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.

I think it was more other posters who seem to believe the "not enough houses" meme that implied they would be homeless?

You are acting like her parent, not her aunt

Why are her parents not stepping up and sorting her accommodation if she can't without your help?

Have you read the OP’s latest updates (which admittedly should have been in her first post)?

It's very unlikely that they'll get a council property by staying put. There will be many other people in exactly the same position as them looking for a home

This. I and my peer group all lived in (very) less than desirable places when I was young because I accepted that's all I could afford. Your neice should never have asked.

No, being evicted could well mean the family could be put up in B&B accommodation completely unsuitable for a family. They wouldn't just get handed a council house. If the OP is offering them an alternative house herself that completely changes the story.

Yes the rental sector also has laws and legislation applicable, which OP has followed

Regardless, waffling on about things that 'provide for human existence' shouldnt be business falls rather flat when our society allows for the sale and business of those things. We all pay to live, we dont have hard capitalism but neither do we have complete communism. Property is included in that.

Where I live, both of those statements are wrong.

There are two (at least) hotels for asylum seekers in the city where I live and so many small homes that would have been let out are now being repurposed as HMOs to accommodate asylum seekers instead.

Certainly makes a mockery of the "not enough houses" narrative doesn"t it? LOL, the tenants are still being dicks about it though, they obviously don"t realise how close they came to the local homeless hostel!

Your niece needed no help at all, she has her own life to figure out like everyone does she isnt stuck in an impossible situatio. She could have taken a year out, saved, found somewhere appropriate with set people or herself then returned.

Are you... sane?

OP's tenants need no help at all, they have their own life to figure out like everyone does they aren't stuck in an impossible situation. They could have taken OP's other house, moved to another area, found somewhere appropriate.

Do you see this?

I agree with your brother and sister in law. If I were you and your niece asked you about the house I would have been honest with her about the situation and say that you had a family living there with kids and you would have to serve them notice. Maybe giving her the full picture and being honest about the implications of her request would have made her reconsider.

If I was a second year university student and a family would have lost their home of seven years because of a request I made I would have been absolutely mortified and could not have lived in the house with a clean conscience anyway.

Which party will win your local elections in May do you think?

As I said previously. I worked in supported accommodation around 30 years ago. There wasn't the same housing crisis back then as there is now and young people who were pretty much priority for housing waited 1-2 years for a property. There aren't enough council homes to go around and even getting a private let can be difficult - there are so may people looking for accommodation and there's not enough of it. Why do you think so many families end up in hotels or B and Bs. There are families who have been in temporary accommodation in some parts of the UK waiting two plus years for an offer of suitable housing

doesn't change my opinion, tbh

It would be hugely inconvenient for them now to move to that other house. OP isn't lady bountiful, she's a landlord who have evicted a family so that one woman can live in a family sized house.

As i said: i hope she thinks about that if they end up homeless.

I think if your niece knew the full story… been there for 7 years, two children know it as their home, family a few doors down, close to their school etc… she’d be mortified to take it away from them. I know I couldn’t even do that to children in the same position. It’s literally their home.

Use the rent from the house to fund somewhere for your niece. It’s genuinely quite unthinkable what you’re doing. I’m a landlord myself, I’m extremely close to my 4 nieces, and I just can’t fathom what your suggesting is the only option…

I would never tell them to fuck off. I don’t class them as being difficult for not wanting the other property as I understand their reasons. They have said they don’t want the other house.

We have also put them in touch with a good friend who has a property very near the original house but they aren’t interested in that.

My brother and wife are aware of this and still called us what they did.

I presume the family are hoping for a council property which I understand.

I hope your niece's parents have had the balls to tell her what you have done for her, since you don't appear to be interested in telling her.

I am baffled why your niece needs or wants a family sized house. And I am not sure it is sensible or healthy for her to live alone in a new city at university.

It would have made far more sense for her to move in with you or get a studio flat.

Turfing a family out of their home like that was totally unnecessary. It affects schooling, the stability of the children's live, the family finances. Everything. I work for a charity that supports people in these situations and it causes huge stress and upheaval.

All so a teenage girl who sounds vulnerable can have an entire family sized house to herself.

The mind boggles

So they are being dicks about it now. They were served an eviction notice just before they would have accumulated more rights as tenants having lived in the home for 7 years and having paid probably anything up to 60-70k in rent during that time period. So because the OP has an extra home to let out there's not a housing crisis?

I don't see how this is relevant. Not every Autistic person is lucky enough to have parents who have the capacity or inclination to support them practically, financially or emotionally. I've worked with plenty of young adults with SEND who have ended up living with or heavily supported by aunts and uncles or older siblings because they were best placed to help them for various reasons. The point is that OP is in a position to help her Niece and wants to do so.

Seriously, how many properties does one person need?

This is a lot of family housing stock that you are hoarding.

They won't get a council property even if they are technically homeless in a lot of areas in the Uk. There will be thousands of families in the same position and not enough homes to go round

I presume the family are hoping for a council property which I understand.

Have you an idea of what their chances are of getting a council property in current circumstances in your city, @SunnyDaysAndCoolNights? Is there a homeless problem, or are people having to be housed indefinitely in B&Bs, or is there an unlimited supply of beautiful family homes in convenient areas for rent at low rates?

There's a lot of drip feeding going on now.

op's "faaaaaaaaaammmmmmily" schtick is landing on stony ears...