Tenants won’t move out…how does this work?

[SisforSarah]

Explain to me how this works please. Tenants moved in 2 years ago, it was a long let. The landlord served notice over 6 months ago. They can’t find anywhere else to rent or buy (they are in a particularly busy property hotspot) so are refusing to leave indefinitely, and apparently that’s legal. So the landlord can’t sell his property and benefit from the inflated prices, or move back into his house. How long can they stay there? I’m a bit dumbstruck at this? What would happen if the landlord needed the money from the house sale for something else? Would he be forced to remortgage? I am neither this tenant or landlord or a tenant or landlord of any other property.

How do you know they aren't paying rent? And - realistically - if they have nowhere else to go then what are they supposed to do, sleep on the street?

Landlord needs to speak to them to see if an agreement can be reached because right now both parties are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Not all tenants served notice have rent arrears or stop paying rent
As for the landlord's legal costs, tenants can be given a CCJ for them.
Landlord and tenant law re eviction is there for a reason...

@NailsNeedDoing why are you presuming the tenants are not paying?

@DancesWithTortoises

LL needs to start eviction procedure ASAP. Unfortunately it isn't cheap but the only way to get the squatters out of his property.

Once eviction is granted LL doesn't need to wait but can apply to the high court which will be very quick. Again it costs but worth it, I guess, to get them out.

Technically they aren’t squatters if they have a tenancy which has not been terminated by the landlord and until all the legal processes have been served.

I think the tenancy laws don’t actually apply to squatters who dont have a legal right to be in the property.

Often it's the carrot that gets the donkey moving rather than the stick.

Offer the tenants the right amount of cash and they may leave.

I think it is a bit much for the landlord to be labeled 'idiot' for not knowing the finer points of landlord/tenant law. Not sure all the replies are on the ball...........

I agree with the suggestion of buying them out. When my last let to go bad reached £2500 in lost rent I paid £890 for the deposit on their next property. Worked out cheaper and quicker than going through the courts.

Bit much blaming landlords for the housing deficit. They do provide a vital supply of accommodation to those who don't want or cannot afford to purchase, for instance the young professional or student.

@Starstar7

If you had loaned someone something fir a specific time which they then refused to return would you be happy having to pay them to get it back?

If the landlord needed to move back into the property as their home (ie marriage break up) then they can serve a section 8. Same with rent arrears.

Otherwise section 21 then to court and eventually bailiffs.

@purpleleotard

Whilst it was nice of you to do that imo it's disgusting that you needed to snd ended up over £3000 down.

The law has gone too far towards supporting tenants. It will get to a point where there won't be enough private lets available as it's too much hassle for landlords. I'm considering changing to holiday lets.

The landlord can get advice from Shelter or Shelter Scotland.

@MzHz

If the landlord knows as little as you’re describing here, they shouldn’t be allowed to be a sodding landlord

I swear to god, we need these idiots to be properly trained and licenced

The OP hasn’t said anything about what the landlord does or doesn’t know though have they?

Well if they did know, op wouldn’t be here asking would she?

Whether I'm happy or not is neither here nor there.

The landlord hasn't loaned them anything..they have provided a home under Tenancy Law. The fact of the matter is that only a court or the tenant can end the tenancy. The landlord should know this and accept the risks of running a business.

Paying a tenant to leave is just a business transaction but it could be a financially cheaper one than having a tenant not move out..

The tenants are being obnoxious grabby bastards

What are they to do if they have nowhere else to go?

What would you do? Imagine you have children and nowhere to move to, would you meekly leave the house and...what? A tent in the park? Of course you wouldn't.

If they do stop paying rent, you can also get a CCJ for the amount owed to you and bailiffs can remove goods if they won’t pay up.
Escalating to high court gets them out sooner.

a landlord doesn't "loan" a property. It's a perons's home and subject to the terms of the Tenancy Agreement.

Some landlords are surprised to learn that tenants have rights and they may not suit landlord's timetable.

Eviction - that would take about 12 months to work through and the tenant most likely wouldn't pay rent in that time. It's their home during that time and they continue to have rights.

Anyone who rents a property whether it be from a company or person who owns lots of property or from a one man band renting out a former home, for example should respect that although they have rights whilst renting the house and flat is not there’s and if they asked to vacate as per the terms of their rental agreement and are served the correct notice they should get out even if it means they have to move further away from their job or to a not so nice area or even to a smaller property size for an interim period until they can find a similar property again.

@Mariell

Anyone who rents a property whether it be from a company or person who owns lots of property or from a one man band renting out a former home, for example should respect that although they have rights whilst renting the house and flat is not there’s and if they asked to vacate as per the terms of their rental agreement and are served the correct notice they should get out even if it means they have to move further away from their job or to a not so nice area or even to a smaller property size for an interim period until they can find a similar property again.

The law says different.

Why anyone would bother being a landlord is baffling!

no mariell it's the other way round: anyone that becomes a landlord (no matter how many properties) should understand it is an illiquid investment and once subject to a Tenancy Agreement the tenant has rights.

Those rights mean the landlord might come a cropper. Landlords shouldn't be doing it on a shoestring - need to be able to afford the loss of income from properties where tenant is unable to pay etc etc as that is what can happen). It's ultimately an investment and we all know investments come with losses as well as potential gains. Not sure why you think a landlord would be protected from the ups and downs of investments.

Sometimes people have nothing to their name and so taking them to court for the last year's rent won't get you anywhere really; cutting losses is the sensible option. Landlords lose money (shhh they don't like you know that, it's meant to be win/win). It can be, but also it sometimes isn't (like all investments) needs to be looked at over the longer term so need to be able to swallow the losses when they come your way.

Has the Landlord not researched this before letting it out?

@Booknooks

Why anyone would bother being a landlord is baffling!

The vast sums of money that some make might be your starting point....

If they have the Homelet insurance its easy...they pay any missing rent and then all the eviction costs...we claimed twice on our policy as had awful tenants once who stoppped paying and wrecked house etc...they were really good with all the case etc...