Evicted for the 2nd time in less than a year!

[EvictedAgain]

AIBU to think this is just untenable?

Lsst landlord wanted to sell but did it really sneakily insisting we allowed viewings 4 months into a one year contract. We didn’t of course so were served with a Section 21 after 6 months.

We had to take current property last August (£500 month more than last place as nowhere else available). Now been served another Section 21 as landlord is not happy that we refused to pay for a professional gardener (his mate) which wasn’t in contract, or allow him to take the toilet seat that’s been in the property. This is revenge because he was unhappy about having to fix the shower and faulty dishwasher!

We are a large family and have loads of stuff. I can’t believe we’re having to pack up and move again!

AIBU to think that LL’s shouldn’t have the power to kick people out of their homes at whim and notice should be 6 months not two months?

If I was your landlord and you argued with me over something so petty as a toilet set, I would want you out to.

Re the garden, even in what you've said, your partner didn't do a great job.

Most people would have said, it's not the lease, can we do 50/50 each.

Your attitude is causing you problems. I suspect you could have longer tenancies if you approached issue with a more solution focused, collaborative attitude. But hey do what you want but ot doesn't appear to be working for you.

Just read your other threads.
You were only intending to stay for a year anyway, so presumably you already had other plans in place.

Did the plumber have a replacement toilet seat to put on or was he proposing to leave you without a toilet seat?

The hedge thing - yeah I wouldn’t be paying for that if it wasn’t in the contract. The LL should be paying for that if he wants specific tools used etc.

How long have you got op? How many in the household?

What have you got lined up?

What? Who would evict a tenant that kept the house immaculate and paid rent on time for not handing over a toilet seat? It is a non issue.

He apparently can’t afford repairs but will now have the costs of evicting us and a void period!

This is a “play stupid games, win stupid prizes” situation for me.

I rented for years and put up with some fairly irritating requests from landlords (including doing a large number of viewings because landlord wanted to sell). It was expensive to move and I didn’t want to be evicted. In most cases I had to move anyway due to constant rent increases but I was never forced out.

So I don’t have warm fuzzy feelings about landlords.

All that being said - I did everything I could to avoid having to move, because it’s a pain in the neck and expensive. I don’t know why you’d risk it over a toilet seat. I genuinely don’t.

Hopefully your next rental is better but probably advisable to avoid getting into petty tat for tat scenarios with a person who rightly or wrongly wields so much power over you.

Of course you don't have to roll over but homelessness isn't fun

The silver lining is that you'll go to the top of the council housing list if you're homeless.

Into a b and b more like...

Free tips

We have in the AST contract that T's have to maintain front and rear gardens and return them in the state we gave it to them
Re hedges and trees, in contract nnot to allow over growing and deedweed drives = we are flexible but twice we had to remind them via LA - on the whole they are good and keep the property in good condition they have been there 5 years and this year they have the property fro at least 250 below market value if not 300 - we rented at a discount and did not raise the rent for three years even though the LAS was puching us

What happened to the shower and dishwasher? For you to think he wanted "revenge" makes me wonder how both of those situations were dealt with? Usually, people don't evict someone when all is going well and everyone is getting along, so just curios.

Re the hedge, if it's £400 a year for his mate to do it, I would have asked if he objected to you getting other professional quotes. Those type of hedges do need cutting back properly otherwise they do look a mess if not done correctly.

As for the toilet seat, if I was renting I would buy a new one anyway as soon as I moved in, but I'm fussy on things like that.

Nope . Depending on the area and Size of home needed. Can be 10+ years in temporary accommodation.

It takes months, even years, to evict someone. Tenants can say they’re leaving and then just change their minds and the landlord has to meet the considerable costs of eviction. The s21 is simply the landlord asking you to leave. I’ve been trying to regain possession of my family home from some utterly immoral tenants for nearly 3 years.

The system isn’t working for anyone.

Could this be a problem with you/ your family? It seems unlikely that you would have been served eviction notices two times in short succession.

Oh wow. Such a charitable landlord you must be not charging over inflated rent. Give yourself a big clap on the back.

Can’t think of any other industry where if a business undercuts its rivals to keep customers loyalty, it looks upon itself as providing charity.

Why did you have to remind your tenants twice to do the gardening during the tenancy if your contract stipulates garden has to be returned in the state you gave it to them? It wasn’t being returned at those points? Why not leave leave your tenants alone to have quiet enjoyment of the property during their tenancy as they are legally entitled to?

Because gardens need maintenance to protect the plants in them.... you know, so they don't fit?

So weeds don't seed over the entire neighbourhood maybe??

Garden has a 10ft high leylandi fence surrounding it. We had trimmed it in the autumn (we have a hedge trimmer) but landlord was sent pictures from his mate across the road who then said we had to get a professional (his mate) to do it and NOT do it ourselves.
leylandi die really easily and are absolutely gorgeous trees. I know that doesn’t help but it’s just that I get why ll wanted you to get a professional. But horrendous. (My eldest has moved 9 times in his lifetime (he’s 16)). Renting sucks. ( we’re lucky enough to have bought in the last few years)

@EvictedAgain are you going through the actual eviction route or finding another rental ? Have you looked into revenge eviction?

lol - "undercut"?? so you want us to increase the rent to our T's by 300 a month?

Have it writtne in the contract as we do and if they fail to do, if its in the contract they could charge you for it by sending out someone - always check the contract carfully before signing it as contracts vary

There's a middle ground between rolling over like a serf and fighting these battles like a revolutionary taking on the bourgeoisie. With a big family to house, I'd rather have kept the landlord sweet till you're settled than set out your stall as a potential pain in the arse. You can be as idealistic as you like but being righteous won't make much of a roof over your head. He'd fixed the other things you'd flagged and wanted to avoid future issues with the fancy loo seat. You pushed back instead of having a bog standard loo seat and now you'll have no loo seat. Was it really worth it?

To me it sounds like the landlord was taking the mick a bit. The loo seat thing just sounds odd. He should have removed before the tenancy started if he was that bothered. But as long as I had it in writing so I wasn't going to be hit on the deposit it's not a hill I'd die on.

Equally if he is going to rent out a property with hedges that need professional maintenance the responsibility and cost of the work should have been agreed beforehand - but ideally the cost built into the monthly rent and the landlord get it done how he likes so he knows it's properly kept on top of.

But none of that helps you. Is the section 21 valid? That's the only thing stopping it if it is, albeit temporarily.

In France if you rent an unfurnished house you can keep it 3 years and this will roll over again unless the landlord can prove they want to sell or live in it themselves ( or a close relative ) . They can only serve you notice 6 months before your 3 years is up and if they don't you automatically get another 3 years. The tenant can give 6 months notice at any time.

Let them evict you - it’s crazy having to move again so soon. Stay as long as you can!
You had a right to maintain the garden yourself. The toilet seat is weird - was it an excuse to have a look around?