Need help Potentially made homeless

[SuchAToDo]

Called our landlady to do repairs, plumbing, electrical, etc and she is talking about it costing Io much to do repairs and we may have to vacate the property...

What do we do if we are asked to go, I hae no where else to live and health issues requiring surgery

How long are you in your property? I would start looking for another place to live to be honest.

You need to phone Shelter ASAP to find out your rights.

england.shelter.org.uk/get_help

Good luck.

What does your contract say about notice periods?

Try not to panic. You have got rights as a tenant. Do you have a tenancy agreement? This will set out whose responsibility it is to undertake repairs. In any case, I imagine Shelter or similar would be able to give you some sound advice. If all else fails, could you negotiate a compromise with LL, a rent reduction until repairs done for example?

Fabaunt we have been here since 2005

IamBitzyVonMuffling. my rent is paid by housing benefit

weleasewoderick22

Do they cover northern Ireland too?

What exactly were you asking her do do? 'repairs, plumbing and electrical' sounds like a long list.
She can't throw you out with no notice.

From the Shelter website:

A court will refuse to order your eviction if all of these apply:

you complained to your landlord or letting agent in writing before you received a section 21 notice
you complained to the local council because your landlord didn't take steps to fix the problem
the council sent your landlord an improvement or emergency work notice
A section 21 notice served between the time of your written complaint and the council issuing an improvement or emergency work notice will also be treated as invalid."

I'd suggest that you get a letter into your landlady pdq, ideally send it "signed for" so you have proof of delivery and keep a copy. That way, she can't claim you're making it up!

If the Shelter website is right (and they're very reputable), she won't be able to evict you.

Also contact your council's environmental health department and explain to them that your landlady is refusing to carry out essential repairs. They will come and check it out, and then try and get the landlady to do the works.

Check that when you got your tenancy your deposit was placed in a deposit protection scheme, that you were issued with the "How to Rent" booklet and that there was a gas safety certificate in force when the tenancy started. Failure to provide any of the above means that the landlady can't legally issue a S21 notice (notice to quit).

The council should also be able to advise you. They now have a statutory duty with regard to homeless prevention, and should have staff who can give you advice. Ring them and explain that your landlady has said she will have to evict you.

Please try not to let this worry you. On the face of it, it sounds as though she won't be able to evict you if you have made a written request for repairs to be carried out, but the council will be able to give you a definite answer.

Some landlords really take the piss. She's been happy to take your rent, but claims she can't afford to fix your plumbing and electrics, both of which can be potentially dangerous if faulty. She has no business letting out a property if she can't afford to keep it in good order.

Sorry, didn't realise you were in NI. Rules are possibly very different. Speak to your council and see what they say.

After a very anxious night of no sleep, the landlady came, saw the house was immaculate and spotless, and was impressed, and said she will do repairs (I will believe that when I see it, as their past repairs are more like patch up jobs that proper repairs)..

She also said she wasn't going to evict me, so I'm hugely relieved...it's a weight off my shoulders

But I will be keeping an eye out for something better accommodation-wise, so that if I move it's because I choose to, and not because I'm made to..

Thank you so much everyone who commented, I was terrified I was going to end up in the hostel in my town where they house those who have nowhere to live...it has a really bad reputation for violence,

Unless it's different in NI, a "Section 21" notice (when the tenant has done nothing wrong) has to give at least two months before you're expected to leave, and even after that eviction proceedings would take many more months before you can be forced to leave.

If your home was so bad it's deemed unfit for habitation, the local council will be obliged to provide emergency accommodation. But it sounds like that's not the case.