"Amateur Landlords are a blight on UK society"
I expect you are right there Changeasgoodas but unfortunately this LL appears to be a professional (although not a very professional professional!). She owns at least 2 HMOs (that we know of) (6 flats in each). It was supposed to be a temporary solution whilst we sold one house and bought our next place (but the market where we are looking is incredibly slow and it has taken rather longer than we first imagined). This is my first renting experience and I have to say I now really sympathize with anyone who has no choice than to live like this permanently.
In the year we have been here we have been pressured not to go on the electoral role. We have been told that if we wished to vote we should use LL voting ballots. LL would only accept cash (tax implications?). When we first came here we noticed that the smoke alarms were not connected and we contacted LL to repair/switch them on (in an HMO in an old Victorian house with 6 flats and 6 kitchens :/ and I'm a worrier). She said no. So we asked the Council and they said that because house was HMO fire regs are mandatory. When LL found out we had spoken to the Council she started phoning me demanding to know what I had said, sending me texts telling me that it was outrageous, that I had no right to speak to the council and that I was not allowed anyone including the council or the police into the house. She then evicted the downstairs tenants (poor them, family with small child), moved into the flat they had lived in and started pretending that she was a live-in-landlord, that she had always lived there and that we were "lodgers" and she told the council that we "shared her cooking facilities"! She also gave us notice (multiple times). This was one year ago July 2012. We went to court in December and the Judge told her that her claim was a complete mess and that none of the 5 notices that she had given us to date were correct! He told her to go away, get legal advice and reissue a ?very carefully worded claim?.
At first it was very stressful and personally I would have moved out immediately when it first kicked off, but DH is not one to be bullied and said he had no intention of running away when we had done absolutely nothing wrong, unless it was on our own terms. So here we still are. Not stressful any more as we will only communicate with LL in writing (which we always look forward to LLs letters as they add to our pile of evidence that she is barking mad) and we have now told her that she can either accept a cheque through the post or she can go without.
Happily we have now found our home, which we are in the process of buying, and we need the extra time so we don't have the expense of moving and further "temporary" accommodation. (So once again, yes I know that we will have to move eventually, but that was not why I posted so it is not very helpful to keep pointing this out is it?)
So go ahead and sympathize with the LL if you wish. I really don't care if you think I am being unreasonable.
But thanks again to all those who have offered kind and good advice 