Page 13 | To NOT leave rented house when I said I would?

WaitingForLifeToGetEasier · 2023-01-29T12:11:50+00:00

Been in current rented house for 9 years. Landlord is a company with 30+ properties. Tenancy is generally renewed every year as LL puts rent up. Last year, less than 6 months into our latest year long tenancy agreement, an estate agent contacted me out of the blue saying he'd been instructed to sell the property so I needed to agree to a time for them to value and take photos as well for viewings. I was shocked as LL has not said anything and it transpired that the letting agent has added a 6 month break clause into the tenancy agreement. There had never been one In previous agreements and I wasn't made aware. I made it clear i was not going to allow anyone in the property until the end of the agreement and if the landlord wanted to sell, I'd leave at that time. Tenancy is up in early March. I had expected to get a Section 21 in early January but nothing. We have been looking but properties are either not available anymore or agent doesn't get back to us so have not found a property yet. Rents seem to have gone up £3-400 a month which is going to be impossible. Not sure if LL is just expecting us to leave or what but I am not intending to leave in early March and will stay as long as possible - await section 21 etc. AIBU?

OutForBreakfast · 29/01/2023 15:33

@Newlifestartingatlast The rental market was very different forty years ago. Even the legislation was different.

HamBone · 29/01/2023 15:33

TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl · 29/01/2023 15:12

Yes. Wait for the s21. Chances are it hasn’t been served because LL doesn’t want her outS

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Thanks. She’d still be advised to look seriously for a new home now though as it could arrive in March, giving them until May to move.

I couldn’t stand the uncertainty!

CockSpadget · 29/01/2023 15:35

Why ask If you’re BU, if you’re going to argue with everyone who says you are? Pointless.

Crikeyalmighty · 29/01/2023 15:36

@Bluebird32 we are what I would say is middle class and we've rented since 2001 ( we did own for a couple of years before that) - we've rented for many reasons- self employment , like living in areas we can't afford to buy etc- it's complicated - but a choice. The shitty aspects of renting are still there at the £3000 a month level as they are at £700 a month- I know because we've been through the full range from 1 bed flats to 4 bed houses.one thing I do know though is it's not a good idea to cut off your nose to spite your face- and just because 'you can' do certain things doesn't mean 'you should' - it rarely works in your favour long term if renting.

TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl · 29/01/2023 15:36

Wetblanket78 · 29/01/2023 15:10

Landlords only have to give you 6 weeks notice to leave the property. Tenancy agreement or not. But a lot of landlords are now scrambling to sell properties because of increasing interest rates. Won't be long before there's a crash and the price of properties will come tumbling down like like happened in the late 90's-early 2000.

Wrong

Boopydoo · 29/01/2023 15:37

TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl · 29/01/2023 13:06

It’s her home. Why would she want people looking round it?

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Its awful, I am in that position right now, not been given notice to leave, LL giving it a go, to see if it sells. Viewings happening at 24-hour notice, making me feel physically sick to have people walking through our home that I still pay full rent for.
Stuck in limbo, I can't go anywhere, there's a waiting list of 30+ families with local agents and those already served section 21's take priority. I bid on social housing every time there's something available for me to do so, I'm up at around 97 on the list each time.
There is actually no way out of this living hell until the section 21 arrives.

TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl · 29/01/2023 15:38

WyldeSwan · 29/01/2023 15:16

I think it matters quite a lot if the saying she was leaving was formal not. If that has been accepted as notice of her ending the tenancy, she will have to leave on the date agreed, otherwise the landlord can claim mense rent of double her normal rent until she does leave.

If not, she is quite entitled to wait for a S21 to arrive.

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Exactly, and she’s hasn’t give her notice to quit

Patineur · 29/01/2023 15:38

afinishedkiss · 29/01/2023 14:36

What batshit is this she needs that s21 legally and no she doesn’t need to contact the landlord
oh and s21 are recorded delivered so you can’t say you didn’t get one

S21 or not, contact him or not...she is still OUT! She can prolong it as much as she wants and stay put etc but at the end of the day she will need somewhere else to live. That is fact.

But, so far as I can see, we don't even know that much. If no notice has been served, the totally valid assumption is that the landlord is OK for the tenancy to continue. It may well be that they've decided not to sell, given the recent decline in the property market.

YetMoreNewBeginnings · 29/01/2023 15:40

WyldeSwan · 29/01/2023 15:16

I think it matters quite a lot if the saying she was leaving was formal not. If that has been accepted as notice of her ending the tenancy, she will have to leave on the date agreed, otherwise the landlord can claim mense rent of double her normal rent until she does leave.

If not, she is quite entitled to wait for a S21 to arrive.

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A telephone call with a random estate agent telling her that the LL was selling would in no way be taken as formal notice from the OP that she was ending the tenancy.

afinishedkiss · 29/01/2023 15:41

But, so far as I can see, we don't even know that much. If no notice has been served, the totally valid assumption is that the landlord is OK for the tenancy to continue. It may well be that they've decided not to sell, given the recent decline in the property market

But wouldn't you want to know for sure? I don't get it? I couldn't live in uncertainty like not, not over something that affects my family's lives so much. Forearmed is forewarned and all that.

EasterIsland · 29/01/2023 15:41

Talk to your LL. If you agree to facilitating the sale, you might be able to stay on. Some people like to buy a property with a tenant in place.

But OTOH perhaps if you’d co-operated about photos etc, they’d have been able to help you - do they have other properties they could rent to you? If it’s a company and you’ve been a good tenant?

