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

Thank you all so much, the information is really helpful. There is no drip feed, no disabled children hiding in the back ground. Though that might have been helpful in this case. All the adult children have lived at home throughout the tenancy other than one who went to university and came home during the holidays. I’m seeing my friend later and will ask about the type of notice and how we can check if it was served correctly. I might have some more questions later on depending on what she says. I would ( and will) offer to have them stay with me but nine adults, one teenager and a dog are really going to struggle to fit in my home and it might not be in their best interests to move in.

Hi all,
We have made several deletions on this thread and would be grateful if it could keep to the topic at hand from now on?

Citizens Advice and/or Shelter will advise.

The adults without children should get themselves (individually) on the council housing register ASAP. They should all also make sure they are claiming al possible benefits (whether in work or not) by using a benefits checker such as Turn2us - this may give access to help with rent . As others have said the adults will not be housed together - they are expected to find their own.

The single adults need to start making a plan and eg looking at house share situations. The student will presumably have their own tenancy in student accommodation? If this is a normal AST (ie not halls of residence) they will not be considered homeless in these circumstances.

The parent and minor child should keep up a dialogue with the council housing office if private renting really is not a possibility. But as many others have says it could take anything up to a year for the landlord to achieve an eviction order at the moment so there is no need to panic - but the adults need to start making plans as the parent will not be allocated a property big enough to house them all

As I said earlier: people who normally reside together ARE housed together. There is advice on that on the Government's own website, it comes under the Homelessness Code of Guidance. I don't know why people don't get that. The LA might suggest that it is easier from their point of view to house non-dependent adults away from the rest of the family BUT it isn't the law. The legislation says that the household consists of people who are ordinarily resident and that is that. If the household would be deemed to be homeless but not in priority need, then there may be no duty to assist the family with accommodation, but that doesn't get in the way of who is ordinarily resident.

@WaferThinIce

Thank you all so much, the information is really helpful. There is no drip feed, no disabled children hiding in the back ground. Though that might have been helpful in this case. All the adult children have lived at home throughout the tenancy other than one who went to university and came home during the holidays. I’m seeing my friend later and will ask about the type of notice and how we can check if it was served correctly. I might have some more questions later on depending on what she says. I would ( and will) offer to have them stay with me but nine adults, one teenager and a dog are really going to struggle to fit in my home and it might not be in their best interests to move in.

9 adults? I thought there was about 4?

@LoislovesStewie as a statement of fact you are correct but in practical operational terms the likelihood of a large household of able bodied adults being given priority for social housing is slim to nil. I think it’s better to give realistic practical advice rather than get peoples hopes up

[quote VanCleefArpels]@LoislovesStewie as a statement of fact you are correct but in practical operational terms the likelihood of a large household of able bodied adults being given priority for social housing is slim to nil. I think it’s better to give realistic practical advice rather than get peoples hopes up[/quote]
This.

I am not getting people hopes up: I am trying to explain homeless legislation for the benefit of people who have clearly never worked in that field and my post was in response to several earlier posts. The applicant is able to apply as homeless and will receive a response to her application. S/he will receive advice and assistance even if a full housing duty is not given, i.e s/he is not given permanent housing. We have no idea how old the teen is, whether there is any ill health in the family that would render them in priority need, we don't know if there are other issues that would indicate priority. What concerns me is that advice from people who don't understand the legislation can cause more problems to either this homeless family or another who will not seek advice from their local authority due to comments made on a site such as this. Being practical is fine: I am known for being that, but it is also important to understand the minefield that is housing law.

Just to add to that though @LoislovesStewie most local authorities will not actually consider a homeless application unless and until there is an eviction order - they will take every opportunity to deem the applicant intentionally homeless in order to not have to deal with them. Therefore initial advice that they should sit tight and wait for the landlord to exhaust the legal eviction process is good advice

girl71

Any good landlord knows the risks. We are LL. The tenants aren’t to blame for the lack of social housing and the way Landlord and Tenant law works. They have to stay put or the council may refuse to help.

