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.

She will likely have to be in shared accommodation at some point given that she's under 25 - or she'll need to move back home

I know, as I said I was a homeless officer for 25 years. I managed social housing before that. The best properties sold very quickly and are now owned by private landlords who rent the properties for twice the amount of the same social housing properties. It's just a mess totally created by a certain person.

It's obvious you love your niece very much and have her best interests at heart.
It's your property and you could have chosen to sell etc at any time and while it is unfortunate for the family, that's one of the drawbacks of renting.
All the insults etc aimed at OP are completely unnecessary. You can disagree with the actions but there are better ways to say this...

I'm genuinely starting to wonder how much of a favour this is to the niece anyway. A family home is way too big for a teen/young adult to first start living independently in imo. Find something more suitable for her. Better for everyone.

The point I was trying to make is that as I'm sure you know it could take a lot longer than September for the family who are being evicted to get an offer of housing

I would have done the same especially if money isn’t an issue for you. I thought k a lot of these replies are dramatic, no one is being made homeless. It just depends on how long it takes for them to rehouse. You may have to evict to get them out quicker, but again, the council will rehome them.

I know a lot of people will not like to hear this but the way private rentals work, the tenants are not your problem. You don’t owe them anything. You’re ending a contract legally.

I am also ND and found the experience of living in student halls and then shared housing with other students really stressful for many reasons. It definitely had a big impact on my mental health at the time. I now function very effectively in a professional job with a high level of responsibility and have a happy and stable family life, so I think it's fair to say I "cope with life in general", despite not having coped well at all with living in shared student accommodation.
It's pretty narrow minded to suggest that if in an Autistic person struggles in shared housing as a student then there's 'no point' in them doing a degree as they are obviously destined to be unemployable! Higher Education and routes into employment don't have to be one size fits all, and living in student housing isn't some sort of life-defining assessment that everyone needs to pass to have a successful life.

There's the safety issue as well. Even if it's in a very decent neighbourhood I'm not sure that at 19 I would have wanted to live on my own in a family home.

I can understand you wanting to put family first - after all, that is what most people would do.

However, I would not have given such long standing, good tenants a S21.

Would it have been an option for your niece to stay with you whilst she is at uni? That way, she won't be going back to an empty house, you can look out for her, and your tenants get to stay in their home.

If you are looking to sell after your niece has finished university, it might be worth mentioning this to your tenants, as they may well be looking to buy in a couple of years. If they are not interested, no harm done, but at least you asked them.

It's your property, your house, you don't owe anybody anything, blah blah blah. The absolute heart of why private landlords are a net negative.

Oh, I know that! Believe me, I've had to tell so many landlords that they need to get a possession order, and the tenant won't be moving without one being issued. Usually I would then get verbal abuse. Many landlords are not professionals. They have no idea of their obligations.

Of course they are being made homeless. They are being evicted from their home by a landlord. The council wouldn't be obligated to help them if they weren't

The council would be obligated to help them precisely because they are being made homeless.

That is your interpretation. Why on earth would I evict a family with young dc for my own dc, when there were other options on the table?

But we didn't face the same dilemma because my dd is a good natured soul and doesn''t believe the world revolves around her. She is in a fab flat share, round the corner from her uni.

I can imagine a situation where I would evict for my dc, but this most certainly wasn't it.

I genuinely don’t understand all the hate on this thread? I’m a tenant and I understand it’s my landlords property and that I might not be able to stay here indefinitely and that it might not be my choice to leave. It’s a business relationship, not one party doing the other a favour.

I had this happen to me when i was renting a flat after uni with a friend.

As much as it was a pain in the arse to have to move, we appreciated that the LL was honest with us that they had a family member moving in for uni, as we found this understandable.

I think lots of people would prioritise family in this way.

The strong feelings from one of your brothers, and people here, stems from people's frustrations at having to rent themselves AND at the sheer amount of arsehole LL's there are out there.

At the end of the day, you are entitled to do what you want to with your own property. That might not seem fair BUT it's how it is.

I really do understand your tenant being pissed off though. Moving could mean having to change schools etc.

Yeah this. If you have perfect tenants you don’t let them go, ever!

your niece will no doubt be there’s couple of years and then move out and then you have all the extra costs of reletting it with all the risks of bad tenants. Completely bonkers decision if I’m honest.

Also keep an eye for is it cuckooing?

Criminals finding a vulnerable adults to end up moving in with and taking over their property for their illegal activities, all under the original thing of being a friend.

Had quite a few shut down again locally.

This!!!

buying is the only way to feel 'safe' and settled to raise a family. And so the house prices rise...

But equally...who'd be a landlord?! Especially as they are deemed to be pariahs....And so the rental properties decrease....

Big Corp won"t be buying up all the BTL that people took mortgages on, that is fantasy, the writing is on the wall for mass immigration, investing in rental units is a mugs game now.

https://mortgagesoup.co.uk/rental-supply-rises-year-on-year-despite-tax-and-regulatory-pressures/

People on here are nuts about landlords. Anyone renting has to accept that they may not be able to stay where they are for as long as they'd like. It's one of the downsides of renting, unfortunately. As long as you're following the laws and giving them sufficient notice, they have no legitimate call to complain, however annoyed they may be. If you were planning to sell the house in the next few years, it was bound to inconvenience them at that point, unless they were in a position to buy from you. This has just brought it all about a bit sooner.

If you weren't planning to sell, I'd say it was a risky move, but as it is, I can see why you've made this call. As for your family, I'd be hurt that they have reacted so viciously to something that doesn't affect them one way or the other. It would forever change the way I'd view them. They don't have to agree, but it's not like you're cackling gleefully while shoving the kids onto the street in a cold pouring rain. Rental arrangements end all the time for all sorts of reasons. This family will have to find somewhere else to live, as they would if you'd decided to sell up this year. It's inconvenient, but life will go on.

That's even worse. She casually asked her aunt to evict people without even bothering to find out who lives there?

Crikey, as well as being quite a morally awful thing to do it seems commercially idiotic. You had good tenants paying their rent year after year for one year of a university student.
That poor family chucked out for no good reason. Awful

Who will pay the rent , will you kick her out when rent isnt paid, will you charge the other students who move in, yes of course they will move in and stay, your carpets if you have them will be covered in.vomit fags burns, the furniture will stink of weed, the neighbours wont be happy, male students urinate on.carpets coz theyre drunk, very very very stupid move but if you do do it i would get £2000 deposit and have it written up legaly that damage new carpets new furniture the cost of a full house clean( few hundred quid) comes out of deposit...let alone anything else like drug dealing and sexual assault happening under that address...a huge house will be party town every night and students have no money and dont clean, will you pay for a cleaner , the garden will go to pot, the list goes on and on, you could even get people squating.and you cant get rid of those, your insurance and bills would be huge!! Heating left on 24/7