To think my landlord is a spiteful dickhead

[3kiddosandme]

At this point im thinking my landlord is just a spiteful dickhead, I'll go into as much detail as possible here.
Earlier this year I was sent a section 21 notice out of nowhere, I questioned this and the landlord said because of significant damages to the property I have to leave. Now I have evidence that these significant damages are not my fault, I had the environmental health in because I was fed up of living in a shit hole basically, the whole house needs ripping out and fixing including floorboards and external doors according to the local council who did the inspection, the landlord also has to take up an asbestos survey due to damaged ceiling in the hallway.
I have 3 kids I the house, one is additional needs. I was offered a house by a housing association and I accepted, im yet to get the keys but the house was on major repair, I said this to the current landlord who said they were happy to let me wait it out, no repairs have done either by the current landlord as per the council report. They took me to court to evict me even though theyd said I could stay until my house was ready, ive never been behind on rent always paid in full and on time, a week ago the landlord turned up completely unannounced banging on the door I opened the door and I was told I should've moved out by now as the court stated the 25th july, I told them to get a warrant for eviction and come back with bailiffs, as of yet I haven't heard anything from the bailiffs. I emailed expressing that they didnt give any notice and they turned up with keys to let themselves in and since I haven't returned keys or made them aware that ive moved it was completely unacceptable. They stated that they sent a letter, they never did as ive still not recieved this magic letter they apparently sent. Anyway every single day they are emailing me asking for keys to be returned and I keep telling them I will return the keys once I have moved. At this point I just think they are being absolute dickheads. I hopefully should get the keys to the new property today.
Wibu to move and then throw they keys into their office in an envelope and leave without saying a word.

Expecting a LL to follow correct process isn't entitlement. The landlord expecting a tenant to leave without following correct process, is.

The court will have taken housing availability into account when setting the date.
She’s made no effort to comply, yet he’s the spiteful dickhead.

The council should to put you in temporary accommodation until the house is ready.

but I imagine they will tell you stay put until evicted via bailiffs so they don’t have to
do anything.

but you staying isn’t reasonable

Gosh how unreasonable of us to expect the government to look after us 🙄

Councils always tell renters to not leave until the date the bailiffs arrive, if they don’t and are in need of social housing then they are considered to have made themselves homeless and councils won’t necessarily help.

Please don’t take the advice offered here when posters are saying that you should leave before that.

Landlords are social parasites. This one sounds like utter scum. Stay until they bring in the bailiffs OP. Make their life as miserable as they've made yours.

When I first moved in here everything was freshly painted,.although a little rough around the edges so to speak so I thought I could decorate and make it nicer, which i spent hundreds on doing, with one child being additional needs and the other 2 being really young (youngest was just 2 weeks old when I moved in here, shes now almost 4) I try and keep on top of touching up paint etc as it is needed every few months or so, I put down new carpets in bedrooms because they were getting worn, I have done everything I possibly can to look after the house, the disrepair issues are not my issue to fix

It's not about making no effort to comply. You can't just magic up somewhere to go. If she needs help from the council, they will not do this until the bailiffs come.

When he said you can stay until your house is ready he probably thought it was going to be a few weeks, not months on end. He is a dick for not maintaining the property properly, but he's right to want you out on the day ordered by the court.

The Housing Officer will have told the Op she had to stay until either she got the keys to her new home or the Bailiffs turned up.

@3kiddosandme Are you due the return of a deposit ?

Congratulations on getting a social housing property, it is taking years in South Devon.

I mean as I said i told them the house was under major repair and the estimated date was the middle of july for completion they said that's fine, they took it to court at the end of june knowing that I couldn't leave ive always told them if there's a issue with the other property being ready, i told them it was delayed and now im being constantly asked on a daily basis for the keys to be returned

In my local Facebook group (not London, but we have a direct train to London which combined with the AONB we’re in makes the town very attractive) there are routinely (at least one a month) posts from people asking for leads on finding somewhere to rent as their LL is selling up. These people start with several months’ notice quite often, and the posts detail the lengths they are going to to try and get a house or a flat- they do everything people suggest!

Subsequently they start appealing for shared rooms, land or a driveway to park a van on. Generally they’re fairly young and couples or families, but I have seen it from single child free people too. They are employed in decent jobs. The homes are just not available, and those that do come on the market are let on the first day at enormous prices (I recently saw £1500 pcm for a 2-bed ex-council house- that sort of deposit used to be the amount you might save towards buying a house, not renting).

Each time these poor people post more desperately there will be someone who works in housing locally, advising them to stay where they are until they are actually evicted. Any steps they take to be responsible or house themselves (eg by moving into a horse-box) go against them in terms of being housed properly and securely. My understanding is that Shelter will also offer this advice.

