Housing Eviction

[WaferThinIce]

I realise this isn't the right place but am hoping to get some information or guidance as soon as possible. Friends (genuinely friends and not me) have been given an eviction notice as their landlord is selling their home. They, so far, haven't been able to find other suitable accommodation. They either can't afford it or they miss out because they come second. It's a family of three adults, parent and 2 children, and one older teenager, plus dog. As the end of their notice period comes ever closer and they still haven't secured a place they are getting very worried and stressed. Does anyone know what they can do if they haven't found another home. Will they be turned out onto the street or what might happen? Will there be an obligation on the local council to offer them temporary accommodation. They have looked not just where they currently live but also nearby towns and there's just nothing available.
Thank you

They need to approach the local authority for advice and assistance at this this stage. The last may be able to help them find somewhere else r may negotiate got them yo stay with the current landlord for a while
and with a dependant child the LA will need to provide emergency temporary accommodation if necessary - to the whole household as well not just the parents and child.

@SpaceBethSmith

People shouldn’t become landlords unless they understand the laws around it.

A notice to leave is not legally binding. It is not a guarantee the tenants will be able to leave by then, for whatever reason.

There are court costs involved but these are passed to the tenant.

There is a wait for court action because the system is backlogged.

Don’t like that that could be your scenario as a landlord? Don’t fucking be one then.

Don’t come at me with accidental landlord bollocks either, you consciously choose to rent a property or multiple properties out.

this , my landlady made out she was a professional landlord until she hoicked up my rent for the 4th year running making it practically unafordable ,telling me she was forced to because of covering costs of repairs , which was a joke because she never did any , i did point out everything that needed doing whilst she was there and she promptly sent me an email later that evening telling me she wasnt renewing tenancy after all , i soon found out how she didnt have a clue , gave me the wrong notice period , had to serve the section 28 no less than 3 times because she couldnt get the dates right , i was looking to rent somewhere to no avail and when i told her that following the councils advice i was staying past the notice period and shed have to evict me she then lost her shit and took to ringing me once a week screaming or alternatly begging me to leave .

this woman rented out at least 3 other propertys and didnt have a clue what to do when it came to anything other that having the rent put into her account each month . i was a bit stunned by it to be honest .
when the council ordered her to do all the repairs plus even more than even id said about ,she even phoned them up and started screaming down the phone , i wouldnt have minded the council decided to inspect the house , i didnt moan to them about the repairs
i agree wholeheartly dont become a landlord if you cant bloody handle shit like you want your tenants to leave and they cant find housing so are forced to stay

Its worth pointing out that in some parts of the UK there are social housing properties more readily available than in others. Private rental prices and availability vary hugely too.

The law disagrees with all of you.

The moment you decide to have someone else pay your mortgage, you enter a legal business agreement.

Never said all landlords are a Rachman type, but some of you are woefully under educated on the laws surrounding being a landlord and frankly, it shouldn’t be allowed.

@Seymour5

Its worth pointing out that in some parts of the UK there are social housing properties more readily available than in others. Private rental prices and availability vary hugely too.

private rent has gone up greatly in bucks my county , my dd and i lived in a 3 bed victorian terrace for only 650 a month , four years later the rent is over a grand a month for that house now , i could never afford that and yet about four years ago i was dating someone that lived in hull and the 3 bed house that was even bigger than mine had been was only 450 a month , its insane the price difference , all i could think was maybe its because it was up north

Please tell your friends to contact council. I don't know what area they are in but our council has a list of landlords that won't expect full deposit etc.Also good to keep them informed re the stage they are at. How stressful for them.

@gardeninggirl68

i think landlords shouldd take a bigger deposit when offering a tenancy if they have to go to these lengths (and expense) to get their property back

how ridiculous! how much do these court costs all add up to?

If they did they'd be breaking the law. There is a legal limit to how much deposit can be taken.

But the law doesn't actually meet the needs of either landlord or tenant, despite all the recent changes!

