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!

It happened to myself and my family a few years ago. Same situation rent paid without fail, looked after the property. We were lucky enough to get a council property with 24 hours before the eviction. Contact shelter, citizens advice bureau, and your local council. Good luck and keep us updated x

They're selling. Our hidden problem is landlord companies are buying from as far afield as the middle east because housing rental is a cash cow if you have the cash. The courts trying to chase them and succeeding is slim to none

My stars. What a nightmare that is. Good luck OP. I wish I could offer some sort of comfort in your family’s time of need. But alas we are going through it too and had to go to the food bank because of the outrageous grocery prices in our area. $45 for 32 pack of toilet paper.

The housing market is a total nightmare. Guess it really shows we can’t take for granted having something as seemingly simple as a roof over our heads.

I offered an option that could be a last resort if the council or private renting don't happen in time. One that in my experience worked out cheaper as there were no deposits to pay and the monthly rate got heavily discounted for a longer stay.

None of our situations are exactly the same and OP can easily scroll past and ignore it the idea isn't right for her :)

My grandchildren 2 with AsD and adhd were in 3 schools in 6 months.After a section 21 the family were placed in a hostel 4 hours away.Happily they were housed before Christmas.A traumatic time for all.I am so sorry.

@GoodChat @3BSHKATS at the moment you need a guarantor or a family deposit mortgage to get 100%. Skipton have announced that they are re-introducing them but it’s not clear whether they will require a guarantor.

Also, as the OP is in SE it will be very difficult if not impossible to get a 3 bed on their household income and the DH is in his 50’s which will make it even harder.

apologies as I haven't had time to read through all the replies but is there any possibility you could buy something? clearly you've been paying rent on time for years and some mortgage lenders will take that into account, it might be worth speaking to a mortgage arranger to see what the likelihood and lending amounts might be and then your landlord might be kind enough to give you a bit of extra time to get a move sorted? just a thought and apologies as absolutely no offense intended if this isn't a possibility x

I'm in this situation, I have no money, no other landlord in area accept benefits, council waiting list is 10 years for priority. Oh and my BF has Schizophrenia so no one will house him including the council. The YMCA kicked him out and the Salvation Army. Apparantly unless you are trying to kill people mental health services are not interested. Even living on my own won't work, can't get good references because of all the damage he did to the last house. So I better get used to living on the streets. This country is a joke, leaving a woman with MS to care for a Schizophrenic man with no help from anyone else and I end up on the streets as a result.

If it's an accelerated possession, you'll receive an N11B form. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/935903/n11b-england-eng.pdf

This has a section about both retaliatory evictions and hardship. If you can, I would get help from Shelter filling it in- there's some links to help they offer here: https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/eviction/legal_aid_and_free_legal_advice

Another option might be to get help from a tenants union like acorn if they are active in your area. There's a list of acorn branches and contacts here: https://www.acorntheunion.org.uk/contact

If it's agreed, then you can be given the chance to defend the eviction or ask for a delay on hardship grounds (up to 42 days, which might allow you to see out the school year).

If you don't get a chance to have a court hearing, and it gets to the stage of bailiffs, then you can challenge the eviction at this stage- it's difficult on a Section 21 but still worth a try: https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/eviction/can_private_tenants_stop_the_bailiffs

In terms of timescales, assuming you can get a court hearing (which I think should be possible on grounds of hardship) that is meant to be within 6 weeks, but could be longer if the courts are busy. The court then sets a date for possession- this is usually 2 weeks later, but could be up to 42 days later if you are able to successfully argue hardship.

If you don't leave on this date, this is when bailiffs could get involved. They have to give you two weeks notice of the date.

If things go in your favour, then you could stay in the property for at around 14 more weeks, which would get you to the end of the school term. If they don't, then the process will likely last more like 6 weeks.

I would strongly advise getting help from Shelter or Acorn, or someone else, as well as speaking to your local council.

Ignore anyone on this thread who is telling you to leave the property before you have somewhere else to live and before the point where the council say they would find you housing- that's really bad advice and you could end up in a situation where you are homeless and the council is refusing to help.

I'd strongly recommend you make an appointment with Shelter, or speak to another organisation who offer tennancy support.

When I messaged people with a detailed message and explained how long I wanted to stay they all reduced their rate significantly.

It may seem crazy, but messaging can't hurt.

I ended up paying about £300 a month below market rate for traditional rentals (although it has gone up when I renewed after 12 months with my lovely landlord).

It really isn't as "ridiculous" a suggestion as people think because it does work!

But I totally understand if it's not applicable to OP :)

Your DH earns a reasonable salary. What about shared ownership. There must be cheaper rentals where you could still get to work.

They are hardly being criminalised but they are being expected to have property which is a decent standard and properly regulated - and have lost some of the tax relief previously available such as the ability to write off all interest payments against profit.

