Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

to stay in current house even though landlord has asked us to leave? dilema

501 replies

arieschicke · 19/05/2015 17:13

I am a single parent with 3 dcs. 2 have complex sn.
2 months ago ll served me notice as he is selling the property. I have been trying to secure a private rental with no such luck.
The council have advised that when we leave we will be placed in bnb accommodation, then temporary house or flat share and then after approx 6 months we could be successful in bidding for a council property.
now my ll has sold the house and is exchanging contracts in 2 weeks. has asked me to leave by then. council have advised we will be placed in bnb. shelter have advised me to stay until the court evicts us, which means another 6'8 weeks here but the landlord could lose the sale.
I really can't decide what to do. any advice would be really appreciated.

OP posts:
SaucyJack · 19/05/2015 20:22

If you are on the side of the LL, then you fully deserve any negative judgement Wibbley.

If you're going to be in the business of providing such an essential as a roof over someone's head, then you have to accept that you cannot just click your fingers and wash your hands of your tenants when it suits you.

Her LL has sold her home from under her, and she can't find anywhere to go. None of it is her fault.

Middlerose · 19/05/2015 20:25

I feel bad for the OP, I truly do. She is not at fault, the council and government are. Perhaps this thread should be tweeted to the MP in charge of this area?

However, I am a young landlord who has worked very hard to get what I have. I would be mighty pissed off if this happened to me. The only reason I would ever have to sell would be if I couldn't pay the mortgage myself. In this situation, I would be very angry.

I am not saying this to make you feel guilty OP. My comments are just here to give a balanced view. I wish you the best of luck with your problem.

Bwino · 19/05/2015 20:25

OP you really need to push the fact that you DCs are disabled as housing officers have a habit (IME) of asking for medical evidence and then ignoring it completely. It doesn't sound like a b and b would be suitable for you and the council need to regognise that. The CAB, your local carers forum or disability rights group should be able to help you.

stubbornstains · 19/05/2015 20:27

Yes, but when you say you're going to be in a B&B yourself newbrummie, do you mean a council- allocated one? Or a naice, chintz curtains/free tea and coffee making facilities/ leaflets of local attractions in the breakfast room one?

Because they're really, really, really, really not the same thing Sad

annielouise · 19/05/2015 20:29

Fanfuckingtastic - sorry to hear that. That's what I fear for the OP which is why she needs to check every step she takes with Shelter and double check what the rules are with her specific council.

Newbrummie · 19/05/2015 20:30

I have no idea what the B and B will be like, do they give me a brochure to pick one I like from at the council office ?

annielouise · 19/05/2015 20:31

Why you even going for a council place when you have a property to rent out Newbrummie? You're taking a council place away from a family that needs it if that's what you're doing.

Newbrummie · 19/05/2015 20:32

Because it's not my house and my ex won't let his children live there, don't get me started

Newbrummie · 19/05/2015 20:33

Luckily I'm less of a cnut than he is and rather than let it be repossessed as he would I'm trying to help my children

Newbrummie · 19/05/2015 20:34

The point is you'll cope OP no matter what, you just do. I've overcome more than this to get this far, really this isn't going to break us is it

annielouise · 19/05/2015 20:37

These situations have been ongoing for years, as someone posted upthread. London 20 years ago was pretty near impossible then. Other counties, LAs the same. It's not new. Successive governments have done nothing to address the housing situation apart from putting an elasterplast on it such as help to buy etc, changing stamp duty, matching savings for first time buyers. No one is prepared to do much more. There are no more plans for council properties to be built as such - they've been sold off for years so the stock is very low. Seems to be a move to housing association properties being built more. This Conservative govt have said this election if they won they'd give people the right to buy again, as Maggie Thatcher did. Ed Miliband did say he'd lengthen secure tenancies to 3 years and change estate agent fees etc. I don't remember any of the others saying much about it. It's not new. We've had a housing crisis for years and it won't get better.

FanFuckingTastic · 19/05/2015 20:39

Thankfully that period of my life is all a blur now, I was mentally ill when the landlord first started trying to get me out, and that just exacerbated it and now I don't remember most of it. But there are long lasting implications, particularly if someone in your family is disabled, my physical health has been very poor since then, and my mental health is only just beginning to improve.

