to think two months notice is a bit shit?

[Miren]

Just heard from a friend that her landlord has given her two months notice to vacate the property she has been renting for the last 5 years. It's come completely out of the blue, and she is so upset. She has 3 children, all in the local school, so, unless she moves schools, she has to find - a scarce - rental in the area, pack up and move, in 8 weeks. She took on the property on the understanding that it was long term enough to see the kids through first school. So sad for her.

I am thinking from the LL personal reason. He may need to sell or move in himself.

I think it's morally wrong to make a LL go to court to get an eviction notice, when the LL may be struggling himself.

To stay on past the two months when notice has been given is a shitty thing to do.

Way to discourage LLs :)

op won't be listening now.

:( even.

2 months seems such a short amount of time to find a house and pack up a family of five

If your friend were to stay beyond the notice period and have to be evicted, then wouldn't she end up with a judgment against her which would presumably appear on future credit checks etc and make her less appealing to other landlords.

I'm supporting three families in this exact situation.

I agree with everyone saying it's not illegal, the landlord has every right, it's in their tenancy agreement. That's true. And it would be absolutely fine if it were a simple matter of finding another private rent.

However, in my area there is an acute housing shortage due in part to catastrophic flooding earlier in the year. This means there is virtually nothing in the social housing sector and most LLs now won't rent to anyone on benefits.

All three of the families have been told they will go into emergency accommodation for a maximum of six weeks (normal scenario is B&B 20 miles away), followed by temporary accommodation for anything up to 18 months, also miles away. If they declare themselves homeless, they cannot bid on any council property. One of the families has two children under five. They will need to find around £2k to pay the bond, rent in advance and estate agent fees.

This is the bit that's unfair

I'm not saying that's what she is going to - or should- do. Just trying to understand the process so I can give her some support. (I'm miles away so can't help pack )

If she has a good relationship with her LL, can she approach them and ask for a little more time, find out if they're flexible? Either way, she needs to get house hunting.

If she's working, OP, she'll have a much better chance of finding another rental property. If she has a car and the property is near enough, she can still get her DCs to school. If she can afford the bond, the six weeks rent in advance and the estate agent fees, and if she has a guarantor, she should be fine.

If there's any of the above she doesn't have, she'll find it harder to find somewhere else to rent, I'm afraid.

Op, before your friend starts upsetting her ll, going to court and threatening to stay put, suggest she a) looks what is available to rent in the area rather than just declare there's nothing- most rental properties are only advertised once they are empty and available for immediate tenancy, because of problems getting old tenants out. In that case, moving from one property to another on the close area that's empty should be easy to do in a month, she's got 2. Then b) if she finds somewhere but needs a little longer, ask her ll for an extra 1-2 months. I've done that in the past and my ll was fine with an extra month because they weren't on a deadline to get the property back, just they wanted to sell.

When she's looking, suggest she calls all letting agents in the area saying what she's looking for even if they don't have anything on their books now that looks ideal- letting agents might know a landlord who has served notice but is waiting to get tenants out before advertising or ll who are redecorating etc who she can talk to early.

But mainly, before she goes down the cab or making the landlord evict her route, remember this will only delay having to leave, it can't stop it. It'll give her an extra couple of months, but might mean she can't get a reference from her landlord.

This, in my view, is an example of why private housing just doesn't work. It is just too destabilising.

Oh and tell her to get the word out that she's looking (including at the school), you'd be amazed who knows someone who's thinking of renting out their nan's old house etc.

mary, as I posted upthread, all your advice is fine if there is plenty of property to rent, the tenant is not receiving benefits and she has around £2k (in my area) to cover the bond, rent in advance and fees, as well as having a guarantor.

In my case, it was the Housing Allocations manager I spoke to last week who said there is a housing crisis, not the tenant.

Oh - she has been looking, first thing she did. So far the only properties within reach of the school (up to half hour drive out) are for 50% more rent than she is currently paying.

OP, is she working?

She is, but had to cut her hours after kids as childcare extortionate in her area. But yes she's employed. As is her DH.

it is perfectly possible to arrange longer tenancies fixed for a year, two years more. 'understandings' don't do that, contracts do. I've rented to tenants who wanted long tenancies, and that's what we agreed.

if this isn't agreed for any reason, (and I currently have a tenant who doesn't want to do it) then yes, it is two months notice. That said, my property is a BTL (yes, I know, landlord-haters, start shrieking, disgusting isn't it), so he can stay as long as he wants.

The friend can refuse to leave, which just postpones the inevitable and will muck up references. Her notice is not for being a bad tenant, the landlord will have reasons which we don't know.

the deposit schemes return deposits in two weeks, not 'months'.

some bad stories on here from crooked landlords, which is awful. And I bet that flooding was caused by over-building, not that that helps anyone.

They should get themselves on the waiting list for a council property (looking to the future).

Though I would stress it's not called a "waiting" list for nothing! One of the families I'm supporting has been on the list for six years

special, we're on a flood plain!

What kind of binding tenancy agreement is available whivh prevents the tenant from being evicted with 2 months' notice?? I thought they were all ASTs nowadays? Surely there are no private landlords offering assured tenancies anymore?

If all the properties to rent are that much more for a similar sized property in a similar area, it's likely she's been paying significantly less than the market rate for a few years, little comfort, but hardly a sign she's got an unscrupulous landlord.

Definitely get the word out she's looking via as many different networks as possible. It's unlikely she'll change her landlords mind about wanting the property back (and if she's a good tenant like you say, then it's probably not about wanting her out, but needing the property empty for whatever reason), she at best can stall for time.

Also worth asking letting agents is anything coming up given the time of year, the schools have just broken up, lots of people who are moving chose to do it over the school holidays. It could well be there's properties in the area that are coming free over the next few weeks.