Could my landlord kick me out for OpenReach mistake?

[CouldIBeHomeless]

OpenReach forgot to install fibre broadband at the property I am living in. Every other house in the hamlet was hooked up but us. I wfh and 0.5mb broadband was not good enough, so I finally got it installed.

It took 3 years for me to get it installed. I have kept the property well in this time and have always paid my rent on time.

OpenReach finally hooked us up last month. The management company have emailed the landlord about the way OpenReach have routed the wiring. He emailed me and told me to sort it. I emailed Sky and they said they were dealing with it. I then got an email an hour ago giving me notice on the property and saying “I will have to come through and sort the issue myself as the wires on the staircase is unbelievably bad and needs addressing urgently.”. The wire is held on to the outside brick with little clamp things and is not a trip hazard, but I am doing everything I can to get it sorted.

We have 8 weeks to find somewhere that will take a disabled single mum on Universal Credit with a child and a dog, with no
savings for paying 6 months upfront and no guarantor. We are going to end up homeless in temporary accommodation aren’t we?

@CouldIBeHomeless how much notice has your landlord given you?? Has he given you a section 21 notice??

Call Citizens advice about that they are really good, do nothing until that.

He’s just sent an email and a text saying f we have 8 weeks. We have been here since October 2021.

Okay. I'm sorry you are going through this. What does your tenancy agreement say about notice?? Can you contact the citizens advice bureau for help on Monday?? Sending hugs 🫂 💐 🙏 ❤️

I’ve just googled section 21 notice and we have never had a gas safety check, a how to rent guide, an energy performance certificate or even a tenancy agreement (he sent a blank template by email and told me to fill it in). That means that he cannot serve a section 21 notice. Where does that leave us?

The only people who can end a tenancy is you and a judge. Has he issued you with a s21?

Please joint Landlord and tenant advice UK on Facebook. They will guide you through the nitty gritty

We don’t have a valid tenancy agreement as he just sent a blank template across and never signed it. I hate this house anyway, but am really struggling to find somewhere that will rent to us. In a way I keep thinking that at least if he makes us homeless we might get some help from the housing office.

Thank you all so much. I’m in such a panic. Way to ruin the weekend through worry!

Contact your local housing department at the council and get registered if you haven't already. The landlord sounds well dodgy tbh. Please contact your Citizens advice bureau, they are very helpful and have more knowledge. Is your deposit safe??

If he does manage to kick you out, it won’t be in 8 weeks as he’s broken the law in numerous ways. He’ll have to go to court & the judge will not go easy on him for no gas check etc. Ring shelter they’re the experts.

Gas checks should be done on a yearly basis. If he hasn't done the right paperwork you can stall any possible eviction. Good luck 🍀 🤞

I bet he hasn’t protected your deposit either, meaning you can get up to 3x your deposit back…

Did you give him a deposit when you moved in?

It leaves him up shit creek without a paddle.

Dont panic. He cannot evict you. Leave it for the weekend. Hopefully it’s Friday night, he’s a bit pissed, and he’s made a stupid knee jerk decision over something and nothing. Get in touch on Monday and give him chance to withdraw this “notice”. If he doesn’t, then speak to citizens advice and ask them for a template letter you can send him re: the illegality of his actions. Work out what the shortest period of time is in which he can now legally evict you, should he choose to do so, and work to that for finding a new place.

But I would start looking for somewhere else asap. Because he sounds like a twat.

@FloatyBoaty well said 👏👏

You don’t need to have a signed agreement to
have a tenancy - a verbal or email agreement is fine. I suspect that you are covered by the template agreement, unless it’s the wrong type of tenancy (eg a license)

The landlord had screwed up in a number of ways, and I recommend you contact Sheltet.

Sorry if I'm missing something, but what do you mean by:
so I finally got it installed? You paid a company to install fibre broad band because you were the only one on the street that got missed out? If the needed to drill things into walls etc, did you get permission from the LL?
But then you said OpenReach finally hooked us up last month

So which company are you with then?
If the LL has issues with the wiring from openreach, that is their issue to take up with Openreach. If its from a company you contracted yourself without LL's permission, that might be an issue.

Thank you all so much. I can prove that I have always paid the rent (it is due on the 1st of the month and I always pay on the 25th so that it is early).

There was no deposit when I moved in-I offered one and he declined to take it.

We haven’t had a front door that we can lock since we moved in (the previous tenant left the property without giving notice and owing rent, so he had to get a locksmith to break in and then never sorted the lock-there is only one door to the property), so I’ll be glad to have a locking door when we move! I’ve spent three years just praying that no one tries the door when we go out. We don’t have any way of escaping from upstairs in case of a fire either, which scares me too.

I have enquired about 6 properties tonight, so hopefully will have viewings next week. What should I do if they ask for references? I have a good credit rating and can provide bank statements to show that we have always been on time with rent, but can’t provide a guarantor, so I’m scared that will go against us.

You don’t have a locking door?!?! Why didn’t you get that fixed rather than the bloody broadband!!?

@JC03745 before we moved in OpenReach installed fibre in the village. They ran cabling to all the houses, and then drilled into each house to bring it “in” to each property. They accidentally missed this house out.

We are with Sky. Sky kept saying we should have speeds of up to 70mbps, but we were only getting 0.5mbos. They finally sent OpenReach out to check why, and the engineer said the grey box had been installed on the outside wall, but hadn’t been run into the house. He then drilled a hole in the kitchen wall and poked the wire through. In doing so he has run it along the side of a neighbour’s step (but attached it to the brick wall, not the step). OpenReach will not let me take it up with them, I have to go through Sky, which is taking ages.

@FloatyBoaty because the landlord said he was the one that needed to sort it, but never did, despite being prompted many times.

@FloatyBoaty I have copies of the texts asking him to fix it. We aren’t allowed to change the locks without his permission and he never gave us permission to do it.

But surely after the first … 24 hours? Of him not sorting it, you just take matters into your own hands or you threaten to withhold rent??

I mean, I get 100% that sometimes it’s easier to let stuff go- I rent and I’ve got a dripping kitchen tap, a buggered kitchen extractor fan and a patch of persistent damp that all need seeing to, and have for about a year… but not able to secure the property is sort of a “same day” issue, no??

You don’t have a tenancy agreement, so you have tacit permission to do whatever you like, frankly

Don't worry. Landlords have zero rights now. You can stay there for up to 12 months rent free. The landlord will be unable to do anything.