Combined with the interest rate rises- meaning any landlord paying a mortgage is having to pay alot more suddenly - I think that has probably been the biggest impact on them selling up tbh. So blame Kwasi and Liz T for this becoming as bad as it has been.
Abolishing s.21 is a red herring. You can still seek possession if you want to sell/want to move back in/ tenant breaches tenancy agreement.
Its a perfect storm and its a perfect nightmare for tenants.

Right to buy needs to be abolished and large scale proper social housing building needs to take place.

OP try registering directly with local housing associations. Some you don't also need to be registered with the council to access. Do not move to AirBNB. Do what Shelter advise you to.

Anyone who owns a "spare" house - whatever the circumstances that led to that - is better off than anyone who doesn't even own one house.

I hate that renters are at the mercy of the markets. If they have to move often it costly, kids often then have to move schools and it puts them a significant disadvantage.

Op - how very stressful and I hope you all find somewhere nearby soon (why should they move to the other side of the country!)

I’m in the exact same position. I was originally housed here via the homeless scheme in 2021. Now my LL wants to raise the rent from £1180 to £1500 (for a one bedroom) and I just can’t afford it. He has to start the eviction process for the Council to even look at me let alone help me.

I’m sure my kids and I will be back in temporary accommodation again. It’s so shit. I hope it works out for you eventually

@Indoorcatmum it's a perfect solution for lots of people with Air B&B's because it's a guaranteed income!

In Britain today ordinary people are funding the wealth of the already wealthy.

Thatcher brought in Right to Buy and we have had a shortage of social housing ever since. Why would councils build housing for people to buy? Then we had Social Housing Associations- which on the whole are pretty dire in terms of repairs and living standards. My aunt, a pensioner, lives in a social housing flat- rent £180 a week. She lives on a state pension so gets additional benefits- which ordinary taxpayers pay for.
Private rentals are often owned by people who have several (or even hundreds or thousands in some cases) and consider them 'pensions' - this works by ordinary people trapped in our shitty housing market, paying ludicrous rents which pay off the mortgages on these houses which will be sold for large profits to fund fortunes and the lifestyle of landlords.
Many tenants live in very badly maintained properties in which the landlord invests nothing and evicts them at whim.
Meanwhile house prices are shocking and the south-east around London is particularly so. We now have foreigners and south-east landlords buying up properties in the rest of the country as well. Ordinary hard-working people are unable to buy in many areas but have to find extortionate rents so can't even save up.
In addition we are all funding the fortunes of supermarket owners, building companies - both ripping us off with huge price jumps- energy company owners, adult social care company owners and water company owners - who are taking billions of our money and public monies and lining their pockets.
This government has created more poverty and more billionaires than any government ever.
Health, education, life expectancy, adult social care, children's care, the police, is all on a knife edge.
And still some of you will vote Tory.

Exactly what my landlord said!

No paying a cleaner after every stay, someone always in the property and as you say... Guaranteed income throughout the winter!

(And I took my pick of the properties because loads of people said yes!).

We desperately need additional new homes but NIMBYs and sentimentality about green belt prevent adequate housing expansion

Get rid of the green belt it’s archaic,it’s prevents expansion, it limits house building

@OnandOnItGoes sorry you’re experiencing disruption & being unsettled

They shouldn't have to. But I asked if it was possible due to the OPs DH age. From her post it seemed that private renting was their only option so even if they find somewhere they can afford what happens in 5, 10, 15 years time? He's heading towards retirement age and that will limit their earning power. It doesn't sound like they have savings. It's a shit situation to be in but moving, even if taking a paycut might make buying a possibility.

I’m not sure if it’s on my credit record as I don’t check it. I did have to pay fees around £400 iirc but I had no choice. I couldn’t get any landlord in a 20 mile radius to rent to my because I had a large family (they preferred to put professional couples in a 3 bed house and there was plenty of takers) and the the council said if I left before the bailiffs turned up we were considered intentionally homeless and ineligible to be rehoused.

Exactly. Everyone moaning about landlords , but then when they want to get out because it is too much work for H&s rules , increased mortgage rates , increased tax etc etc or their own personal situation changes then they are still the devil incarnate . No one runs a business to make a loss . Sorry but that’s a fact .

To the OP can you prove you have extra specific housing needs for your children ? If so keep pushing on those needs. Any mobile home sites near you ? A friend of ours moved to one when they fell on hard times and it was spacious and warm and cheap to run ?

Is that realistic though? I’m currently in an Airbnb as I’m in the process of moving and it’s over 4k for a month for a 3 bed house. I agree though that it’s a fantastically easy way to find a place to live and brilliant if you have pets.

I've just helped a client with a PIP application. He and his wife were living in their touring caravan after being evicted by a LL who wanted to sell up and had been on the same site for 4 months, along with a couple of other families..

They're all getting anxious that the site owner may not want long-stay caravanners there as the weather picks up and holiday season gets properly under way. Most sites only have PP for campers/caravanners who are touring, and I've heard of some where the PP actually specifies the maximum length of stay.

It wouldn't be on your credit record as it's not debt unless you didn't pay the fees. In which case the LL has to take you back to court again.