We're almost certainly going to be evicted, what to do?

[unholymess]

Private rented property, lots of money trouble, have been late with the rent more than once, so the landlord can evict us legally, how can I minimize the impact on DC and make it go smoothly? If we get a 14-day notice, how soon before the bailiffs come?

Have you a contract? Should be two months notice if periodic tenancy.

Google 'shelter' & read up on there.
Also contact local housing dept. for advice.

x

unholymess - I can't help you with the finer details, but I couldn't read & not respond :(

• Are you currently up to date with the rent?

• How old are the DC?

• Where will you go?

• Are you sure you are claiming any/all benefits you are entitled to?

• Can you delay other payments & pay your rent?

• Are you on the waiting list for a council place?

• Have you got yourself one of those repayment agreement things? You know where someone sorts it out for you, combines all your debts and you pay it off slowly? I believe the CAB can help you.

Big hugs - I hope you can sort something out.

IIRC From previous experience, Your LL cannot evict you without getting a court order. This is costly and takes at least a month. When I was younger I had similar problems with rent arrears and was threatened with eviction.I went to a local CAB and was informed that a 14 day notice to vacate the property was illegal. What kind of tenancy do you have? Have they started court proceedings? If not, LL is breaking the law. It is a criminal offence to evict tenants other than by court action.

you need to go to a CAB

you need to talk to the housing option team or the homeless dept at the council - they will help you and a good team will try and smooth things over with your landlord and prevent you from becomming homeless.

you also need to seek some help with financial stuff, now your CAB may be able to signpost you to something locally that is on offer by a charity. they may have someone themselves.

do you have a credit union in your town? they will help you or signpost you to someone who can with regards to your financial troubles.

finally, for the legal stuff england.shelter.org.uk shelter are a large organisation designed to help prevent people from being homeless. they have legal advisors and people to speak to and they can advise on legal issues.

here is the shelter section on eviction

OK no court orders or anything yet, landlord has said that if the rent is not paid I will have to leave, so it may be that they give us two months notice in writing and do it all legally. House is rented via a (big name) agent so it will all be done legally, it's an assured shorthold tenancy,.
It's just all so grim and scary. I can't believe things got so bad so fast - a lot of it down to someone not paying me for a job.

Firstly the Landlord will have to serve you Notice Section 21 (2months notice) or Notice Section 8 to quit. In both cases after the notice he/she will need to get a Possession order from the court and if it comes to that it's better if you attend the court hearing to ask for more time to vacate if you need it. The possession order (if the court gives one) will give you a date to vacate the property.
If you don't vacate the property on the date the Landlord then can apply for Warrant for eviction which also takes time to be issued. You can Google the above if you would like to know more.

Maybe you can talk to your Landlord and try to reach some agreement on the date to vacate. You can tell him to use your deposit as rent - this is a bit against the agreement, but many tenants still do it. Be confident and try to negotiate something that works for you. And remember no Landlord wants to go to court and whatever he says it will be much better for him (as well as for you) if you can agree vacation date between you two.

I got evicted this summer, I contacted the homeless department and they housed me from the eviction date.
I didn't make them take me to court because I didn't need to.
I currently live in homeless accom which is a perfectly decent two bed flat.

It really wasn't bad at all though I did panic initially.
I now have a seven day lease but won't have to move until they find me somewhere permanent.

One point to add to the existing advice ? if you?re on a fixed term contract then you need to check the paperwork you were given when it started. You may find you were given the s21 notice at the start of the tenancy to come into effect at the end of the fixed term as this is relatively common. As such they wouldn?t need to give you another 2 months notice.