Can I take this NIGHTMARE landlord to court?

[DisgracefulBehaviour]

We sold our house last year to release funds as we inherited a house in a different area that we wanted to live in ourselves due to position, large plot etc, as our forever home but the house itself needed fully gutting and we also wanted to add on a self contained annex for our disabled adult son which we needed planning permission for. Our youngest son was also due to start GCSEs so we decided to rent while we completed work on inherited house and he finished school when we will then move up there.

We found a rented property literally a few streets from our old house and stressed that we needed to rent for two years, landlord wanted long term renters so no problem.

Within a short time after moving in it became apparent there was a major issue in the house, house was tenanted previously but letting agents apparently were not aware. After months of toing and froing, landlord had to get builders in and complete costly work which took 8 weeks. We’d been in the property 3 months.

Landlord not happy as said he could not afford to do the work.

We’d requested compensation for the inconvenience as having builders in was a major disruption and we had issues with them leaving mess in the house. I was very upset that we had to leave people we did not know in the property while we were all out.

Landlord said compensation was not justified! Decided not to pursue it as we didn’t want to antagonise the landlord and get kicked out.

A month ago, I contacted environmental health due to a further issue the landlord has refused to deal with. The officer also noticed a major issue that needed immediate rectification so landlord had to do more work.

We have now been served with a Section 21 - no reason given - after 6 months.

I am absolutely furious I have to say. Rent paid on time, house immaculate etc.

We put up with all the work being done as we expected when it was done, we’d be left to it and obviously didn’t want to move again in such a short time considering our timescale. We’d never taken the property if we had known this would happen. It’s a high rent for our area too!

We also never had a copy of the EICR, a serious safety hazard pertaining to that was what was picked up by environmental health, so we are assuming a report was never done.

I have an online court claim prepared to sue the landlord for all 6 months rent in compensation, for stress and breach of quiet enjoyment. I think I have a chance of success.

AIBU?

@DisgracefulBehaviour “Claiming for emotional distress and stress as well.”

How’s that going to work?

I mean the landlord sounds awful no doubt

but I do think you are going to get a sharp shock when you realise how little the legal system cares about your emotional distress

you are in fact lucky to have no idea of the sub standard housing conditions millions of poorly off people in the uk (and indeed the world) live in - this isn’t close to some I’ve seen.

i think going on a crusade is only going to cause yourself a lot of stress and take a lot of time and will have much less impact on the landlord than you

Life is not fair - you’ve had an insight into that which in the relative scheme of things is not that bad.

What a ridiculous thing to say.

So because other people have it worse than me, it’s OK for me and my family to be treated like shit and a legal contract to be breached?

Yes, this has caused massive stress and anxiety over the last 6 months. We have a very valid claim for emotional distress and landlords should not have a free pass to get away with this

Proving that will be costly. That’s the issue

Landlord can just get valid certificates. You say you want to move put, so apart from the hassle of finding somewhere else, I’m not sure why you are posting? I’m pretty sure Shelter only deal with social housing. Isn’t any kind of infestation the problem of the tenant?

But surely all he would have to do is get those and reissue the section 21?

How much do you think this is going to cost you to take to court for all of this? Ball park figure?

If you’re so confident you have a valid claim, just file it and see how you get on. Why are you asking here?
I’m assuming you’ve already followed the relevant pre-action protocols if you’re preparing to file?

Hi @DisgracefulBehaviour . I can see you’re very upset and not going to comment beyond saying there are extremely limited grounds in English law to claim for “anxiety and stress”, generally breach of contract is about compensation for financial loss and there is extensive law about how that is calculated so don’t wind yourself up and waste your time going on about aspects for which you don’t have a case. Focus on evidencing and quantifying the actual financial loss incurred as a result for the breach of contract and then you have a chance.

It's not ridiculous, it's realistic.

You're really, really overstating your legal position. If you attempt this through small claims (as in money claim online), you won't get ANY legal costs back even if you win (people generally pay their own costs with MCL). So all legal advice (which you will need) even if you don't have a solicitor in court with you, come out of your pocket.

If you go the Part 7 route, you'll still pay roughly 40% of your own legal bill - and that's IF you win. Or all your legal costs AND approx 60% of the landlord's cost (possibly more!) if you lose.

Because he was a bit unfair and caused you upheaval and inconvenience? Welcome to renting.

