Eviction during coronavirus

[lighthousemuseum]

So we moved 300 miles for DJ’s job. We moved 2 children and my 72 year old mother. We took on a long term rental of a very scruffy house while we sell our house (which is currently rented out). Today we received an eviction notice. My mum is shielding in the annex of this house. My husband is a key worker. My children have been through all kinds of upheaval. We are unable to view or otherwise proceed with another rental. Our landlord is intending to return ftom Dubai (?!) what can we do?

Dh obviously. Don’t think DJ is a key worker

Im pretty sure this is illegal for the next 3 months the government have made evictions illegal. I dont know who you contact though maybe a lawyer? (Who will be working from home.)

I'm sure people with specific knowledge will be along to assist but as noted above there won't be any evictions for at least 3 months and in reality its likely to take him ages to get a court to take action.

I think you are protected for 3 months:

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/18/coronavirus-law-to-ban-uk-landlords-from-evicting-tenants

Your landlord can't evict you. Currently all possession claims are stayed- they can be issued but are automatically stayed for 90 days, so won't be served on you until after the stay/ further notice from the government. There are 3-6 weeks from a claim being issued and served and you getting a hearing date ( might vary across the country). All of the possession hearings have been vacated until 30 October 2020. That's currently the earliest that the courts are able to start listing them again. Obviously it all depends on the government and what they tell us to do.

So it looks like your Landlord might have to review their position.

During the fixed term of the contract, and in any case within the first 4 months of the tenancy, your landlord cannot evict you under section 21.

The landlord can serve notice under section 8 ground 1 only if they informed you this might happen before you took on the tenancy.

In any case, currently your landlord cannot even start any eviction process for 3 months.

They can ask you to surrender the tenancy, but you're under no obligation to do so.

What notice have you received? S21 or s8 and what ground? As previous posters have said, all possession proceedings are stayed for 3 months from end of March so no action can be taken until July at the earliest.

And how long is the fixed term and from when? Is there a break clause? If s8 g1, the outcome is at the court's discretion if you were not advised before the commencement of the tenancy that the ll may require the property vacated.

Landlord won't be in the UK anytime soon as Dubai airport is closed.

I would call Shelter for advice.

Thank you so much for replying. We are through our initial 6 month period, so it’s a section 21 notice. Obviously renting is always slightly insecure but we were led to believe he was looking for someone to take it on for a longer period and was thrilled it was a family. I was aware of the 3 month change and that he wouldn’t be able to start proceedings, but am sure he will eventually be able to get us out. Am just really concerned about our inability to look for anywhere else, and logistics of physically moving DM without having contact with her or any of her stuff! Will contact Shelter for advice on Monday and hope he reconsiders.

By the time the 3 months are up that brings you to June, it takes around 3 to 6 months to get something into court so you have at least 6 months, that would give you lots of time to find another property.

Sorry what is the cause of the eviction? R u guys paying ur rent on time?
Could he be struggling financially?
i doubt any eviction notice is actionable with the lockdown

Thanks Jonb6. That is some comfort.

Hannah021 we have always paid rent on time and been understanding about things like the boiler breaking when it was below freezing. Inspections have always brought praise from letting agent about the way we are keeping it. Dishwasher currently broken. My understanding is he bought the property as an investment intending to do it up (double its size) and move back in in a few years’ time. Not revealed until after we signed contract. Until that point we were told he was looking for a long let. I don’t know his exact circumstances, just that it’s ‘difficult’ in Dubai so he wants to move in here. Fair enough I suppose but it seems impossible to view or arrange another property during lockdown.

Thanks everyone for your responses.

@lighthousemuseum very inconvenient, I'm sorry about that.

Just read this:
The court service has postponed all eviction processes for 3 months from 27 March 2020. If your landlord has gone to court to evict you, you won’t have to leave your home yet.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/if-you-cant-pay-your-bills-because-of-coronavirus/

By the end of the 3 months, he'd have already changed his mind. You need to tell him that you cannot leave because you have no where to go, and that he won't be able to get a court order to evict you any time soon.

can you also look through this please... has very important details
www.gov.uk/evicting-tenants/section-21-and-section-8-notices

Which applies to you:
"You can use a Section 21 notice to evict your tenants either:

1. after a fixed term tenancy ends - if there’s a written contract

2. during a tenancy with no fixed end date - known as a ‘periodic’ tenancy"

It depends on location but I thought many properties were newly on the rental market as they can't current be used for short term let's. I have a property to let on the market myself as it had a uni student in it and that shut so he didn't extend. The agents are marketing it with virtual tours.

Thanks again everyone. Reading through the info about accelerated possession orders and it says a court hearing might not be necessary. Would he have to wait until we didn’t move out to apply for one, and would this still be held up by the current pause in court proceedings? Does he still need to apply to court but just wouldn’t have a hearing? Sorry, haven’t rented since I was a student!

england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/coronavirus

Call shelter, they've helped me out so many times. Free advce. Make sure you have read ur tenancy agreement on eviction, and know what type of contract it is. And the date of ur eviction letter.

Just to note, that landlords are currently finding it very hard to let properties, for obvious reasons. So you might want to start keeping an eye out for anything suitable - the landlord might be open to offers on the rent, and to helping you with the move. Some are doing virtual viewings. Your mother would need to pack her own stuff and then live out a suitcase that she packs and unpacks herself, whilst leaving her possessions untouched for 72 hours. Tricky, clearly, but might have to happen eventually.

Poor you. This is so stressful.

You hold more cards than you think though. It is expensive and stressful for a landlord to evict you and go through the legal process. They will only do it if there is no alternative. The landlord may also be aware that any court will expect him to be reasonable in the circumstances.

I would write to the landlord. ‘Dear X, we have received an eviction notice dated [ date ]. As you may be aware, the Coronavirus situation in the UK means that it is not possible to look for alternative accommodation. We are therefore unable to comply with the Notice under the advice of the UK Government and consider the Notice invalid’.

Don’t offer an alternative. Don’t elaborate. Just reject. He will need to get legal advice and/or wait to the end of the lockdown.

@PersonaNonGarter any notice served will be valid provided it is served correctly in the correct form and meets the usual criteria. The point is that the courts have a 3 month stay on possession proceedings. This means any application for a possession order, which is the next step in the process for the landlord seeking vacant possession, will not be acted upon for 3 months from the end of March. Op does not need to send silly letters with no legal meaning because at present the landlord can do nothing except serve a notice. Even once the stay is lifted there will be a backlog which was a problem even before the stay. It is hugely unlikely a hearing could be had for at least 3 months after July and probably longer. That gives OP at least 6 months.