Some have become chronically ill or made redundant due to pandemic or divorcing and no choice but to temporarily let the property

Of course there are choices - there's always choices, you can sell the property at that point at the very least (which may incur a loss, but that's just the risk you're taking to try and avoid a later loss). Remembering also that no-one who is relying on section 21 as this thread is discussing, could have been in the situation where they had to temporarily let out their own home.

[quote lannistunut]@girl71 I can see you have exercised your creative writing skills by coming up with a landlord tale of woe, but the tenant is not responsible for the landlord and the landlord has to follow the law.

Tough shit really. The idea a tenant is being 'entitled' by following the only rational course of action is ridiculous.

I never expected anything different from my own tenants. It is part of the risk of being a landlord.

I am glad at least that the family who rented your friend's house and had to leave have secured a good home, that is precisely why this family should stay put - to hopefully get the same outcome.[/quote]
but by staying put its been said that the credit rating will now be poor, some one mentioned ccj's.....how will the family be in a position to rent again?

or do most landlords not bother about this? do you want a good credit renting from your tenants or dont you bother checking?

and for every landlord going through court to get their property back, surely thats one off the rental market as they will be reluctant to do it again

[quote SweetBabyCheeses99]@Drgnbllx I’m with Girl71. I would propose that the family just try a bit harder. I can’t believe that there’s zero other housing options for them. They’ll either have to pay a bit more, look further afield or compromise on their requirements. It’s tough but that’s just life. The council can’t allocate a 4(?) bed house at the drop of a hat to a family who CAN afford to rent privately. Best case scenario they’ll get hostels which would be much worse than compromising on a rental property.[/quote]
I take it you don't rent? I rent and have an above average salary. I'm hoping to buy soon so I'm in a fortunate position, however say I didnt have a deposit saved and I had to move I couldn't afford to rent anywhere in my city. A two bed is 300 more than I'm paying on my 3 bed. Relocation to a cheaper area is all fine in principle but not when you care for elderly relatives in your city. Or your commute would cost almost as much as paying extra rent. Its shit. If anyone should be trying harder its the fucking government by providing affordable homes.

I let out my home while I went away for work for two years. When I came back I wanted my home back. I am not a professional landlord but the rent I received helped pay my rent while I was working away.

Once Covid is over I may want to work away again but having read many threads like this I don't think I will risk a long-term rental and instead will use AirB&B or similar. I want to know I can get my home back when I need it.

Mine is one less property that will be available to rent and I am sure I am not the only person who has decided that this type of rental is too risky and not worth it. I will earn more from holiday lets!

"@sirfredfredgeorge Of course there are choices - there's always choices, you can sell the property at that point at the very least (which may incur a loss, but that's just the risk you're taking to try and avoid a later loss)".

You can if you can get the tenants out first. That is the issue, they ( tenants) stay steadfastly, and usually rent free until you have been repossessed by the bank, at which point there are no choices.

You can if you can get the tenants out first

You can sell with tenants, it's just more of a loss...

[quote girl71]@Drgnbllx you first, so what do you propose the property owner does? [/quote]
I asked first.

@gardeninggirl68

i think landlords shouldd take a bigger deposit when offering a tenancy if they have to go to these lengths (and expense) to get their property back

how ridiculous! how much do these court costs all add up to?

They can’t? The law says maximum in England is 5wks rent for a deposit.

@girl71 the thing is, the situation your friend was in is one of the risks of being a landlord. Nobody needs to keep a spare house. If you are choosing to be a landlord (no such thing as an accidental landlord) then this situation is a risk you have chosen to take. Perhaps if would be in landlords best interest to campaign for better provisions for tenants who find themselves in this situation.

[quote KeyWorker]@girl71 the thing is, the situation your friend was in is one of the risks of being a landlord. Nobody needs to keep a spare house. If you are choosing to be a landlord (no such thing as an accidental landlord) then this situation is a risk you have chosen to take. Perhaps if would be in landlords best interest to campaign for better provisions for tenants who find themselves in this situation.[/quote]
The reverse could also be said, if you’re a tenant, there’s a risk the LL might want their property back. It’s one of the main pitfalls of renting. Circumstances do change though.