YetMoreNewBeginnings · 29/01/2023 15:42

afinishedkiss · 29/01/2023 15:41

But, so far as I can see, we don't even know that much. If no notice has been served, the totally valid assumption is that the landlord is OK for the tenancy to continue. It may well be that they've decided not to sell, given the recent decline in the property market

But wouldn't you want to know for sure? I don't get it? I couldn't live in uncertainty like not, not over something that affects my family's lives so much. Forearmed is forewarned and all that.

Because until any paperwork arrives it doesn’t really make any difference.

The LL could decide to sell today, tomorrow, next week or next month. He could decide to issue the S21 at any point he chooses. The process for the OP will be no different.

So unless she opts to give notice it doesn’t really change anything for her.

Tamarindtree · 29/01/2023 15:44

Won’t you need a good reference from your landlord?

You shouldn’t wait to be evicted, you need to go when the correct time is up.

Patineur · 29/01/2023 15:44

FlairBand · 29/01/2023 14:45

The title of the thread is quite literally:

AIBU NOT leave rented house when I said I would?

So she’s said she’s leaving, in response to having been asked. Formally or otherwise. Not sure why so many people seem to be unclear on what the AIBU is? If you’ve said you’re leaving then you should leave.

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If she leaves without giving formal notice she could become liable for ongoing rent. Saying "But I said I was going to leave" wouldn't be a defence.

Flowersandbutterflies · 29/01/2023 15:45

Sorry, not read the whole thread, but you got some really bad advice from landlords on here!

They don't seem to understand that making yourself and your family homeless isn't an option - of course you should stay put if you can't find another rental. Landlords must realise how hard it is to find new places to rent atm.

Yes, trying to rent without a reference from your current landlord is harder but not impossible - we've rented in the past without one where our landlady was mad - estate agents are used to crazy landlords. :)

In reality, your landlord is going to find it hard to sell at the moment given the falls in the market, and it's not in their interest to have you move out and the property empty in the meantime, so it makes sense for them to keep you in there as long as possible, until the sale is about to go through - doesn't sound like you're anywhere near that situation yet.

I'd try not to stress too much and focus on trying to find a new place.

TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl · 29/01/2023 15:45

Tamarindtree · 29/01/2023 15:44

Won’t you need a good reference from your landlord?

You shouldn’t wait to be evicted, you need to go when the correct time is up.

Which is when exactly? Seeing as she hasn’t been served notice.

What do people think a reference is gonna say
“I didn’t serve notice but OP didn’t move out anyway” 🤪

smokeandfire · 29/01/2023 15:46

RunningFromInsanity · 29/01/2023 12:16

I think it’s a dick thing to do.
As long as you have been given the contracted amount of notice, why do you think you have the right to stay in someone else’s property?

I hate it when MN recommends staying until Sec 21, eviction etc.

As opposed to going homeless so a property company with multiple companies can improve cash flow? 😂

YetMoreNewBeginnings · 29/01/2023 15:47

Flowersandbutterflies · 29/01/2023 15:45

Sorry, not read the whole thread, but you got some really bad advice from landlords on here!

They don't seem to understand that making yourself and your family homeless isn't an option - of course you should stay put if you can't find another rental. Landlords must realise how hard it is to find new places to rent atm.

Yes, trying to rent without a reference from your current landlord is harder but not impossible - we've rented in the past without one where our landlady was mad - estate agents are used to crazy landlords. :)

In reality, your landlord is going to find it hard to sell at the moment given the falls in the market, and it's not in their interest to have you move out and the property empty in the meantime, so it makes sense for them to keep you in there as long as possible, until the sale is about to go through - doesn't sound like you're anywhere near that situation yet.

I'd try not to stress too much and focus on trying to find a new place.

Actually quite a few of the people telling her to stay are LLs

YetMoreNewBeginnings · 29/01/2023 15:47

Tamarindtree · 29/01/2023 15:44

Won’t you need a good reference from your landlord?

You shouldn’t wait to be evicted, you need to go when the correct time is up.

The correct time is when the tenancy is ended. No notice has been given at the moment…

TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl · 29/01/2023 15:48

How is OP making herself homeless?
She hasn’t been asked to leave.

Patineur · 29/01/2023 15:48

Autumntimeagain · 29/01/2023 14:48

Also, why is everyone assuming the OP is living in England ?

The law is different, depending on where you live, yet there have been literally dozens of posters who are declaring other posters as wrong/deluded/liars for stating 'facts' about the law and 'rights', without a clue as to which laws/rights are actually applicable to the OP ?

The fact that she refers to a s21 notice is a bit of a clue.

Flowersandbutterflies · 29/01/2023 15:49

Ah ok, just saw the first and last pages, with rabid landlords telling her the sky would fall in if she didn't move out instantly. Glad there were some sane ones elsewhere in the thread!

TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl · 29/01/2023 15:49

Is ANYONE gonna answer the question I’ve asked loads of ‘How has the OP been given notice’

TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl · 29/01/2023 15:49

Flowersandbutterflies · 29/01/2023 15:49

Ah ok, just saw the first and last pages, with rabid landlords telling her the sky would fall in if she didn't move out instantly. Glad there were some sane ones elsewhere in the thread!

I really don’t think it’s LLS saying that. Myself and others who are LLs have told her to stay out and not even enquire.

Mynewhome · 29/01/2023 15:51

If your in the position to leave and rent a new home then it would seem the right thing to do would be to move.

But if you have no where to go then you need to go eviction route if you (need) to do that then be honest with him.

But I would also understand if you don't have a section 21 he may have changed his mind