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

[arieschicke]

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.

Oh and you can thank Thatcher and the Right To Buy policy for this mess. It's only going to get worse if the current gov roll out the proposed Housing Authority scheme.

Exactly Ehric. Exactly.

Pod that LL is the sort of person that gives the rest of us a bad name and you were not at all responsible for the position the LL put you in. From a LL prospective some of the comments do worry me.

I have never considered HB tenants to be entitled. The Op sounds like a potentially great tenant. Family woman and wants a long term property that will be her home. The sort of tenant I would love to have if all checks worked out and if she was in my area I may be able to help. I actually have a property that is been completely refurbished (new kitchen, bathroom, boiler, plastered, new carpets, fire/carbon alarms fitted and burgler alarm) and the work will be completed in a week.

Op hasn't come back to me so I am assuming she doesn't live in the area.

Horsemadbird, you clearly are a self confident person. Why don't you describe what you would do if you were in the OP's shoes. How would you "improve your lot" or "help yourself"? What practical steps would you take?

Remember the constraints:
Single mother
Three DCs, two with SNs
No alternative private let available

I'm sure we're all waiting to be dazzled by the sheer brilliance of the solution you propose at it scythes through the Gordian knot.

I doubt horsemadbird is for real. She describes herself in a way that indicates she has no soul at all. Nobody can be THAT bloody awful surely.

Come on horsemadbird let's hear your brilliant solution....remembering that the Tories did fuck all to change this system during the last five years in the same way that Labour didn't bother either.

So put yourself in the OP's shoes....just TRY because I hate to tell you but you are NOT immune to life suddenly going tits up with little warning.

You are for whatever reason now a single parent
You have three children
Two have complex special needs
Your landlord is selling
You cannot find anywhere suitable to privately rent as you have specific housing needs due to your children's needs....it needs to be a bungalow for example.
you need to be out in two weeks
The council say they won't help until you are evicted.

Do you

a. Leave as your landlord wishes....it's their property after all and you want a good reference from them. There isn't anywhere to go and you face being in a B&B that you might not be able to access for your children. You know that the council won't help you as you've now made yourself untentionally homeless and you don't know where else you will go or how long it will be before a suitable rental comes up.

b. Stay in the hope that the council will then help you and you have some stability for your children who due to their complex needs have specific housing requirements.

Thing is that the OP is who social housing was designed for, difficulty is that there is bugger all social housing as the Toroes sold it all off and people like you bought it all up and now act all entitled when a tenant experiences a real problem.

In future when you rent out one of your no doubt numerous properties I suggest you add "no disabled" to your list of folk you won't rent to. After all, if you want to sell they might suddenly get all entitled, how fricking dare they want a stable roof over their heads. How entitled can someone possibly be to want such a basic human right?

*Today 08:00 Horsemadbird

We have a culture now of huge sectors of scoiety simply not taking responsibility for their own lives. People simply shrug and say, " Oh well, I can't find another private let/they're too expensive/don't want to spend that much/won't move area - so what? I'll just sit tight until the LL evicts me then I'll get a shiny free council house for life - all whilst doing nothing whatsoever to improve my lot or help myself".*

Seriously??? What planet do you live on? The OP isn't being offered a "shiny new council house for life", and I'll bet one of the reasons is that they've been SOLD OFF TO GREEDY LANDLORDS WHO EXPLOIT AND DEMONISE THE POOR.

Your attitude disgusts me.

really shocked at the commments from landlords

Professional landlords - ones who know the law and run it as a business - are not shocked by this as that's their job and the understand that the letting business has risks like any other business and therefore they make an educated decision as to whether to rent to hb tenants or not. Many choose not but that's down to balancing risks and rewards rather than knee jerk prejudice in the main.
The ones who act affronted and disgusted by tenants 'entitled' behaviour are the accidental landlords or the fools who believed that BTL was guaranteed profit and no risks and who have no professionalism about the process. They seem to have no idea how the other half live and why.

By the way, it can be very lucrative renting to hb tenants which is why some landlords are very happy to do it. In my LA temporary accommodation (long term private rentals allocated by the council to tenants in need) are able to charge significantly more in rent than open market private rentals and attract a higher rate of local housing allowance. They are also rarely empty as the council will have a high number of tenants waiting and by definition the tenants they have will be long term because they usually have no other means to move or are waiting for social housing allocation that can take up to ten years.

These hb properties are not available to the general market as they have agreement with the council hence why your regular (not homeless) private tenant on hb has such a problem finding a home.

?The way these latter day Rackmans spin it one would think that they were providing some inconsequential service like dog walking or lawn mowing.
The roof over your head is the cornerstone of your life, without a place of refuge no one can function or contribute to society.
I am appalled at landlords who just expect tenants to up and leave to suit their schedule, if you are going to put yourself in a position of so much power then you really need to have compassion for the plight of those who are at your mercy.

So what if the landlord loses the sale, he still owns the property. ?

Trouble is Gymbum, if you walk away from people who needs homes to save yourself from something that might never happen to you (the risk is low), you are just adding to the problem.

arieschicke I hope you get some help today

In a rush so don't have time to read replies. You may need a landlord reference in the future, and staying will mean he can legitimately give you a poor reference.

Also, if he has to evict you will this give you any kind of criminal record, bad credit etc.. It might not seem important now but it could cause you issues in the future.

Good luck whatever you decide.

Freshstart it's quite a long thread by now. Your points have been covered and discussed.

What an awful situation OP. I'd think I'd follow sheltera advice in this.

horse are you for real? Why don't you share some of your wisdom about "improving your lot"? The OP is in an impossible position it seems.

