case (eg a financial donation!).

I suggest you refer him to the

Housing Act 1988 Section 21
and the
Protection from Eviction Act 1977

edit: you might want to change the lock on your door! And/or on the front door...(though give your flatmates keys!

deethebee · 25 March 2019 at 1:21AM

Yes, like has been mentioned to you, a verbal contract and the proof that you are paying rent is enough to form a legally binding agreement. I would agree with having the locks changed, but I'm not sure it's entirely legal and could get you into trouble. It's a tough one, so I'd see how he reacts when you tell him that you require at least 2 months notice and an eviction notice in writing. If he doesn't put anything in writing then he has no actual proof that he has given you sufficient notice, but also he can't legally have you removed without a court eviction. The thing is that landlords may give tenants notice in writing, but the tenant actually has no legal obligation to leave until they are served with an eviction notice. Tenants just often leave willingly at the end of the notice period, but they don't have to until ordered by a court.

Hopefully it won't get nasty and when your landlord understands what is required of him by law he will back off and willingly give you a reasonable amount of notice in writing. Really the least he can do! To suggest you move out within a week is ludicrous and no he definitely can't make you move in less than a month. The notice period is usually determined by the type of tenancy and how often you pay your rent, it doesn't have to be agreed on.

G_M · 25 March 2019 at 7:24AM

deethebee wrote: »

.......I would agree with having the locks changed, but I'm not sure it's entirely legal and could get you into trouble.

* Not illegal - nothing criminal about it.
* Might be a breach of contract (though as the contract is verbal I doubt this was discussed /agreed!)
* As this is an HMO, the LL has a right of acess to communal areas at all times, so front door lock IS an issue.

....

Hopefully it won't get nasty and when your landlord understands what is required of him by law he will back off and willingly give you a reasonable amount of notice in writing. ..... no he definitely can't make you move in less than [STRIKE]a [/STRIKE]the 2 months required by the S21 Notice followed by court application (another 1 - 3 months?). The tenant's notice period is usually determined by the type of tenancy and how often you pay your rent, it doesn't have to be agreed on.

The landlord's notice period is additionally determined by the Housing Act 1988 Section 21 which is law and cannot be (legally) altered by a contract or type of tenancy..

[Deleted User] · 25 March 2019 at 9:17AM

You know the LL better than we do. If there is a risk he/she will illegally evict you, try and remove valuables and keep copies of paperwork elsewhere.

jonnygee2 · 25 March 2019 at 10:07AM

A little more info based on your questions. Through my own fault I never requested a contract or anything in writing

There is always a contract with a tenancy. A contract is an agreement, not a piece of paper with signatures on it. So by accepting rent and letting you live there, there's clearly a contract in place and any court would decide as such.

What you mean is that there is no written tenancy agreement. Written agreements provide clarity about the terms of the specific agreement (how much rent you'll pay and when for example) to avoid disputes. But a written tenancy agreement, although highly recommendable, is not necessary for an assured tenancy contract to exist.

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Eviction with no contract

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