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?

A s.21 notice is not a notice to quit, does not end the tenancy at notice expiry, and does not oblige you to vacate the rental property. Even if the s.21 notice is valid, and it sounds like it's not.

In order to evict you, the landlord must issue a valid notice, then apply to the court for a possession order after the notice expires. This can take months.

Regardless of not having signed a tenancy contract, you have an assured shorthold tenancy under Housing Act 1988, - that is, if you have exclusive possession (i.e. you don't live in the landlord's home) and it's your primary residence.

Unwritten contracts are just as valid as written ones.

Bollocks.

Your Landlord is breaking the Law. Report him to the Council, document everything. He has not served you a proper notice, failed to do Statutory checks. I hope the Council sort him out.

how so?

you show me how (for example) a breach of contract re: locks being changed could be upheld in this case?

You claimed @CouldIBeHomeless doesn't have a tenancy agreement. She very much does, if she pays rent, has exclusive possession of the rental property (not a live-in landlord) and it's her "only or principal home". See Housing Act 1988.

An oral contract (a.k.a. verbal agreement) is just as valid as a written one, and if the above conditions are satisfied, OP has an assured shorthold tenancy under Housing Act 1988.

So she does not, as you claimed, have "tacit permission to do whatever you like, frankly".

None of this is to say that OP can't or shouldn't get a lock fitted on her front door. That is really the landlord's responsibility but he/she can't complain if their tenant has a lock fitted.

I'm not sure why you are commenting when you obviously have no understanding of landlord and tenant law.

@RogueFemale that's not correct. There are certain things a landlord has to do by law to legally let a property. Getting a gas safety certificate, electrical inspection, securing deposit and having a tenancy agreement are all part of that.
If any of it is wrong or missing then the landlord is seriously up shit creek and will have a hard time evicting the OP.
Unfortunately though landlords that are prepared to illegally let properties like this are also probably liable to making life difficult for their tenants

Yes, the landlord has many legal obligations.

But regardless of the landlord's failure to comply with their various legal obligations, such as gas safety, OP has a tenancy under Housing Act 1988 and can, ultimately, be evicted under s.21, as and when the landlord corrects their mistakes and follows the legal procedure.

Don't move out! You need to contact shelter and your local authority. See here https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/repairs-and-housing/repairs-and-housing-conditions/getting-help-from-the-local-authority/local-authority-help-with-repairs-housing-health-and-safety-rating-system/

They can force your landlord to make certain repairs and if he doesn't then you could be entitled to 12 months worth of rent back.

He sounds completely dodgy so I would keep any official documents and valuables at a family or friends place whilst you are going through this. I would also start getting all previous correspondence together and bank statements showing you have paid rent.

I'm not am expert, shelter will be able to help you and possibly citizens advice. But you are in a good position because your landlord has acted illegally. Use the situation to your advantage as your local authority may be obligated to help you move.

@RogueFemale the landlord would have to prove the tenancy agreement. Which without a signed document he would really struggle to do so. The draft won't be considered sufficient proof. Especially with all the rest missing.

Yes the landlord could get all sorted but to do that he would have to set up a tenancy with a current start date and for a minimum of six months. He won't be kicking OP legally any time soon

The landlord doesn't have to prove the tenancy. It's automatically a given under Housing Act 1988, if OP pays rent, has moved in, has exclusive possession and it's her only/principal home.

Oral contracts are just as valid as written ones.

I have extensive knowledge of landlord and tenant law. It's obvious to me that you don't.

OP whatever you do don't leave in 8 weeks. In fact if he does serve you a proper s21 notice you mustn't leave at the end of it if you want to be helped by the council. Have a look on shelter website for help with the law. But do not leave voluntarily unless you have a place lined up to move to.

Contact Shelter. They are just the people for this

I definitely wouldn't be telling him that the s21 notice isn't legal-let him find this out himself as it will buy you more time.
If he hasn't ever had the gas checks done, he won't be able to issue you a s21 at all. Make sure you pay the rent and don't accrue arrears.

Keep paying your rent.
Ignore the landlord otherwise (read any communications, but don't respond to him unless absolutely vital).
Fit a lock, take it with you when you leave - your landlord cannot stop you fitting your own lock, as long as you return the door to the state it was in when you moved in, which in your case is lockless and broken.

You have tons of time to find somewhere else to live as it doesn't sound like he has correctly served a s.21 notice, so only a bailiff, sent by the courts, can hoof you out and the courts won't send the bailiffs if the notice wasn't properly sent. It sounds like he CAN'T issue a proper s.21 at all... so he is basically screwed.

This may well mean he is going to try to threaten and bully you out so DO go and get proper advice, report him to the council for whatever failings he has as a landlord (condition of property) whilst you're at it... and do NOT give in to his bullying.