Great last few posts. Exactly Ehric - amateur LLs that don't factor things like this in. You're investing. This is a form of investment. No investment is ever risk free so how on earth did you expect yours to be? You want all the benefits but with zero risk while you build up your pension and accumulate wealth as someone is paying off your mortgage. Complete amateurs. Any LL that knows what he's doing would just take this on the chin. And you're coming on to a thread moaning about your little worries about renting out to people on HB and the OP screwing up someone's life for a couple of months while she and her kids are about to be made homeless and could face living in a crappy B&B. Talk about entitled!

OP a further thought in addition to the very good advice you have had from PPs on the law (rather than the morality or otherwise of the situation) - if the council offer you specific B&B accommodation or other emergency accommodation, do not refuse it without taking advice from Shelter or your local CAB, even if you think it's wildly unsuitable. Turning down an offer of emergency accommodation can lead to the council saying they have met their duties to you and it can be very difficult to argue that it is unsuitable - it is likely to be better to take the place and then argue that it is unsuitable so that if you lose the argument, you are still in the system. Hope that makes sense - but do get specific advice as things develop.

This is a long thread and things have probably moved on by now but do not leave. It's shit for the LL and shit for you being in Limbo but as already been said, you will make yourself intentionally homeless.

We were in the exact same situation about 5 years ago. We sat on a sofa surrounded by all our boxes and our 9 month old son on the day the bailiffs where due not having a clue what we were going to do.

10mins before the bailiffs arrived our housing officer arrived with a removal van and gave us the keys to a 3 bedroom temporary house. We were put at the top of the priority list for bidding and had a gorgeous brand new flat with garden in 4 months.

It's a crappy situation to be in but please don't leave, follow shelters advice completely.

Good luck op

I'm a landlord (initially through circumstance, now by choice). OP you should follow Shelter's advice and stay put.

And for all those feeling sorry for the landlord, please remember that legitamately letting property is a game with rules. Some of the rules (such as the ones the OP is dealing with) are "favourable" to the tennant - you can't evict someone without court proceedings. Others favour the landlord (2 months notice). But everyone knows what they are.

OP's landlord should have evicted OP before trying to sell the property. But he didn't. Maybe he thought he was being kind to the OP in doing so, maybe he just wanted to maximise his rental income. Doesn't matter. The rules of the game exist regardless of good or bad intentions. You know when you start renting out property that you won't be able to sell up instantly, even if your own circumstances are desperate. For those that don't like that, there are savings accounts.

Exactly Ehric - amateur LLs that don't factor things like this in. You're investing. This is a form of investment. No investment is ever risk free so how on earth did you expect yours to be? You want all the benefits but with zero risk while you build up your pension and accumulate wealth as someone is paying off your mortgage. Complete amateurs. Any LL that knows what he's doing would just take this on the chin.

I think you, and others, have pointed out that the law is at fault here. Everyone seems to be saying that the best course of action for the OP is to stay put and wait for a court order. While true, that really sucks for LLs. If LLs are to plan for this issue, the best way to take this "on the chin" is the raise rents. That what a business is supposed to do when faced with risk - mitigate it.

When one party has legal incentive to break the rules, things should change.

Hi all,

Thanks to everyone who has reported this thread.

We have been through and removed the posts we have seen that break our Talk guidelines

It's clear the OP is facing difficult decisions. If there is one thing that we as parents could use more of, it's a bit of moral support, especially during a difficult time.

Please keep this in mind when you post.

I also hope that MN landlord-hater community are reading this, and noting that most of the landlords are on the side of the OP and are coming down hard on those landlords taking the other attitude.

Recognising that the fault is the system, not the OP, and that landlords need to plan for this situation.

but I doubt the bile-spewers will take much notice...

ps the council houses were sold off to those who lived in them, not 'greedy landlords who demonise the poor'.

Special that's true but thousands of them were then sold to BTL landlords or let by the original buyers. There is a huge amount of ex council stock on the private market.

I'm a landlord - we had to let out our flat when we moved abroad.

I really feel for the OP - if the council have this ridiculous policy, she has no choice but to sit tight.

But it is hard on the landlord too, and we're not all fat cats with big portfolios. It's not an investment for us, our tenant isn't "paying off our mortgage", just the interest. It was a way to keep on the bottom of the UK property ladder, no more.

When we come back to the UK, we'll have to give our tenants notice. And if they can't or won't move out, we'll have nowhere to live ourselves. Which is a hard thing to "take on the chin". We won't have any choice either.

I doubt many landlords serve notice or sell up just on a whim.

Apple - I'm not saying it's easy for all LLs but if you're going to do it go into it with your eyes wide open and realise there are risks and this can happen - so many LLs on here saying ooh, I'll have to review this given the advice so many are giving to the OP. They're taking it personally when it's not; it's a bad an unavoidable situation for the OP who would not be doing this if she had a choice.

You decided to rent to keep your foot on the UK property ladder. So many LLs on this thread think it should only go their way and tenants such as the OP who is in an extremely vulnerable position should just get out to make it convenient for the LL. Her situation is about as bad as it can be. And your tenants might also be in a bad situation when you decide to come back. That's the risk you take when you rent out your property. Alternatively, you could always sell and rent yourself when you come back to remove that risk. You say it's not an investment for you. Of course it is. You say yourself it's to keep your foot on the UK property ladder.

You are quite right special, this is not the fault of the landlord and most of the landlords on this thread have been helpful. The system as it is stinks, utterly unfair to everyone and worthy of involving local MPs to try and get things changed. Why shoudk the landlord have to potentially lose out? Why should the tenant be faced with such a horrible decision? The tenant should be able to go to the council as soon as they have notice of eviction (if they are forced to seek council accommodation) so that plans can be made....even if it's just council help to find another private rental...which they will do.

Nobody should have to be put in such a difficult position as the OP and her landlord find themselves in.