So we're being evicted AGAIN!

[OnandOnItGoes]

3rd rented property in 7 years. Been here for 4 years. Had to leave the last two properties as landlord selling, now we're in the same situation again.

Rent always paid on time and properties always very well looked after so it's not that we're bad tenants, just the never ending game we're stuck in.

We left within the notice period of last 2 properties but can't with this one as rents are £500+ for similar properties and much smaller worse properties with no parking/horrible areas are £200-300 a month more and we simply can't afford it or find one which we are successful for as they seem to only want 'professionals' in high paying jobs.

Council have been no help and have said as both DH and I work, we need to find another rented property. I can only work part time in a low paying admin job due to caring responsibilities as need to be on hand for disabled DC for school drop/pick up and after school as no after school care (teens). We have no family support.

Also worried about being put in temp accommodation as around here it seems to be adapted office blocks with lots of anti social issues. Also as we work I understand we'll have to pay a lot for it!

Section 21 expires on 15th May and I'm aware Landlord will start court process for possession as he's very keen to get us out and get it sold. I assume he'll use the accelerated procedure as he's a professional landlord with lots of properties and is selling most of them I believe.

Does anyone know how long we may have before bailiffs? We're in the South East. I've already looked into storage facilities so we can empty the house but we have no family to stay with so not sure where we'll go from there.

Of course we will continue looking for a property and continue paying rent but any advice on timeline will be helpful if anyone has been through the process recently?

The stress is unbearable and much worse this time due to the current rental market!

😂😂 Thank you, I needed a giggle!

@ThankmelaterOkay Ha, people who are in nice secure situations just dont get it- the vast shortage of good rental property means LL get their pick. We are very very lucky that we can afford to rent at a higher level (can't buy due to age) have no kids at home , great track record- so are nearly always picked unless someone outbids us. I dread to think now when we didn't earn as much and had son still at home etc.

Can you really not see the difference?

Most people can do without a car for a short (or long) period of time, even if it's inconvenient. Go without a home for even one day and you'll be in dire straits.

Leasehold is one of the more expensive ways to get a car - buying a second hand one always works out cheaper.

There's enough cars to go around, and you can always get hold of one with relative ease, so long as you have some cash upfront. You don't get queues of people outside a dealership eager to sign for anything they can get their hands on.

Leasehold companies don't refuse you a car because you have pets or children.

Leasehold companies don't take back your car because they've realised they can hire it out by the day for more money.

Maybe @Straggletag lives in her car?

The picking was for me the most unusual thing when helping my son (13 couples wanting the same place over one weekend). I have never seen anything like it even here in the SE. How do you choose who gets the home? I picked the 2 teachers as that sounded a stable set of jobs. Then the joke was on me as the letting agent had got that wrong and they were self employed albeit with verified income. Anyway so far they have paid my son okay and all seems well. In the old days I would have obtained a letter directly from their employer(or even call the employer) before choosing rather than rely on third parties.

Leased cars aren’t where you tuck your kids in at night, where you apply for their schools from, where you feel safe and shut the world away.
it is frankly insulting to compare a home and a what is increasingly becoming a white good, like a fridge.

You need a home to lease a car and have insurance, tax etc

In the old days I would have obtained a letter directly from their employer(or even call the employer) before choosing rather than rely on third parties.

i am in no way judging you for doing that, it’s sensible. But it’s another kick for renters, another person the roof over their head relies on. If the employer refuses (because they can’t be bothered), or is too slow (as it’s going to be way down the priority list) You lose the potential home.

as I say, I do not blame you. But it is yet another example of business vs home.

@Thesharkradar Not yet but it’s getting closer. Still it’s warms my heart to know we’ve paid half the landlady’s purchase price though (and previous tenants paid the other half) so she can continue her early retirement travelling round the world. She’s not put a penny into this house. It was bought then put up to let with the same photos, not even changed the curtains from the previous owner.
It doesn’t matter that our excellent credit rating will be decimated, we’ve been priced out of the market, we’ll end up in temporary accommodation, our kids will have to change schools, we’ll go into debt with the cost of moving, lose half of our worldly possessions as we can’t afford the storage, lost income, etc as long as she’s enjoying her life of holibobs after working so hard, for a small portion of her life.

Have to ask if the property is gone poof in 24 hours just how has the EA pulled all the required credit checks together. Are landlords being conned??

On a side note, my lodger has just handed in their notice (alas, moving to live with a friend, given masses of notice and no hard feelings from either side). I'm about to put an advert on Spareroom, which should be interesting.

I've got a background in marketing but have found myself writing an advert with masses of detail designed to put off a lot of people - hopefully those who wouldn't be quite right in the first place, in order to stop myself being inundated.

Main criteria is that they like the dog and vice versa! Second criteria is that they can pay the rent...

But then on one previous round of lodger interviews I discovered a significant proportion of applicants were applying to live in a house with a dog but didn't even greet the dog on entry to the house and showed no signs of wanting to interact with him. Sigh. It's like job applicants who fail when they're rude to the receptionist. I knew the current lodger would be good when the dog asked her for a bellyrub (very rare from him!)

And yes, in the context of my previous posts on this thread, this does make me a landlord who almost always sides with the tenant. As I occasionally tell my lodger with a smile, all landlords are bastards (except me, obviously ).

It will have been pulled from the market because they have multiple suitable applicants. The won't sign the contract until referencing has gone through, and if referencing fails then they'll have several back up applicants they can offer it to.

It's the equivalent of a purchased house being marked as sold STC.

