Our tenant has requested that we formally evict her

It is also unfair on someone who might need a council house more than her

Well if she can't ay the rent then she does need that house!

It's not meanness- its standard procedure for the council to be able to help her. ten to a pound, whatever ahrdships you know she's having financially, in RL they'll be far ahrder- people rarely make their true struggles clear.

My brother's tennant did the same. She refused to go when given notice and was advised by the council (lambeth) to get evicted to secure a council flat. She and her baby dd wanted a two bed flat. My brother, his wife and baby just wanted their one bed flat back so they could move back to London now DB has job back here.

It meant my brother had to stay with friends when he started his job in London leaving his wife and baby alone back up in Leeds for over two months while the legal process went through. It was very upsetting for everyone concerned.

People like his tennant give council housing allocation a bad name. She's a very successful French artist who commands high commissions for her work BTW. It's the sort of story which provides rich fodder for the right wing loons.

Thats the way the rules work, its the only ways she'll get a place

A girl at my work had to get her own mother to evict her - she'd let her move in after her husband ran off with the secretary (of course) and she couldn't pay the rent. There was her mum/stepdad/her and her two boys in a one bed flat but they still needed a letter saying she couldn't stay there.

in the long term you are doing her a favour - better than her not being able to make the rent, owing you thousands, and THEN you have to evict her.

If she can't afford the rent, you seem to have the choice between

• evicting her now, on good terms, and not losing any money either

• waiting for her to get into serious money problems struggling to pay you rent, get into large arrears of rent and having ill-will building up, and then evicting her.

What does the tenancy agreement say about notice? Has the initial term of the tenancy expired?

If it is an assured shorthold tenancy, then you need to give two months' notice (and if the tenancy has not yet run its term, you can only do that if the two months terminates on the end date of the tenancy). If you give notice and she does not move, you will have to go through possession proceedings which could end up costing you money as it is likely that the council will not rehouse her anyway until she has an eviction notice from the court.

you could give her notice on the grounds that you want to sell the house or live there yurself if it is apst the initial term tho cant u ? and the council would accept that afaik

couldn't she have paid you housing benefit?

is she absolutely sure she will walk into a nice council flat/house? there's lots of people do the rounds in bed and breakfast accomodation then end up in some high rise. a friend of mine had to move on and a high rise in edmonton was all the council would offer her. nothing against high rises, my nana lives in one and it's great (lovely views) but it's a long way down to the garden! good council housing stock is scarse these days

CAB always advise tenants to do this , as we found out.
You are stuck, because if you refuse, she will just stop paying rent, and you will have to evict her eventually - much stress and expense to you.
If you do evict her, you MUST take professional advice, or YOU could end up in trouble. Contact Landlord Action - they helped us out in a similar suituation about 8 years ago (presume they are still in business), or contact a solicitor specailising in landlord and Tenant law.
Do not bother going to the CAB yourself, they are totally biased in favour of tenants and view landlords as rich evil capitalists

Good council sock is scarce but it does have its upsides- not spending a month a year watching the post wondering if your tenancy will be ended for a start (and we love our landlady- and have been lnadlords in the past- but regardless of how valid reason is to end a tenancy, it's still a worry)

hi, i had exactly the same with my tenant. i called the court to find out what to do and they were confused, as like your tenant she actually wanted to be made homeless as well in order to get council place. my relationship with her was also very amicable and she had been an excellent tenant. fortunately for me i did need to put my house for sale. but i would not have been prepeared to do it. too much stress and aggravation. i know it can be swings and roundabouts and maybe she will stop paying. does she have a guarantor? you have to think of yourself though no matter how hard it is.

good luck.

I'm surprised that she wants to go before Christmas and not in the New Year. The chances are that she won't get another place before the New Year anyway. Or am I missing something here? .

Presumably if Reallytired is giving her two months' notice she won't actually be out before the New Year anyway?

New place for Easter then? .

My parents evicted me and my DS (and ex who I was with at the time).

We were put in some dingey hostel for a while (a month) but were about to get a place - flat, most likely, when I escaped ex and returned home.

Anyway, family evicted me again and I got a 2 bed house, long garden (that is so overgrown I can't use it but that's another thread!)

Houses with gardens do come up - just rare.

Hope the tennant is going to be ok and gets a place without too much trouble.

Yes, what an evil bitch to want some stability in her child's life. How grasping of her. She should Know Her Place

The only way for her to be "unintentionally homeless" is for you to evict her. As someone else said, those are the rules so if you want to help here that's what you need to do.

TBH she might want a house with a garden but I would be very surprised if she gets one. One person with a 2 year old child will more than likely be offered a 1 bed flat at best as councils will not "overaccommodate" unless it is somewhere grim that nobody else wants. Short term she could well end up in some grotty b&b so she should think carefully about how realistic her plans are.

it does depend where she lives though- back home very little of the council stick was anything other than houses with gardens, flats were a tiny percentage- it does vary.

make sure before you decide what to do you ask her if she has looked into this properly

in my area council houses are in very short supply and being evicted doesnt necessariily mean she will get one! the council will pay for a b and b for her for 6 weeks after that she is on her own, if they decide that she has made her self volutarily homeless! this includes rent not being paid!

i had problems with my rent after i started work part time and housing benefit needed all sorts of info that was taking ages to get! landlord threatened to evict me and after speaking with council about this i was told i would be declared as voluntarily homeless because i had failed to provide them with the info they needed and refused to pay my rent! refused to pay was putting it v harshly my rent was £85 a week and inc tax credits i got £160 a week and had to pay nursery fees and bills with that too!

if they decide that you are voluntairlty homeless they have no obligation to house you even if you have young kids

you would need to evict her for reasons such as you are not renting the house any more anything such as late rent payments or untidness may result in her being declared as intentionally homeless

Didn't she say she was being evicted as the Agents don't handle HB claimants, which would presumably make her homeless.

Coldbits knows loads about this area, i'd go with anya dvice she gives.