Fwiw my LL cheerfully told me to move out for two weeks so the (perfectly functional, just a bit tired) kitchen could be refurbished. I wrote back and asked how it worked with not paying rent for the two weeks - did I just pay half for that month or what? No answer, then an eviction notice. For having the audacity to suggest not paying a full month's rent when I was only allowed to live there for half the month. He fully expected me to pay him full rent and allow him to add value to his asset in the form of a new kitchen, and have to find somewhere else to stay at my cost for two weeks (probably longer). I love a good fight but I am telling you you are on a hiding to nothing with this one.

Having renting for over ten years until we managed to leave the rent trap id put your energy into finding another place asap. We had water running down the wall of our lounge and having sent photos and phoned agent daily...it was caused by the gutters. The poor agent couldn't get the landlord to sort it. Anyway we gave notice and left. If the ll doesn't want to do anything they dont

You are likely to be able to claim compensation for the 2 months rent during which the building work was done. You are extremely unlikely to receive anything but a very small token for stress if anything.

In additional it is likely to cost you upwards of 10k in legal fees, which you will not be awarded as a small claim.

This is going to cost you more than you’ll receive. What you think you should be entitled to does is not what you will be awarded in reality.

As long as he has access to a time machine. A gas safety certificate that was valid on the day she moved in needs to exist. If it doesn't exist, he cannot ever serve a valid section 21.

Your landlord sounds an absolute nightmare. I haven’t read the full thread but in your case I would be putting pressure on your letting agent. They have not be doing their job if you have not been immediately issued with gas certificates etc.
We have rented several properties in the past and think that we have really been fortunate that we have never had landlord problems. IMHO I would take your LL to court.

So if there wasn’t a gas certificate on the day she moved in he can never ever issue a section 21 ever???

Correct. It'll be irrelevant soon anyway, no one will be able to serve one.

So the landlord has actually addressed all the issues you raised, quite promptly?
I think you’re on a hiding to nothing expecting your rent returned, tbh.

Welcome to the real world - you’re in for a shock.

No.
My cousin didn’t issue one at the beginning of the tenancy but when she issued a section 21 as she had carried out yearly safety checks and the tenants had been given certs over the course of the tenancy it was fine.

At the same time she also had other tenants that she never issued a gas certificate to.She Issued a s21 and it was thrown out because there was no cert. She got a gas safety check. Issued the tenants with the cert. Then issued them with a new s21. It was accepted in the courts.

The courts will not deny a landlord getting their property back just because all the paperwork isn’t correct but the whole process could take much longer.

Good for you OP, landlords have been taking the piss for too long now. They get away with it because tenants are scared they'll get evicted or "it's not worth the stress".
The worst part is you say your rent was higher than average for your area. It's the greed and thinking they'll get away with it that's most disgusting.

When was this though? Because there was a court decision in 2023 that found you could not serve a section 21 if you didn't have that first one. The judges are following this decision. My team have about 10 possession hearings a week now and the duty solicitors are hot on scrutinising the documents.

https://www.pallantchambers.co.uk/blog_post/august-2023-byrne-v-harwood-delegado-no-gas-safety-certificate-in-place-at-the-start-of-a-tenancy-no-no-fault-eviction-section-21-of-the-housing-act-1988/

So I was right in my first reply which says they have then get a gas certificate to then reapply for the section 21….

Using a time machine? How will they get a gas certificate that was valid on the day the tenant moved in?

Read the current case law, things change. I wouldn't want someone to read the thread and take away the wrong advice. This is my practice area.

From that Pallant Chambers link:
Conclusion
In this author’s opinion, HHJ Bloom’s decision that the failure to have a GSC at the commencement of a tenant’s occupation of the Property is an irredeemable breach of the 1998 Regulations, and thus, of section 21A is both unsurprising and correct. The Learned Judge gave the intended and only logical meaning to section 21 of the 1988 Act and the 2015 and 1998 Regulations. As a result, Landlords are now compelled to comply with these provisions or face the consequences. The decision, while punitive, appears to be the only correct way to interpret the regulations. It is going to be interesting to see if and how HHJ Bloom’s ratio is applied by the courts going forward.

The article also says:
These Landlords can now only evict their tenants using section 8 of the 1988 Act with reliance on at least one of the grounds for possession found in Schedule 2 of the 1988 Act.