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.

Really don’t understand why posters are giving you so much stick for having a rental property. This is your property to do as you wish. You do not have to justify giving notice to any tenant. Of course a family member will come first - at the end of the day you own it, pay for maintenance, insurance etc.

My daughter and friends were given notice on their rental just before Xmas.Yes a pain but they know it’s landlords choice, and they simply found a new property from another landlord. She is shortly buying so will have more certainty. But will have the responsibility of mortgage, insurance, maintenance etc that renters do not.

Personally I would ignore the comments and not engage in discussion with family members. It is not your job to house the family currently in there.

Everyone viewing a house to buy or rent already lives somewhere.

Why would the local authority have to find them suitable accommodation? These tenants have been paying rent reliably for 7 years. They're able. They can do that, themselves and without LA involvement, elsewhere. What makes you think they can't?

Well, as you are finding out, your tenants are now putting their family first and waiting it out for the right place or for council assistance. You are in for a fun few months.

Your brother is absolutely right. Your niece has plenty of alternatives, evicting a family in such circumstances is shit behaviour.

They fit the legal definition of being homeless. They are being evicted

Why do you think that landlords are kicking out tenants

Are you saying that every time governments have meddled in BTL that it is nonsense that rents have gone up and the amount of rental properties have gone down

Do you understand that landlords run a business. Even those who found themselves as “accidental landlords”

You called my post nonsense but didn’t make a comment on

With rental supply rising and immigration plummeting I think this is unlikley

Wonder where this person lives.
Rents in my area have risen 50% in the last 4 years and I have leaflets through my door almost weekly from varying EA. Asking if we want to rent out the place as there is so many people wanting to rent.

They won’t be on the streets homeless. Not a chance. Any temporary accommodation is subsidised while they wait for a council property. Again, this is their choice of course, they could look for an alternative private rental. If they want to play the game though, they may have to wait.

No I wouldn’t have. And in fact I was faced with a similar situation. My son broke up with his girlfriend and needed a place to live. At 19 no one would rent to him - there was a shortage of rentals as it was and a minimum wage teenager with no credit rating is hardly a stand out candidate! I had a small house I rented to an acquaintance who’d been there for 11 years. During that time he had become disabled so I never raised his rent (as he couldn’t work). But I really wanted the house back for my son. As it happened my very cheap mortgage deal was coming to an end and my repayments more than doubled. So I told him I had to raise the rent - not by the equivalent amount, but by some, and still not to the full market rent. Anyway he decided to move into assisted living in the end which was great - he got help I got my house back. But I never served notice and he could have stayed.

Because they fit the legal definition

That's a facile answer: I gave notice, and was given notice many times. At no point was I homeless! I always moved from one property to another. Sure, if you are applying for financial or housing help from the government you may have to fulfill certain criteria to prove eligibility, and one of those check boxes might be "have you been served notice of eviction"? But that doesn't mean the person is homeless fgs. What if it turns out these people have a cheaper and nicer property lined up? What if actually they're now able to buy? Are they still legally defined as "homeless"? Be serious, now.

I wasn't on the streets homeless when my ex landlord decided to bulldoze my flat 6 years ago. I was still homeless in the eyes of the law

Firstly I think what you've done is cruel and unkind, you obviously have no morals or a conscience, always think 'how would I feel if someone did that to my family.
So you kick a family out, when life is tough for everyone at the moment, let alone find another house, I hope they do sit there and cause you to take them to court to get evicted, that's the only way they'll get a council house.
In 2 years your niece won't even want the house.
So ok she can't share due to autism etc, how on earth as a student is she going to afford to solely rent a decent house? That's why none are suitable because they're cheap, she only wants yours because she can't afford what she wants, well tough she'll have to have what she can afford, instead of crying to auntie ,can I have your house,no thought for poor homeless family
Hope you can sleep at night....karma is waiting round the corner.
Iam absolutely with your brother in this one

Because there is homeless legislation, people who are going to be homeless have the right to seek advice and assistance from the local authority. Why do you think they should not? How do you think people are housed into social housing? By being on a housing register, being given priority according to policy and bidding for properties. The legislation says that people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness get priority, along with people living in overcrowded or insanitary accommodation. That is what the law says. And perhaps as they are being evicted they would like more security.

No it isn't

Awful. There are loads of accommodation offers available for your niece, and not so many for families.

Landlord here. Awful thing to imo. Good tenants are hard to find. You’ve had it good for seven years and you could have had it more. Hope your upto date with renters rights , epc of C needed for 2030 and all your electrics and gas are certified legal.

No I dont think so

Im putting that to the poster I was replying to.

I think its a horrible thing to have done. And, it turns out, that she could've stayed with you anyway. That poor family. Nasty, nasty business.

And what makes you think that every single tenant everywhere is incapable of paying their own rent on the private rental market? Hundreds of thousands of households up and down the country fall into this bracket. They don't need legislative protection (which exists for just cause in a humane society).

"Eviction" doesn't mean kicked out onto the street like a Victorian street urchin and a boot to your backside. It means given notice to leave by a certain date. Not everyone needs government assistance - thank goodness, because that leaves more for people who do.

Wow, you're brave, I'll give you that!

You must have known you were going to get your arse handed to you!
It's a despicable thing to do to a family with kids who are settled.

I'm not blaming your niece at all for this. You are entirely to blame!
I still can't believe you're going through with this! I wonder if Karma might rear his/her ugly head...

I think it'll be worth negotiating with your niece for her to have a cleaner come weekly given she'll be paying little rent. If she's not lived alone before she may struggle initially with running a house and if there's a frequently visiting cleaner you should be able to pick up on that and help her before anything becomes a problem that damages the house / makes her ill.

I understand prioritising your niece, I wonder if there was another way to do it eg. selling the house to the existing tenants and buying another in a convenient place with the proceeds.

As a disabled student her uni really ought to be making suitable accomodation available for her in her 2nd and 3rd years.

Well, it's not exclusive to them, but yeah.

If you're going to do it, and get all world weary about it saying that's how the world works, well... you're right, but you can't expect people to think you're wonderful for it. Especially when housing is so expensive and so many people really are at their landlords' mercy.

More housing and better controls. How do we do that?

It’s a really awful thing to do. I feel really sorry for your tenants.

that's even worse tbh @SunnyDaysAndCoolNights purely from a moral perspective.

You've displaced a family with 2 children who have been in the house for about 7 years even though your niece could easily have stayed with you for ~30 weeks per year.

For business and family reasons, you've been able to justify your actions, ofc.

I have sympathy for the people whose home that was

And funny how it's just before May 1st