Landlord wants us to move out

[AwdBovril]

Sorry, posted here for traffic. Not sure where to post. IA (probably) BU for that alone.

They have today served us with a no-fault notice that they require us to vacate the property. It looks like we've got to be out 5 weeks before Christmas. We've lived in this house over a decade.

I've made an appearance with the council emergency housing/homeless adviser. Unfortunately we've not got a cat in hell's chance of getting another private rental. I'm disabled & not able to work, DH works p/t, & retraining to try to improve his earning prospects. Employment locally is difficult. We have basically no savings. 1 DD, in primary school.

Anything else I /we can or need to do at the moment? Apart from preliminary packing...

I'm in Ireland so not much help but accept your mum's offer and get looking at private rental too. Every landlord is different, we've only ever had people on social welfare or low incomes, weve always looked at the people first to see are they trustworthy

DH has applied for a lot of jobs. However he doesn't have full mobility (his knees are buggered), we don't have a car, ideally he needs to be in a job in town as I can become very ill very quickly. He currently works in a school which is just round the corner. He's only on about 5 hours a week regular, but sometimes gets more if there's extra. It was a lot more before summer.

Yes many agencies are now doing the new scheme where you don't have to pay a deposit but you buy an insurance policy and its this policy that protects the land lord. You are still liable to pay for damages but the insurance company chases you, not the LL as they'll have already been paid when chaining on the insurance policy.

This is supposed to help people exactly in your situation op, who haven't got a deposit for private renting.

Speak to Shelter, they are great at helping with housing problems.

Under the new law they have to give you your deposit back they can't keep it. They also can't ask you to get any ovens/carpets professionally cleaned anymore either. I know a lot of the councils have changed the way people can go on the list. I was on it because I was pregnant but was advised because the rules changed pregnancy wasn't a reason to go on it so got taken off! 😫

If you get accepted on the housing list as in danger of homelessness, they should be able to help with the deposit. They may do a guarantee scheme for the actual deposit and dhp payment for rent in advance.

FWIW wicked private landlord here:((

Havent bothered with deposits for years never had a problem just see what I think of the prospective tenants. Main critera are;

Can they afford the rent and pay it?

Will they take good or reasonbale care of the place?

If i think thay can do that then their in:)

You might be best if you can find a private landlord who as a bit of humantiy about them, they do exist;!

Also one who will deal directy with you, with no lettiing agencies.

Some of them are total arseholes:(

Get this. We have just had a woman, single mum who has been wirth us for ten years shes just met a new man, well she has known him for years they have decided to live togethrer all well there:)

I was called the other week for a referecne as thwey ar emoving out of the area and I said she was an excellent tenant and was no bother at all then they asked if she paid the rent on time me being totally honest said that she was sometimes a few days to a week late but she would mail and tell me, that it didnt hapend that often at all and it was not a problem. Then they said would you re rent to her which i said yes no problem.

I ment up with her yeaterdsay and i told her that this agency called and t i told ther what I said and apparenty the ocacasionaly a few days late comment caused her to be initally rejected she had a real job getting "approved" by them.

Now rents down South here are around £1500 for a three bed house she was in a two bed under a 1000 and most landlords want a months rent as deposit and charge hundreds for other services and fees rental contracts and the like etc.

How the fuck are single muns or disabled people to survive in this area with shit like that around?

I'd rent to you OP just can you pay the rent and take care of the place thats all i require.

Hope you find somewhere soon:)

@mumwon housing benefit is part of her UC claim and is not paid directly to landlord. If it was then there would be no issue.

I'm a landlord. I don't take a deposit, if the rent is paid every month on time I'm happy.

HI OP

I was in this position a year ago. Depending on where you live, if you have your notice to quit, take that to the council, that date will be the date you are considered homeless, you no longer have to wait for bailiffs.

Have a look at gumtree and spare room for private lets, also register with estate agents, you won't have a cat hells in chance in getting a let through them, but it will show the council willing.

Also if you have it, facebook local groups, if you have any pets, also post in those type groups as well.

When you go to the council, take with you your notice to quit, medical notes etc. You may find that you will spending a lot of time going to appointments at the council office.

It may be worth, looking into storage, if you are placed into emergency accomadation it might be really small (we were placed into a one bedroom flat from a 3 bed house)

With the council, don't be tempting to put a brave face on your disability, make sure you are open and honest about everything you can and can't do it might help with regards to getting you into a self contained flat rather than a B&B. With regards to B&B as you have a child if you are placed into one, they can only keep you in there for 68 (I think) days.

