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.

Possibly have given up her course. When she spoke to me after Xmas, she was very upset after looking at places as they all had damp/mold and were in bad condition or she would have to be in a shared house which she can’t cope with. We went and looked at some places with her and they were bad. She was contemplating giving up and moving back home which I didn’t want as uni has been good for her in a lot of ways.

OP, if you wanted to sell in a couple of years, then this was your opportunity with or without niece. You find it so difficult with 21 notice now, before new rules still, can you imagine how difficult this will be with these tenants then? Will you be forced to keep an asset because you have to house another family?

This post has to be a wind up, surely no one would come on and honestly ask in this set of circumstances aibu. Of course you are being massively unreasonable OP. I hope karma catches up with yourself and your niece.

My parents own a flat that they rent out. When I got a job in my hometown, I rented my own flat from some random landlord. A few years later their tenant left and I moved in. We didn't even discuss me moving in before the flat was naturally available.

I would not have kicked out reliable tenants, but I feel like what you did is quite common.

As a tenant who has had tenancy ended for similar reasons… that is 100% your right. Does it suck to have to uproot your family after 7 years? Absolutely. You were conscientious of that and gave a nice, long notice.
That said, if I were a landlord, I can’t imagine I would put out good tenants for the risk of moving in a family member. Doing business with family gets messy. What happens if the niece isn’t a good tenant? IMO, it was an unwise decision on your part, but not a morally or ethically ‘wrong’ one.

So your niece really needs a whole house to live in does she? Why can’t your sibling and wife/husband (her parents) help her out?

I’m a landlord/lady and would never do this to my tenants in a million years! Unless they breached the terms of their tenancy. They’re worth their weight in gold. Had a friend who had nightmare tenants who were students and it put me off renting to students. Or young people with a guarantor.

I havent read the whole thread, no doubt OP is getting slated

But of course OP is doing what people cry out for on here, supporting family, why arent you there for your family, being the village for her neice.

Nevertheless, Im not sure its a good business decision for you OP and I think the reasoning of 'cant find anywhere nice' isnt really strong enough.

Many universities have accommodation for students who want to live by themselves, many university towns also have private accommodation like this

Why didn't your nieces parents put her first and provide her with a house?

Honestly I wouldn’t have done it.

I wouldn’t kick out an entire family for anyone but my own children / grandchildren.

Though as you expect these tenants won’t be going anywhere till the council house them, so you’ve got to wait till the bailiffs go and change the locks. Then you’ve got to store their items for so long.

Niece could surely have a bedsit, studio or 1 bed apartment.

This is also what’s messing up the housing system people having homes far to big and yes that’s their right if they are paying but let’s not pretend it doesn’t mean families are not more restricted be that with just their children or also supporting other older relatives.

Are you genuinely surprised at the response you've got? Not sure what the point of this post is, everyone is telling you it's a dick move and you're defending it.

Your niece is selfish to ask you, you're shockingly uncaring towards your tenants whose lives you've turned upside down so your niece can have use of a house bigger than she needs for two years. Mind-blowing.

I love my niece and nephew but I would of said no. Shame on you.

Then she could have done that in any case if you are so concerned about family.

What if the children who are being made homeless are also autistic or have ADHD, or both?

Having read all your posts I can sort of see your pov OP. None of my aunts/uncles would’ve done this for me though, and I wouldn’t have expected it. But then I don’t have autism. And was never at uni.

Agree. There are lots of people who are neurodivergent who struggle at uni and plenty of people who struggle who aren't but she's either going to have to live in shared accommodation at some stage or move back home because unless she gets a really good job on graduation she's going to find it hard to get affordable accommodation

Students dont get housing benefit.

I am autistic and even I think op is being unreasonable and cruel! There is just no way there wasn't a single suitable place for princess niece to rent, considering money is no object, and a family simply had to be evicted for her to be comfortable.

I personally couldn't live myself if I asked someone to evict a whole family for my comfort.

Yanbu at all @SunnyDaysAndCoolNights and you do not deserve the vile judgement on this thread. The family who have been good tenants will find another tenancy, they are not being made homeless unless they choose to spend the notice period not bothering to seek a new tenancy. Meanwhile for an autistic family member hou are naking it possible for her to continue her university course. The HMO student houses in cities where the universities are only able to accommodate their 1st years and their 2nd & 3rd years live out in the city, are almost all really awful and likely to drive many neurodiverse youngsters to despair. Making your property available to her at a financial loss to yourself is a really good thing to do and you aren't being a "typical landlord" at all because your decision is not to your own advantage - pp are quite right you will compound your losses when your niece is ready to move on and your next tenants may not be as good as the ones you are losing, but that is part of your kindness to your family member and yes it is ok to put family before unrelated people in your priorities.

So you would have done the same. Who for, is irrelevant, you would have done the same for your children.

Perhaps the tenants have decided that they would like security of tenure for their family. Or having sought advice from the local authority, realise that they don't have to rush things.

Yes, but none of them are good enough for Her Majesty The Niece

They gave a longer notice due to the fact that it's going to be harder to end tenancies from next week

I think it was a really shitty thing for you to do! Your niece should never have asked if she knew you already had tenants. In what world do you think its ok to kick out good long term tenants ( a family no less) to grant your clearly very spoiled nieces wishes?

Who for if very relevant a niece or nephew or even cousins no.

My own children of course because I’d never see my children struggle or suffer when I had opportunity to help.

Its not relevant, because you're criticising the OP for doing it anyway. So you would do it anyway. The outcome is the same.