Has anyone been advised to stay in rental until bailiffs arrive or risk becoming voluntarily homeless?

[DesparteSeeking]

I know I might get backlash for this. For background/context...I am on my own with 2 sons, 8&12, youngest has some additional need and is not able to attend after school care. We also have a beautiful dog.

I previously private rented a house We loved In the countryside for 9 years, then LL started telling me she was selling, firstly it was next year, then it was this year. Meanwhile, my gran can no longer live in her city flat due to health, and has been moved into sheltered housing for which she pays rent. She repeatedly told me to go in the flat and pay a reduced rent, I said no, then after one conversation with my LL, I panicked and agreed to go in. The flat needed alot of work, which I did, I paid 7k (ALL MY SAVINGS I AM SO STUPID) renovating the flooring and ceilings, and have paid over 2.5k in rent in 3 months.

We hate the flat, the location/childrens feelings/my feelings are beyond what i could have imagined, the dog hates it, the school run is too far (my youngest cant move). We often drive around in the car so we don't have to go back. I have a mid senior job role and have been pulled up on my performance drop after I had what felt like a breakdown, im back at work but have constant headaches, chest pain and feel dizzy.

So, the flat is being sold, my gran accepted an offer over asking price. She had told me she was going to give me an amount to set us up, which is what I have worked towards. I have been accepted on a FTB scheme and have an offer accepted on a fixer Upper.

But...she has since told me 4 times that she's not giving me any money, she has also included my white goods which I had to save for in her sale without even speaking to me about it. The sale is set for 22nd September.

If I don't get any money to go through with my sale, we have nowhere to go, nowhere. I cannot afford rent, and houses go so quickly I barely get a look in.

My question is, if she doesn't give me the money (which she proposed and promised and banged on about, and also got me to sign a piece of paper to say I would get it), do I have to stay in situ and refuse to leave before I can access social housing ? I know its not the right way, I know, but I am desperate. I was previously advised this by my local council, has anyone else heard this? The family relationship would obviously break down, but we will be homeless. I don't want any of this, and honestly just now I wonder if it'd be better for everyone if I just weren't here any longer.

Yes, I used to work for an advice line and we would always advise you stay until the enforcement agents come and evict you. Councils have deemed people to of made themselves intentionally homeless if they leave before the eviction by enforcement agents. They aren’t obligated to house you if they deem you intentionally homeless.

Thank you for your reply. Do you stop paying the rent?

I am already very worried about this, I get supplemented by universal credit for my rent, but I am a little behind because I can not afford to live in the city. I am already worried about fraud. I don't want to get in trouble, but what 'activates' the enforcement to leave?

We still recommend paying the rent, as if you don’t and a debt accrues, a landlord/council/housing association can still persue you for unpaid rent once you’ve left.

The process differs, do you have a proper rental agreement in place with your gran? I’m assuming so with you saying you get help with rent from UC.

https://www.gov.uk/evicting-tenants

This covers different types of tenancies, find yours on there and it will explain the process your gran will have to go through to evict you. It won’t be particularly quick, it can take months.

You've posted before haven't you. I remember your story.

Your gran is a terrible person who has taken advantage of you. I wanted to wish you luck with getting the money owed to you.

Have you tried contacting Shelter or Acorn? Acorn are a tenants union, not sure where you are but they have a presence in a lot of cities. You could also try your local council, they will all have a private rents team who may be able to advise as you have a landlord even if she is a relative.

Your gran shouldn't have promised you money. What sort of sum are we talking about ? If her health is failing she could need that money to pay for care and it could be seen as deprivation of assets. It was never a good idea for her to give away a large sum.

We have a rental agreement yes. There are lots of reasons I need to leave, I can't imagine hanging on until we are forcibly removed, and I don't want the boys around to see that. But,.we have nowhere to go. She came up with the sum, she wrote the paper for me to sign, it was almost like an incentive. Her behaviour has declined since i moved in. She rings me whilst I'm at work and accuses me of not paying her rent and reads through the tenancy agreement, yet she tells me I need to pay for any repairs. I Don't know if she's becoming unwell or its behavioural or she's bored or wants pity. She's told my brother several times that I haven't paid any rent. Its a dangerous situation I need us out of. Meanwhile, I do her shopping every week. I don't know whether to go to the bank and print off a statement to hand to her. She hasn't given me an eviction notice.

I will call the council today. We are in Scotland. I'm sure I remember the council where I used to live and where boys schools are telling me that they have the longest waiting list in Scotland, they said 5 to 7 years for a home.i will look at midmarket too, I looked at the largest midmarket provider yesterday and they're not even accepting on the waiting list. I got accepted on the FTB scheme which means the government own 40%-10% of the home, so I'd need a reduced deposit, still a lot when you haven't got it !

Because of the stress I've been pulled up at work when before this I was doing well. I want to leave and get a less pressured role and be able to.enjoy work, but then of.course there's worry about money, and if by some miracle I do get any money from the flat sale and have a mortgage to pay for.

A few thoughts:

• you are indeed correct that you should not make yourself intentionally homeless and should stay in the property until evicted so you can be rehoused. It is a bonkers system but unfortunately this is how local authorities work...
• Your grandmother is being very short-sighted because her buyer's solicitors won't let an exchange happen on a property while a tenant is still in the property and refusing to leave. So she is potentially going to lose her sale because if it or at the very least piss of her buyer because evicting you will take months and will delay the transaction
• If you stay put she might see sense and actually end up having to pay you what she promised. At the very least she should pay you back for the money you invested in improving the property.

If it is any consolation my own mother did something similar to me...Glad to say I no longer have any contact with her. There was a pattern of lies and manipulation throughout her life and I finally had enough.