The only other thing I would say, is if you are accepted onto the list, bid on everything possible. I know you have said that your partner has problems with his knees, but if you are accepted for a property, then you will have to wait a year (each HA is different but its usually a year) before you can get onto a home swapper. So if you think you can cope with a 3rd floor flat for a year or more (might take a while to swap) then don't discount it straight off.

Nearly forgot, if you do get onto a housing list and moved into emergency accomadation be prepared to move in a short time. We had to move twice in the space of 6 weeks, once to the emergency flat and then into ours, but we were very lucky that we got a place very quickly

Can you take the deposit out on a no interest credit card and pay it off over time?

ProhibitedRodent. My disabled daughter was on PIP and that has been changed to Universal Credit (what a mess!). I really hope you retain PIP.

*OP please call the three deposit schemes to check if your deposit is registered with any of them.

If your deposit isn't protected then they legally cannot evict you under a section 21 notice (no fault eviction)

Please PM me if you need any advice.*

Not sure why that's bold.

Is your DH claiming Carer's Allowance?

There aren't really any strict laws on landlords handling tenants deposits, a landlord can deduct from the deposit for all sorts of bullshit reasons

Ignore this, OP. It is absolute bollocks. All deposits must legally be held in a TDP (tenancy deposit scheme). I say this as a landlord.

@getmeacupoftea don’t post bollocks. It’s not helpful

As a landlord (and tenant) there are really strict laws about deposits. If your deposit wasn't saved in a proper scheme your landlord could receive a fine, some tenants have had their rent rebated.

My disabled daughter was on PIP and that has been changed to Universal Credit (what a mess!). I really hope you retain PIP.

PIP shouldn’t be changed to UC. Pip replaces DLA.
Was she on ESA perhaps?

Where about in the NE are you? Have you registered for Compass?

Take whatever paperwork you have with you to your meeting with the council. They should work with you to produce a personal housing plan which shows what steps they and/or you will take to (hopefully) prevent you becoming homeless. This would include:
-if anything can be done to keep you in your current home (eg challenge the notice) - you mentioned you aren’t sure about the details of your deposit protection. If this wasn’t done properly it may invalidate the notice.
-help to find somewhere new to live - this might include help with a deposit loan for a new private rental or whether you might be able to get a council/housing association property (in most areas of the country getting straight into social housing like this would be unlikely though).

If all this fails and you can’t find anywhere else suitable before you are evicted, from what you have said (no fault eviction and having children) you would be eligible for temporary accommodation from the council until a suitable longer term option can be found.

As a previous poster mentioned evidence about disabilities and health conditions that you can present to the council will be helpful. You’ll no doubt be experienced with this if you’ve been through PIP assessment but you need to be upfront and specific about the full extent to which your disabilities or health impacts your housing need (eg need to stay in same area due to memory loss).

Shelter’s website is a good place to start for understanding the process and your rights.

@nevermorelenore Some letting agents offer no deposit schemes now. Not sure how it works, I think you pay slightly more each month instead of the deposit upfront, but you don’t get it back at the end.
As a landlord, this seems like a pretty rubbish scheme for both the landlord and tenant. It's a kind of insurance arrangement

In the scheme that my letting agent is plugging, the tenant pays a one-off fee of one week's rent and the scheme guarantees a deposit of 6 weeks to the LL (one week more than the statutory maximum).

The catch is that at the end of the tenancy the tenant is still liable for all costs that would have been deducted from the deposit.

It's just that if the tenant doesn't pay, the scheme pays the LL - but then continues to pursue the tenant, potentially using all the usual debt recovery methods. To quote the flyer:
"Zero Deposit does not mean zero responsibility. Bad tenants are not let off the hook. We pay approved claims directly to you and pursue the tenant for payment, with financial and credit record penalties if they fail to pay."

As a LL, my take is that if someone can't afford 5 weeks rent as a refundable deposit, then they probably can't really afford the rent itself - so I am taking on extra risk. And to throw away a month's rent when you still have full liability for the deductions seems like (probably is) desperation.

The company that runs the scheme also adjudicates the recoverable costs, which also seems rather a risk.

Sorry have migraine. Nothing makes any sense, struggling to read any answers. Will come back when its better.,

lyra - thank you for the post. I find the whole maze of things so confusing! She has a key worker so I hope together they can sort it. If my post has confused anyone - I deeply apologise.

OP

Leaders is a letting agent that does a no deposit option.
I agree it’s not ideal, but OP could use the no deposit option for first 6 or 12 month lease agreement and then upon renewal, switch to putting down a deposit for the future years with the money back from the old place.
The deposit limit has gone down from six weeks to five weeks so that should help even if new rent is a bit higher.

@percheron67 my post finished before I meant too. I meant to say “please check” - so many people, even CAB and the likes, have had incidences of getting confused over all the changes and it means people are missing out on things.