The housing crisis is dire. I feel sorry for tenants, it’s awful how expensive rents are. It really isn’t fair but it gets my back when the LL is always portrayed at that twat. I’m sure no LL thinks ‘I’ll just put that family out today for fun’. There must be reasons behind it and usually far more complex than people like to think.

"This attitude is ridiculous. What if the landlord is at risk of having that property repossessed , their credit rating screwed over and need to sell it- through no fault of their own say from redundancy/ illness /global pandemic etc?"

This is a risk the landlord should have educated themselves about before entering the business of renting out their house.

Ironic that you complain about entitlement when the law literally sets out that they are indeed entitled to!

Private renting is an embarrassing fiasco in this country. So sorry your friends are in this situation, OP.

@KeyWorker she did not keep a "spare house".

She had a house, she worked to achieve, she spent over a decade working 2 jobs to secure the deposit, she married and had children. They moved into the family house she paid the deposit for and legal fees for and the stamp duty. She left work to care for children, her DH then left with OW to Dublin, leaving her with house and mortgage. He made no payments. She let hse out and moved with her children into a smaller rent. She rented family home in an effort to save it. She has managed to buy ex out and secured the family home. She did not let her home to lord it over others , nor did she do
It to make to make money. She did it to survive and save her home.

I took my written section 21 notice to my local council who informed me that the notice was in fact wrong and they had served me an old version.
They still registered me on their system as homeless and requiring help while the new notice was served.
We had to wait for the bailiffs to turn up for the council to help even thought hey said after that if we'd called them when we had the bailiff date they would have helped before.
Depends on your council, depends on how helpful your housing officer is too to be honest.

The adults may be housed separately from each other unless there are medical needs or reasons to be housed together.

Luckily our area has a homeless unit and we got the last one available but it was 4 of us in a 1 bedroom self contained flat for 7 months.

I wish your friends the best of luck. Rental market is tough and being 'homeless' is not easy either.

All the council houses around here allow pets including cats and dogs. Not sure if it applies to temporary accommodation but for permanent yes they do allow it.
Private LLs are more reluctant to accept pets.
Are they on the council list? Not ideal and it's a long process but the sooner they are on it and can bid for property the better.
As others have said wait for the bailiffs to get you out if need be. If there are children I'm pretty sure the council have to legally house them.

This family will widen their choice of private lets if they regime the dog. Unfortunate, but true.

[quote girl71]@KeyWorker she did not keep a "spare house".

She had a house, she worked to achieve, she spent over a decade working 2 jobs to secure the deposit, she married and had children. They moved into the family house she paid the deposit for and legal fees for and the stamp duty. She left work to care for children, her DH then left with OW to Dublin, leaving her with house and mortgage. He made no payments. She let hse out and moved with her children into a smaller rent. She rented family home in an effort to save it. She has managed to buy ex out and secured the family home. She did not let her home to lord it over others , nor did she do
It to make to make money. She did it to survive and save her home.[/quote]
She took a risk in an attempt to save her home. That was her choice. She could instead have chosen to sell it prior to any tenants moving in. She had a choice.

"@walksen This is a risk the landlord should have educated themselves about before entering the business of renting out their house".

Or perhaps we should educate renter's that they need to leave a house that is not theirs when notice is served. Perhaps we should be encouraging and educating renters to consider how they will house themselves and their families based on their incomes, rather than push back onto Landlords. Perhaps we should educate people that landlords are not charities. Rather than expecting landlords them to let live in their properties for peanuts /free/ wait to be evicted. Perhaps we should remind people that landlords have mortgages, and that housing has to be paid for and paying rent is not optional. Perhaps we should educate people that when you have been served notice to leave, you should leave. It is NOT your house, you need to leave. How you house yourself and your family is your issue not the landlord's .