Tenants requesting a court order!

[Emily2586]

Hi everyone,

I would really be grateful for some advice. I have a property in England which I would like to move back to. I have given the notice on time and gave my tenants 3 months to find alternative accommodation. The three months have now passed and the tenants have come back to me saying they can not find any place to rent because of their low income and is saying they would like me to start a court order so they could give a letter to the council so that they could assist them.

I wasn't expecting them to do this as I had given three months notice and I had some to them if this wasn't enough time they could let me know and it could be extended slightly to give them time to find something. I was under the impression they were finding a place to rent all this time.

The tenants have been in the property for 10 years and I have no experience of about the legal proceedings in this case. I myself have kids and need to move into this property as I am currently staying with my parents until the tenants move out and I am worried that court proceedings could cost a lot.

Could someone please kindly give any advice of what I could do.

I'm only half way through reading but you sound like your fucked up. You need a solicitor who knows about tennency/property law.
I feel for both sides. It sucks as the landlord you can do nothing but wait for the bailiffs to evict them. it sucks for the tenants too as the council will not even allow them onto the list until the bailiffs have kicked them out.
All this goes back to Thatcher government selling off social housing and not replacing them, and it's just created a shit storm.
Oh and do NOT be garenture for them. If they dont pay their rent you will have too.

Except it kind of is?

The rental market is dire. Tenants cannot move out if there is NO WHERE FOR THEM TO GO TO.

A decent landlord SHOOULD be watching the market as a business so they can make decisions like 'Is this the right time to evict my tenant? How likely are they to be able to move on, and what are the costs for me if not?'

The market conditions are utterly irrelevant to the landlord and the costs of shifting the tenants are fixed costs and you should assume that you will have to pay them and calculate accordingly every time when agreeing the rent at the beginning of the tenancy. That is the only obligation any decent landlord has.

personally I factor full insurance into the costs, the excess, eviction and assume every tenant will trash the place until proven otherwise and then if they don’t it’s a bonus.
and that is why the rent is so high, relatively speaking. If people could be trusted I could still make a profit without the extra 1/3 of the costs pumped up.

And it's still not the tenants problem. A LL needs to be financially prepared. This one is not.

Once this legal mess has been unravelled the tenants are still gonna find themselves in the same scenario six months further down the line they gain nothing because the market might actually be worse by then. It’s not like the council are gonna build extra houses in the meantime are they ?

No they won't. With the writ of possession the council will assist. Wether that be temporary accommodation or something more permanent. With the writ they will be on a higher band and recognised as involuntary homeless. Leaving without one would be foolish.

This is true, the council will have to find them something. But what it is likely to be probably won't be the kind of place someone with a £70K car is likely to want to live in. Of course, the OP's estimate of their wealth might be wrong.

But that's neither here nor there. The OP has failed to prepare. The Tennants have not done anything wrong in making it clear they will be awaiting the balifs.

On the car front, my neighbour's choice of motability car is a Mercedes.

If I had to move, I'd need either council help or a guarantor (which I don't have); I'd absolutely need to wait for court order in order to not be street homeless.

rent somewhere for 2 years. give them 12 months to find alternative accommodation

i dont understand the relevance about your sister and the mortgage. either way, this is going to be a lengthy process. rent somewhere - let this place go for now.

I understand and have sympathy for the family being evicted, however some of the comments being made is shocking. This property dosent belong to the people renting it out, it belongs to the landlord. They cant have it indeffinately. Its a risk with any rented property, the owners, the people who bought it and have been paying the morgage on it, will 1 day want their property back. They wouldnt of bought it otherwise. Believe want you want but renting out properties dosent actully make any money, unless its morgage free. My advise to you would also be to get a soliciitor. Good luck to both parties involved

As a long term renter with no rent increase in five years, I too would have to be evicted to get a council property. I would not be able to find or afford another private rental property in this area. I am too old for a mortgage with zero savings.

It does make you money. It enables you to buy a house.

It doesn't always make you money. My bother when going through a divorce had to rent out his home and move in to a house share for 3 years, as he could only afford a buy to let mortgage. He made zero money.

Renting is a business deal and more people need to realise that... as a tenant you have the flexibility when renting and you do not have to pay for any property maintenance costs. Renting is now considerably cheaper than owning. On the flip side Renting is never going to provide you with a forever home.

You are aware the Tennants are not breaking the law right?
But it certainly sounds like OP has.

You won’t get any help or sympathy on here, as you own a property that you rent out you are considered the lowest of the low for wanting your tenants out, and having all that lovely rent money for such a long time you should have loads to spend on the long eviction process of you poor poor tenants. I feel for you as you own a home, but you are homeless yourself!

It doesn’t….if you have a mortgage, the mortgage company own it until it’s paid off, usually 25 years!

The council will put you in temp accommodation, you will be behind the thousands of other who are homeless with no where to go

I think a lot of this thread has gone well past the OP and has become a general discussion, as to the point I was replying to.

I have to agree entirely with @Lemonlady22 's comments...

There was a thing on a different thread about needing regulation of the rental market. Was listening to a podcast earlier & in E & W there are 180 pieces of legislation & that's why it's so difficult to self-manage. More in Scotland, including eviction moratorium & rent freezes!

Hope the Op has taken the advice to see a solicitor & take proper advice.

Honestly how can you not see that someone else paying towards your mortgage, so you don't have to, is making you money? It's also harder to get a Buy to Let mortgage than a residential one so that's odd. They don't just handout mortgages to landlords Willy nilly.

It's silly to say renting is cheaper then owning. Rental prices, like mortgage payments, vary considerably around the whole of the country. It isn't mostly cheaper in the slightest. And most renters aren't doing it because it's cheaper. They are unable to afford to save the astronomical amounts needed for a deposit. Anyone who cannot see how being a landlord, who's fortunate enough to be able to save/or has been gifted a deposit, isn't in a privileged position is an idiot.

@sleephelp2022 'renting is now considerably cheaper than owning.' Really?? My friends mortgages are all at least 50% less than my extortionate rent!!

One of my properties, mortgage for the full purchase price would cost £1280. It rents for £1125. Once you factor in expenses/maintenance of around £3500/4000 per year I would be losing around £6500 a year.

It's cheaper to rent.

Agree. People saying it's not cost-effective to rent are not factoring in maintenance, repairs, upkeep. There have been studies done on the long-term difference between owning and renting, and owners don't come out much ahead.

We need to shift paradigms on this 21st century burning planet; the old ideals of owning property, everyone having children, eating meat, etc. are not serving us well, and with human population continuing to rise even as other worthy species decline or die out, our problems aren't going away any time soon.

People need to reduce expectations. AND stop looking backward with rose-colored glasses. Those one-income households people like to reminisce about didn't have 1/4 of the luxuries, choices, etc. that we have now. No one has ever supported a 21st-century lifestyle for three or four people (or more) on one modest income. Ever in the history of humankind.

Expecting to do it now when one is vying with 7.9 billion others for the same amenities and mobility is just foolish.