The situation is appalling, so many people simply have no alternative to go to and no money for hotels or anything.

How is the OP supposed to just move into somewhere else temporarily if she has no money and there’s no other accommodation available? She has 3 kids and is still paying her rent. I feel that those posters just repeating that she’s breaking the law, taking the piss, being unreasonable haven’t been in the recent rental market themselves and have no clue what it’s like out there.

I should be yes but im doubtful that itll be returned

@AlertCat

It truly is a catch 22 situation isn’t it.

In that case the correct procedure is for the landlord to provide alternative accommodation for the tenant while the asbestos is being removed, not to start a revenge eviction and then harass the tenant while she still has a legal right to remain in the property.

Congratulations on your new home @3kiddosandme and I hope you get in there very soon.

Sounds like they are harassing you. You are a parent with 3 children and one of whom has additional needs. Can you let the local non emergency police know you are scared of the 'dickhead' landlord.

The previous post in the quote is one of the reasons why my husband and myself sold off our rental properties.
Nothing else to say.

I don't think you're being unreasonable because you're in an impossible situation, but you might also want to just de escalate the tension and see it from his perspective too. I've been a landlord (moved in with a bf and couldn't sell my home). Even if you've not caused the damage, it's pretty obvious no major repairs can take place with you all there- I'm not sure what you were expecting? For him to treat rising damp and remove asbestos it'll need to be empty (I asked my tenant to move out because I needed to refurb and sell - ultimately it was my house not his, this is his house and he wants to get it back to a fit state, it's impossible to do this with a family in situ). You'd be (I imagine) the first one to complain if your kids were exposed to plaster dust, asbestos, workmen for weeks etc. So as soon as the level of work became apparent I don't think he had an option other than to ask you to leave.
I also think he must be extremely stressed. Landlords are told by the press and by agents repeatedly that tenants can just stay forever and your options are limited. It's a really scary prospect of having a house that needs work, you want to live in or you want to sell and you potentially have people in there for months, not paying rent, whilst you cover all your mortgage costs and pay huge legal fees to get them removed - it scared me to death as I wouldn't have been able to afford it.
I think as soon as he gave the section 21 you should have emailed, explained you were getting a new house from the HA, explained they'd make you stay until eviction, apologised for how awful that must seem and the cost to him (who do you think has to pay for these legal letters and the bailiffs - him). I am not surprised he's being aggressive, it's a horrid situation for you both. I'm not sure called him names will help you out. I appreciate he's being rude but you've asked for the repairs and got EH in, so he's now tenant-less whilst he does repairs, the repairs will cost loads, he's also paying for legal letters and bailiffs because you now won't leave. I understand you can't make yourself homeless too, it's awful, but it's awful for him too, not knowing what's coming next and what the cost will be to get his house back..
Focus on your new home and hopefully it'll be a lovely fresh start and you never have to see him again.

I’m so thankful I don’t have to be in that position.

I agree

YABU.

You're complaining about conditions of the property, while making your exit difficult.

Cognitive dissonance.

It's horrendous, and it doesn't help the OP but this is the government and local councils fault, there should be council homes available. It's not landlords faults, they're not responsible for ensuring there's homes for everyone who wants one. There's this impressions landlords are fat cats rolling in it. I rented out a property because I had to, it wouldn't sell and I moved in with a bf in a new city with a new job. I couldn't pay my mortgage, my tenants stole my identity and took out credit in my name. They wouldn't leave and I couldn't afford the cost of evicting them. The tax on the rent meant the money left after I'd paid that didn't cover the whole mortgage so every month was a loss.
Yes the rental market is shit for tenants like OP. It's also shit for a lot of landlords, hence they sell up, which makes the whole situation worse and they get blamed for that. Both sides are screwed because the government is expecting the private sector to cover their issues regarding affordable homes and they sold the council homes that were once available for people like OP. It's easy to blame landlords for all the housing ills (and there are some bad ones) but they can't solve social housing problems at their own cost.

OP should have looked for a short term let to bridge the gap the between moving out of this property and getting the keys to her new one

That's just what you have to do when timelines shift and you have to move out before your next place is ready.

That's what people end up doing if they haven't found a new rental in time.

People do have to take responsibility for themselves it isn't the council or the landlords responsibility to sort out OP's situation she has to sort it out herself.

Short term lets are available

Yes anyone who is a renter and got on the ‘let’s screw the landlords bandwagon’ really shot themselves in the foot. Not only are you paying loads more rent to cover the tax, additional risk and compliance, but the few remaining landlords are super super cautious who they rent to.

So if he said you could stay why would the court say you have to move out? Did you have it in writing or is it his word against yours?