I was a very vulnerable person at that point and got into a horrendous situation, so if sharing that helps just one person, it's worth it.

annielouise · 19/05/2015 20:40

By all means tweet your MP but why now I don't know - it's been ongoing as long as I remember.

annielouise · 19/05/2015 20:49

Horrendous FanFuckingTastic. To not have a home, a secure home, is terrible for your mental health and the knock on effect on your kids, who you worry about more. I think your post will help the OP. Renting is shit on the whole unless you have a council or HA place or a long-term let that you like and want to be in with a decent LL but you're at the mercy of them and so many are greedy as some of the posts on here show.

Newbrummie · 19/05/2015 20:53

I don't think it's as simple as being "at the mercy" in our case it's simply a case of the rent literally covers the mortgage, we have never made a penny profit and held into the house just to get out if negative equity in the hope if recovering the deposit we worked for 5 years to save.
Landlords can be sympathetic and disagree with the system too but still not want to be fucked over.

PtolemysNeedle · 19/05/2015 20:56

If the council have said that they'd house you in a B&B if you leave on the date you're supposed to, I can't see why it would be any better for you if you wait for the bailiffs to come round. It probably would be best to get it in writing, or at least have it confirmed taking the name of the person you speak to over the phone though.

If you wait, then you'll just spend weeks living in fear of the bailiffs turning up and wondering what will happen, and you'd likely end up in the same B&B just a few weeks later.

Unless you genuinely think you and your children will be on the streets if you don't, then it would be wrong to wait knowing the stress and cost it could cause two other families.

RagingJellyBean · 19/05/2015 20:56

Where do all of you live?! This is ludicrous!
When I found out I was pregnant with DD1 I knew I wouldn't have the money once on maternity leave to private rent, so my landlord kindly served me an "eviction notice" and the council determined I clearly wasn't making myself intentionally homeless and temporarily housed me the following week, although by some stroke of luck I was permanently housed the week after.

It makes me sad that not every council is as efficient as mine ??

FanFuckingTastic · 19/05/2015 20:59

I feel that there should be some sort of protection for tenants that mean the landlord can't sell until the house is vacant. Or landlords may have to accept that a tenant may have their hands tied when it comes to when to leave because of policies like this. Which are ridiculous, for both tenants and landlords.

This is probably coloured by my own experience.

Newbrummie · 19/05/2015 20:59

I have to say I've been told it'll be a week in a band b whilst they do the paperwork.

Newbrummie · 19/05/2015 21:01

They can't fan ... The contracts aren't exchanged until vacant possession is confirmed

annielouise · 19/05/2015 21:01

OP don't listen to Ptolemy's advice until you know for sure that won't make you homeless in the eyes of the council. Forget what's happening to your LL, your back is against the wall.

As I said, if you wait to be evicted there might be a period of time between the eviction notice and actually going when the council might be able to do something about it and find you a property as it gives them more time so personally I would not move into a B&B straight away in two weeks time but hold out, but again don't take my advice check with Shelter. Look what happened to FanFuckingTastic.

EhricLovesTheBhrothers · 19/05/2015 21:02

brummie no they don't give you a brochure! They allocate you a room and you like it or lump it.

freestripe the op hasn't a cats chance in hell of finding a rental with no employment. She has adverse credit and despite a guarantor and 6 months rent in advance has not found a landlord who will accept her. This is not unusual.

Everyone suggesting we tweet this thread to our MPs - no party gives two fucks about the utter travesty that is private renting. Particularly not the Tory cunts who now have a majority government. Yay!

TheCatsMother99 · 19/05/2015 21:02

By you refusing to leave when the sale goes through are you making someone else homeless as they were/are meant to be moving in that day and due to a chain have to leave their previous place?

In terms of morals YABU... Not sure legally.

annielouise · 19/05/2015 21:05

TheCatsMother - we covered this upthread. No one in the buying chain is going to be made homeless. It's just delaying the date they complete. And morally she is not being unreasonable. The fucking government is unreasonable for not caring for a mother with kids with sn!

EhricLovesTheBhrothers · 19/05/2015 21:05

And OP definitely don't follow the advice of a random council employee. Sadly housing departments often don't know their arses from their elbows and you can have two people sat next to each other giving contradictory advice. Unless you see a policy in writing and have an offer of accommodation in writing signed by a senior manager do not leave your home.