AIBU to end a tenancy so my niece can live there?

[SunnyDaysAndCoolNights]

We have a house that we rent out to a family with 2 children who have been in the house for about 7 years. The house is in the same city that our niece is at university in.

Just after Xmas, my niece asked us if she could live in the house for her second and third year at uni, (possibly longer) as the houses she had looked at weren’t very nice and she can’t stay in halls.

After speaking to my husband, we decided to say yes and we gave our tenants a section 21 notice in February. Our tenants were/are not happy and have been advised to stay in the house by the council. We thought that may happen which is why we served the notice in February despite my niece not needing the house until September. We were also aware of the new rules coming in soon which would make it harder to end a tenancy.

Since finding out that we have ended the tenancy for our current tenants, my brother and his wife (not nieces parents) have told us that we are ‘typical arsehole landlords’ for ‘kicking out a family’. They think our niece, also their niece is selfish for asking, that she could have found somewhere herself and that we should have put our tenants first as they have been our tenants for quite a long time and they have children. My brother and his wife rent with their children, so obviously that may play a part in their feelings on this. I feel upset they would say these things as I think it’s normal to put your own family first. My other brother and his wife who are parents of my niece are very annoyed at our other brother and his wife.

Would you have done the same as we have or would you have put the tenants first and said no to your niece? I do have sympathy for my tenants, they’re a nice family and have been good tenants, but obviously we love our niece and to us, she comes first.

Another landlord here and I totally agree it's a complete dick move.

You'll be lucky to get them out by September and that will be karma.

Tw@ts like you are why people abuse landlords and say it's typical landlord behaviour. I became a landlord because of the tw@t landlords I had as a student. But I'm selling up now because it's so toxic and I'm fed up of being lumped in with assholes.

You do know the regulations are changing and if you've had a good family in, it was best to keep them?

At her age, she is much better off sharing too.

Your insane. Neice could have easily found a one bed flat or something and helped her financially

I agree with this. I don’t think I could sleep at night knowing I’d made a family with children homeless. You could have helped your niece find somewhere else to rent rather than do something so extreme.

She may actually be eligible for 2nd year accommodation through the University, as one of the special exemptions. I wonder whether she asked Accommodation about her options.

That would be better for her in the long run.

It sounds as though evenings and weekends spent alone in an empty house won't stand her in good stead as far as navigating the world outside the University is concerned.

There is a possibility that she will become more isolated and find it difficult to find a job after University.

So what? The house won't be looked after in the same way.

Hear hear. Again, as a landlord

So what is the plan op, are you going to house your niece until she can afford to live somewhere else without sharing??

It's awful. People don't seem to understand the difference between moving because you choose to and moving because you're forced into it. It's destabilising at best.

If the family decided to stay, even under the old rules, how long would a court take to evict them with young children?

Why did you bother to ask since all you are looking for is justification for your vile behaviour?

Does your niece plan to live there alone or have flatmates? If alone, she surely wont be able to afford the going rate for the house and bills by herself so you’ll be out of pocket. She’ll only need the house for a year or 2 then you’ll need a new reliable tenant…
Student accommodation isn’t always brilliant, that’s life and part of the experience in my book. Meeting and living with a great set of friends is more important that the quality of the accommodation at that stage in your life.

The small landlords are giving up, understandably - that means big corporate often foreign owned businesses moving in - wanting a fair income for their shareholders - no negotiating or exceptions made there

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MNHQ

I just said that in relation to my niece. You don't know her. She's young, and going through her hippie commie stage, bless her.

She's totally die of the shame!

That poor family.

What is the current set up in her halls? Does she have her own room and then share a kitchen etc?

No, because from the start I have said I have sympathy for the tenants but that I will put my niece first. It’s not as if in my first post I said I have found it easy or that it’s a decision I enjoyed making. I already agreed that it’s awful for the tenants but I do still feel that my niece has to come first as she is my family and needs help.

It’ll cause nothing but issues! You have created this though!

I’d ‘say your niece could have found somewhere suited to her needs but her family didn’t want to or couldn’t afford the rent. You could have made up the rent shortfall for somewhere else suitable, given you are happy to rent for a reduced amount.

What you did is shitty, I’m a landlord myself and I wouldn’t have done what you did. Would have been different if the tenants were moving out.

You must know that the family you are evicting will likely as find it hard or impossible to find a new home whereas your niece is much easier to house, in a studio flat if sharing would not work for her . Of course it is wrong to put her first
just because she happens to be related to you.

I think it's really awful that a family of 4 are being evicted from a house with at least 2 bedrooms in preference of 1 person living alone. For a couple of years.

What a waste of a resource.

Honestly OP just step back from the thread - all these pearl clutchers - I’m sure they all work with the homeless in their spare time🙄

This is awful. I'm a landlord too and in no way is this reasonable. There must be other options for your niece, especially if money is available to increase her choices.

Why not help another way that doesn't involve evicting a family though?

I was a homeless officer for 25 years.