@SamShortForSambuca you sound lovely - hope you get someone lovely too who is more than happy to give the odd pat and belly rub (dog- not you)

@SamShortForSambuca but, unlike a landlord, you ARE actually providing a home without taking anything away from the housing stock or exploiting people. Good for you!

just what happened with my son's house was all the viewings were over one weekend and they all made offers. The estate agent then ran through with me on the phone the 13 couples and their jobs. I believe before you can be taken on by most normal letting agents in the SE who let to young professionals etc (rather than bottom end of market) you have to go through various checks just to get on their books, often done by third party agencies who look at if the salary is high enough to cover the rent, stability of earnings, criminal records and that kind of thing. So all 13 probably had met those checks but I am not 100% sure and I don't like the lack of control as a client of the letting agent you have. One eg the year before said he had been sent lovely photos of the baby of the couple who was trying to persuade the agent to recommend they got the place.
They have only ever shown me the written document - check from their external agency after we decide which tenant is likely to get the place including passport checks as I think Landlords are required by law to check someone has a right to be in the UK - a massive issue in London.

Technically I am a landlord - a live in landlord - though I'm somewhat uncomfortable with that title!

I've spent years saying that landlords don't provide housing, builders do. Landlords just hoard it and increase rents to the 'market rates' they helped inflate. So, it would be a bit hypocritical of me to claim any sort of moral superiority on that front. I'm not, however, taking away from the housing stock as a BTL landlord does so there isn't that moral quandary.

It's not an act of altruism - there is of course money involved - but I do try and be the sort of live in landlord I'd want to live with. I'm not perfect (is any housemate?) but I have never evicted a lodger, nor deducted anything from their deposit, nor do I make use of the inherent and unavoidable power imbalance, enter their room without permission or any of the other things crap live in landlords do.

Skipton offering 100% mortgages no deposit needed a good option

It's worth looking at what you can actually borrow with that mortgage

OP says they pay £1300 per month, and Skipton says that would allow them to borrow £242k over 35 years.

Except her DP is described as being in his 50s, and is by far the main earner, so they're never going to be given a 35 year mortgage - I couldn't see a maximum age from skimming the Skipton page but he could potentially be 94 by the time he finished paying that off.

Let's be generous and say he's 50 and needs to finish paying it off by the time he's 70. That brings the maximum loan amount down to £189k.

They're in the south east and have two disabled DC. The disabilities quite likely mean they need separate bedrooms for reasons of behaviour or bulky medical equipment. Good luck finding a habitable 3 bed property in the south east for £189k.

The Skipton mortgage is great in principle, but in reality it's mainly going to help those who are moving from an area with high rents directly to an area with lower purchase prices.

@SamShortForSambuca

Bingo! That's exactly it. I was on the websites as soon as it launched.

DH is 54. I'm 50.

Been to see 3 properties since I posted this. Estate agents are doing block viewings so you have to wait for them. Can't even check the house properly as moved along and others coming in! Two had higher offers' than us - didn't realise I was supposed to make 'an offer'! It's rented not being bought. The other one someone offered 12 months rent in advance - over £20k! Properties ranging from £1600-1800 for 3 bed terraces in social housing areas where many neighbours will be paying £500 a month council rents for the same houses!

Honestly it's terrifying.

@OnandOnItGoes I'm afraid that making offers over the stated rental price has become a grotesque feature of renting in some areas where demand is vastly outstripping supply. Acorn the Tenants Union is leading a campaign against it in Bristol
https://www.acorntheunion.org.uk/bristol_ban_the_bids

I really hope your luck turns soon.

Ive been following this thread I am so sorry that you are in this situation its outrageous and some of the comments on here are unbelievable. My DC tried to rent in an area where rental properties are over priced and like hens teeth. After failing to secure anywhere on numerous occasions he was advised by an agent to offer a higher deposit and 6 months rent up front but she implied offering the higher deposit was a really good thing to do. The landlord accepted the higher deposit he offered 25% over the stated amount but declined the 6 months rent up front. Would a higher deposit be doable?

Would a higher deposit be doable?

It's a legal maximum of 5 weeks rent in England now - Tenant Fees Act 2019

It’s the s21 deadline OP
Any updates, have you found somewhere to move to.

We really are in such a sad state of affairs. Another post on her was asking how people are managing as they were a family of 4 both parents working full time and it wasn’t enough. What do we do? I get LL are all selling up as cash in the bank is better for them now rather than assets. This then means rentals become so high in rent once again it’s not realistic on a minimum wage 40 hours a week job. Then if you have a career you should financially be able to mortgage. I think we are going to end up living in static caravans and ex holiday homes soon. They did this at Jaywick ESSEX. (Holiday homes given to people to live in) these homes where no way shape form designed for living in all day everyday and the people given then haven't maintained them.

@OnandOnItGoes feel for you - we rent too but reasonably high end- we still panic every time renewals are due, not so much on money but lack of suitable places

I think you might have to consider moving areas though and see how that can work with a job you either have or new ones (once you have got the tenancy! And obviously schools too ). I don't know where you are , so picked a few all over south east without necessarily having to move up to midlands or northwards- these are all south east- at least 3 beds , look in good order (and I'm fussy) and under £1550 and all in niceish places

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144706700#/?channel=RES_LET

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144392909#/?channel=RES_LET

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144265772#/?channel=RES_LET

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144210959#/?channel=RES_LET

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/125314151#/?channel=RES_LET

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143727998#/?channel=RES_LET

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144663344#/?channel=RES_LET

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144599756#/?channel=RES_LET

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144819848#/?channel=RES_LET

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144000671#/?channel=RES_LET

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143702351#/?channel=RES_LET