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 you were being unreasonable. Niece’s need is only temporary so you’ll only have a tenant for 2 years. Is she planning to live there alone? If so will she be able to afford the rent. If not you have the risk of the other tenants. Student houses are normally not great, but it’s temporary so I wouldn’t have done that to the family over this.

You own the house and have the absolute right to decide to take back your property through the correct legal channels (like you are doing) for any reason and you don't have any responsibility to ensure your current tenants keep renting your house as long as they want to.

That's because everybody renting in the private sector is aware that rentals are not permanent or meant to be a 'home for life'. You've given them the correct legal documentation in order for them to be able to show the local authority when they have to leave the property so if they struggle to find another private rental by the leaving date they'll be able to get help from the local authority . It's not like they're being thrown out on the streets without warning .

They've got at least 8 weeks minimum . You don't have to feel any guilt for taking back your house now that it is needed for a more personal reason which is to provide safe , decent accommodation for your niece who happens to have autism which is no doubt a part of why your niece has not found other accommodation that she feels comfortable with.

You know what is important to you and you'll not regret choosing what is right for you, but if you are swayed by others feelings about what is morally the right thing and then say no to your niece then I feel you might well regret not doing what you wanted with your own property and for not choosing your neice . Good luck xxx

Don’t evict the family. Take the time to help your niece find decent accommodation.

No. I mentioned that she is autistic in my second post on the first page.

Nothings good enough for your niece who has options but it’s alright to evict a whole family who potentially will have no choice but to live in one room in a B&B for months 🤷‍♀️ a family that have been paying your mortgage, plus some for years.

Thats not hyperbole either, that’s happening to families right now.

Sorry didn’t read the whole thread but a couple of things occur to me (I’m not going to make a moral judgement as that’s well covered here already).
Firstly, you are highly unlikely to get your existing tenants out before September. Even before the new rules there was a 6-9 month or longer wait to get an eviction hearing. With the rush of evictions it will be longer as lots of families will be advised to stay put by their local council as they cannot be considered homeless (and therefore eligible for help) until they have been served a court eviction order. This has been the case for many years in most areas due to the shortage of social housing. I encountered exactly this issue 25 years ago although I’d narrowly avoided the section 21 window so it would have been under section 8.

The new landlord trying to evict me realised he’d made a mistake buying the property with a tenant in situ (he was the second buyer to make this mistake ) and stopped harassing me and offering me money to leave and shortly after that I left voluntarily anyway as I moved in with my partner.

But for a number of years (before I’d sought legal advice from Shelter) it was horrendously stressful, frankly traumatic and had a lasting impact as I did not have the financial means to rent privately and needed to stay in the borough (son autistic).

None of this was really the fault of anyone - just a side effect of the long term lack of planning by national and local govt.

Now to my second point: if your niece is autistic and requires support at uni she should also have priority access to halls accommodation. Of course that depends on the uni and how much accommodation they have but if her parents haven’t explored this then they need to and I’m sure they are aware how much they will have to push.

Finally, as she is autistic it’s more likely she could drop out - really depends on the uni, her level of need and how good their support is.
Not only that, but her being quiet, ‘good’ etc is irrelevant as she will be socially vulnerable to manipulation so in some regard she’d be better off in halls for the first year then sharing in the second year, unless you are going to step in to loco parentis role for at least the first year and provide the ongoing support she is likely to need.

lastly unless you are planning to sell on the house or rent it to niece long term it might be better to get her parents to ask about priority access (and check how much support she may need and who is providing that - unless you have your own autistic offspring you will have little idea of what’s actually involved behind the scenes).
if she can get halls you could withdraw the section 21, apologise to your tenants and enjoy the experience of having good tenants who pay on time as you have no idea what new tenants would be like and as you know, it will be much harder to evict.
hope some of this is helpful and I understand your desire to help your niece, maybe you could approach this with more information and further enquiry may be necessary.

Did you really think you would be handed bouquete on here? Even the landlords who posted are saying you have made a poor decision. A S21 is not straightforward and if you have made one error in the paperwork be sure the judge can throw it all out in court (and will probably look for an opportunity to do so). S/he can also give the tenants extra time even if the paperwork with all relevent certificates, is correct.