The downside is that you're unlikely to get a reference unless you can get one from a lettings agency, but I assume you deal with and pay directly to the landlord so there isn't one?

I will tell you something for nothing. If you want the council to help you. You stay in that place until he literally eviction. And it will be longer than 8 weeks. Because he will have to go to court to get you out. But this is what is called a no fault. Eviction, no I find right. Labour are trying to stop this. I don't think this is anything to do with your broadBand apparently a lot of landlords are trying to do this because new regulations are coming in.
Have you done the obvious thing and actually emailed back and said? Is this a section 21 and why? What is your reason why
Because I would be explaining everything you Ve said about the door and everything and have it in writing. And then you can stay at that property. Do not go anywhere. They cannot just come and get you out. Anyway, they have to go to court and in the meantime, go and speak to shelter or citizens advice bureau

I wouldn’t be telling him about s21. I would contact shelter and find out what your rights are. I would continue to pay rent and I’d fix the door. He might calm down and it’ll blow over, it may be that the neighbour has complained and he knows he hasn’t complied with his landlord responsibilities and panicked. Honestly it takes ages to evict people nowadays and before he does he’d need to become compliant with regulations. It could easily be more than a year especially if he doesn’t get legal advice and it doesn’t seem he likes paying for things.

On Monday contact Private Sector Housing at your local authority. Tell them exactly what you have said here, they will have a specialist officer who can deal with disrepair, advise your landlord about his responsibilities and give you support.
A tenancy exists if the tenant is given exclusive use of a property and rent is requested. That is all that is required.
The landlord has to serve a correct notice in writing and in a particular format. For example it tells you that you don't have to leave at the end of the period. If he has given you 8 weeks that isn't the correct period. And it won't be in the correct format if it's not a physical notice, not email or text.
He hasn't given you the appropriate certificates so he could be in trouble for that.
Please contact your l/ a on Monday.

He sounds awful. I’d look for somewhere else but in the meantime I’d reply noting the lack of gas certificate with reference to the law that states it must be provided and then something like “you are no doubt aware that you are not permitted to forcibly remove me from the flat and must go through the legal eviction route to do so. The time estimate for this until eviction is around 12 months and I will be raising the lack of gas safety in court. I am prepared to draw a line under it and remain as a tenant if you withdraw the notice”. If he has any sense he will know what a dick he’s being and want to keep you. But if you do find something better then take that and give him notice.

If you're going to stay and fight the eviction, for God's sake fit a lock on the door!

My thoughts exactly! The guy obviously doesn't give 2 hoots about doing things legally so he would probably have no issue with dumping all OPs stuff out the house.
I really hope you find a new home OP.

Your LL has bigger problems than a small hole in the wall. If he cannot be bothered with safety checks, repairs, tenancy agreements etc then sure as eggs are eggs, he's not been mentioning the income he's getting from the flat to the tax office. They will really go to work on him.

But that's a whole other box of popcorn for another day. Get on to Shelter and your local Council as pps have suggested. They will give you chapter and verse on your situation.

I'm a landlord & an electrician.

On the first point, the wiring, Openreach follow the proud tradition of BT and the GPO before them of doing messy wiring - keep giving them a poke to come back and sort it out, they will rectify it, I've dealt with them for years, just keep raising the issue, daily is best!

On the eviction, he hasn't performed his landlords duties correctly and hasn't it would seem issued a s21 - so he can't force you out in 8 weeks. but ultimately he will be able to get you out if he wants to. So the best course of action is speak to your LA, speak to Shelter and actively look for something better.

He can't serve a s21 as he's not given you the correct documents before the tenancy started. Has a gas safety check ever been done? If not I would contact the Council. He can only serve a section 8 notice if the grounds under Schedule II Housing Act 1988 apply which it doesn't sound like they do. Even if they do apply and he serves notice, he would need to issue a claim. If you defend then given the delays at Court you're looking at 12-18 months minimum before he gets a court order then further months before the bailiffs attend. Keep paying your rent.

That means he can't legally evict you. Keep paying your rent on time and don't worry too much. Only a court order can evict you and he won't be granted a court order because he hasn't acted legally. If he attempts to evict you illegally call the police as that will be an active crime taking place.

If you can find a nicer place to move to (with a non-criminal landlord) then of course move to it. Unfortunately the council won't rehouse you until the aforementioned Court Order is in place so you'd need to stick to private rentals, but don't get stressed if you can't find anything because you are 100% within your rights to stay put.

The lack of a tenancy agreement is in your favour. In the absence of an agreement document setting out different terms, the standard terms of an Assured Shorthold Tenancy are deemed to apply, so you have all of the same rights as if you did have a Tenancy Agreement. Any document would only vary things in the landlord's favour by trying to introduct additional clauses that make things worse for you, you don't need it.

You are all wonderful, thank you!! I will sort the lock today and call Shelter. Thank you all so, so much xx