VanCleefArpelsAs a final note from me
The Homelessness Reduction Act (HRA) 2017, introduced on 3rd April 2018, places new legal duties on local authorities so that everyone who is homeless or at risk of homelessness will have access to meaningful help, irrespective of their priority need status, as long as they are eligible for assistance.
One of the changes is that people can ask for assistance if likely to be homeless in 56 days (not 28 as before) and everyone is entitled to advice and a personalized housing plan. Its main aim is to prevent homelessness.

In my experience the “advice” prior to an actual crisis is “we can’t help you until you are in crisis”.

@LoislovesStewie which is why I said that keeping in touch with the housing officer as things progress is a good idea - let them know court date, when judge gives date to evict & the date the bailiff is due

Surely the advice to NINE adults will be "we cannot accommodate all of you together, and the older kids need to sort themselves out"?

In the city where I worked, there are one and two bedroomed social housing properties available to eligible applicants, with no waiting time. The majority of them are age banded for older people, but there are a handful most weeks that anyone can apply for. Rarely anything bigger though.

Its also worth considering checking housing associations and other RSLs, some take direct applications separate from the LA.

@BroccoliFloret

Surely the advice to NINE adults will be "we cannot accommodate all of you together, and the older kids need to sort themselves out"?

Surely NINE adults could club enough money together via benefits, wages etc….. to be able to afford 1 house between them. I’m astonished they can’t…..

There aren’t nine adults.

It's a family of three adults, parent and 2 children, and one older teenager, plus dog

No point in rolling your eyes, it’s hardly crystal clear is it!! What an older teenager? A 17 year old…? If so then by the time the eviction comes they would be an adult and therefore it would be 4 adults wanting to live together. Unlikely….

@Saucery

@Saucery

There aren’t nine adults.

OP does say nine adults in her second post. It's not totally clear how many there are!

The OP said she would offer her friend (and family) to stay with her if it came to it... Meaning there would then be 9 adults in the OPs house (ie, OPs family , which is 6 adults that are already living there plus friends family of 3 adults + teenager + dog).

As said above, it would be nine in total. My family of 6, my friend, her two adult children, the teenager…..and the dog. Well I’ve given her all of the advice given. Thank you for your help. She is going to contact the local housing team and CAB tomorrow and also email her landlords agent explaining that she is doing her best to comply but if she hasn’t found accommodation then she won’t be able to leave on the final day. This might spur the agents on and help her find a place.

We have a plan of sorts with the backup option of staying with us. That wouldn’t be ideal for them but we will manage.

I'm glad your friend has some support, OP. You sound like a good mate.

@BitterAndOnlySlightlyTwisted

Once the Notice expires the landlord will need to apply to the court for possession. The courts are very busy and the cost to the landlord is not inconsequential.

In the meantime your friends should do a couple of things:

1). Check that the Notice has been correctly served. Many landlords and letting agents get this wrong, so will fail in court. The folks on the Housing part of the MoneySavingExpert forum are very knowledgeable and helpful. They will need to know which country the property is in as the laws in E&W are different to those in Scottishland and In NI.

2). Keep all lines of communication open between your friends and the landlord. The LL could be persuaded to delay applying to the court if they understand your friends are sincere in their search for alternative accommodation.

"Scottishland" 🤣🤣🤣🤣

@girl71

Renting out property isn't free money. You don't get the benefit of someone else paying your mortgage without an element of risk. This is the case with all forms of investment.

If you decide to invest in the stock market, then you do so knowing the risk that the market could tank and you could lose money. If you decide to rent out a house, then you do so knowing the risk that it could get trashed, or the tenant may not leave when you want them to.

There's no point in saying that it's your house and you want it back, the fact is that the law is in the tenants favour and you accept that risk when you decide to become a landlord. This is like losing money on the stock market and then complaining, when you knew the risk when you invested.

You don't get the benefits without the risk, and you have to decide whether the potential benefits are worth the risks.