I hope the local authority tells your tenants to stay put until the bailiffs turf them out. That could take a year or more and will cost you plenty not only in £££ but also in aggro and stress. So called landlords like you should be put in the stocks and pelted with rotten vegetables. All this crap about putting your family first tells us that you have no head for business, I could perhaps understand (to some extent) if it was your own significantly disabled daughter but a niece is not an immediate relative. Her parents do have some conscience in calling you out on this, If I were your tenants I would call you out on local media so all your neighbours know what you are.

@SunnyDaysAndCoolNights did your niece think the property was empty? How would she feel if she knew you had evicted a family for her. She is old enough to understand what that means for a family

Unless she thought that the property was sitting vacant, them how can she not have known that she's asking for someone to be evicted?

So who did she think was living there? I mean even a person of limited intelligence knows that if you are letting a house then actual people will be living there. And family homes tend to house families if let long term? I mean it's not a HIMO is it?

I love my niece very much but I wouldn’t put another family out to house her, particularly when she has other options available to her. I’d be disappointed she even asked.

Theres plenty of things we could all do today that would be legal but a deeply shitty thing to do

Thanks. I do feel sorry for the family and I am listening to posters here who are communicating with me respectfully. You’re right though, I know I would not feel ok if I didn’t choose my niece and therefore don’t feel we can change our minds. We have to put our niece first and I don’t think that makes us bad people. We haven’t done this to make more money, we’ve done it to help a family member so although the majority here don’t agree, I can live with that knowing I am helping my niece.

Why post on here then?

I understand you feel strongly that family comes first, but it's a super shitty thing to do to good tenants. It's one of the reasons the UK's property market is so fucked up - tenants have no security, so unlike in other countries., buying is the only way to feel 'safe' and settled to raise a family. And so the house prices rise...

I don't think your niece is a brat. But I am very sure your house isn't the only option for her. It's the easiest option. Giving her the easy way out isn't doing her any favours. At some point she will have to live independently WITH her autism. So you're hoofing out good tenants for an 18 month sticking plaster fix to something your niece finds difficult, but which she will have to deal with at some point in her life if the adults around her are to do her any favours.

However you aren't looking for people's honest opinions. You want affirmation that you did what anyone else would do. So just cherrypick your way determinedly responding to criticism.

Could she live with you as a lodger and the tenants stay in their rental?

Eviction during a COL crisis is the kind of change that affects marriages, and lifetime outcomes for children.

Oh well, more human fodder for the undesirable areas you did not want for your niece.

Why did you post then? The reaction you’re getting was entirely predictable. I’m shocked that people think like you.

Absolute cuntish thing to do and exactly why people shouldn't be beholden to private landlords. Insecure housing for families is fucking horrible. I'm sure your mealy mouthed 'I feel bad' will give them lots of comfort.

You do realise that the OP is not a charity?

She owns a home, it has been rented out, now she wants it back. It has nothing to do with anyone else why she wants or what she plans to do with it.

So long as she has given fair notice, then why shouldn't she have her own property back.

While I understand that you want to help your niece you have evicted a decent family with 2 children after 7 years of being good tenants for not much reason at all. Given the current rental market they will probably struggle to find somewhere they can afford and even then there'll be so many people applying for the same house they might not even get one for years. You've really screwed them over for no good reason.

Some replies seem harsh but I do wonder why you're asking if YABU, as you seem to be comfortable in the way you have justified your decision.

I do think the decent thing to do would have been to explain you had a nice family in place, who deserved a bit of consideration after being such good tenants.

sorry I have just seen your reply about your intentions for the house one your niece finishes uni and that you plan to do it all legally. The only thing I would say is, are you financially comfortable with the possibility that she may not be able to get a job after uni and may not be able to leave or afford to rent privately. In other words she could be an ongoing tenant. If that’s ok for you and you are happy to maintain the home as a landlord then all good. But if you will need to sell the property to find retirement etc then think carefully as everyone’s best intentions may not work out and she may not want to go back to family afterwards (plus there are any number of scenarios that can play out for her in the next 3 years).

but if you can afford for her to potentially be there long term then that’s great.

id do this if a had a spare property (although I don’t think I’d have evicted a family with those timings involved).

I expect you posted to feel better about your decision OP.

Look how that turned out for you.

I’d have told my niece no, you have long term tenants.