Landlord served us with section 21

[dionysoss]

Hello,

We have been at this property for year now, never missed a payment, always got in touch with the agency if there was an issue. Just today we have been served with a section 21. We have 2 months until we have to move out on the 13th of July.

I am pregnant and my due date is 19th of July. I have let the agency know I am pregnant and they didn't seem to care too much, they said they'll let the landlord know if he can be flexible with the dates.

I am really stressed right now, we just set up the baby's room and the location was perfect for raising our child (we had a park, peaceful area, a community centre for new moms, etc)

My partner also got his driver license suspended because he was caught speeding and he is an HGV driver and now out of work.

I feel like somebody pulled the rug underneath my feet and I don't know what to do. If I had the option to move in with my parents I would, but they live abroad. my partner's mom wouldn't bee too keen for us to move in.

It's not where I imagined I would be at this stage in my pregnancy (30 weeks) but I am really stressing out.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

all that changes is they need to give a valid reason and use a section 8 instead.

I really can’t comprehend these people posting who seem to think if you private rent you’ve a right to live there as long as you want and the landlord has no rights to their own property. It somehow becomes yours for as long as you want it. This will never be the case.

and the council can help if the op has been served a valid section 21. Advising her to stay put and get evicted is worst case, I am assuming they are a family on benefits and that’s how the rent will be paid, so they will need to find a landlord whi accepts folks on benefits, and work with the council to see if they can get nomed

even when the council does give them accommodation it’s likely to be emergency Ie bed and breakfast type thing, and might not be in their area. So working now to find somewhere to live before the baby is born is the best option.

I agree with pp that your partner needs to get a job asap.
I would be absolutely furious with him for choosing to speed. He must have known the potential consequences for your family.
He needs to take any job right now if you are going to be able to get another property.

I’m afraid I agree with this. And I would be worried about his entitlement to unemployment benefit if he lost his job as a result of wrongdoing

Assuming the end of section 21 results in LLs selling up, reducing available rental housing, makes waiting to be evicted so much sillier on the part of tenants. Has no-one heard of tenancy databases? LL's are sick of tenants who aren't good. They are a hassle so these databases exist to ensure LLs can vet applicants and decide if you are a good risk. One need to be evicted can end up on there and good luck finding a new rental in a decreased rental pool. Playing the wait to get evicted game only hurts you in the end. LLs aren't charities. Most of the time they aren't that wealthy either so won't rent to someone they might end up having to carry. Tenants shoot themselves in the foot by playing games. Is it really worth it?

There is already a lack of rental properties, as there is a lack of housing all round.

with 10 couples applying for rental properties and those in work & offering a years rent up front and rents above the asking price being offered

for those that seem to think op can jyst get another rental within 2 months and with jobs- what dairy tail place are you living? I want to move there

I have seen a few other LL using section 21s now (before they are banned) to evict tenants who have paid rent late or have spoken about struggling to make full payments.

You have been given some really good advice OP, but I am confused to why your partner is out of work. There are loads of jobs available. Was he planning on not working until he got his license back?

For a new lease for a new property, the agents will typically run reference checks and affordability checks. Will you pass those if your partner has no job - do you have guaranteed maternity pay etc at 6 months?

Your DP needs to get another job ASAP, anything that is going. Supermarket job within cycling distance, cleaning, pub work, anything that he can start quickly.

Then look for a private rent as soon as you can. You do not want to wait for the council to help. They won’t help until you are evicted, and then most likely you will end up in temporary housing which could be a room in a bnb. This is something you should avoid with a newborn if you can at all help it.

Is it any wonder landlords want to sell up and get out the renting game when tenants hold all the cards. As a tenant you should know that you have no permanent rights to the property, hence rental agreements having end dates.
There is very little money now in relating out properties as no tax breaks, the ability to offset wear and tear etc gone, CGT to pay ehen sell up, tenants trashing properties and not paying for the damage.
Everyone moans that landlords are buying up properties so there are none for anyone else but then landlords decide to sell up all of a sudden they are wrong there too. They can't win.
Landlords don't have to give a reason to not renew tenancy, it's entirely up to then.
Either buy your own house or accept as a tenant a landlord can sell up at any time and you will jave to look for somewhere else to live. It's also not the landlords fault your husband decide to break the law and lose his licence. Maybe blame your husband for you being so stressesd instead of projecting.
Don't bother @ing me as I won't be coming back to this thread, I just get sick of seeing people moaning at landlords constantly. Try being one before you judge them for selling up and not giving you a home for life.

If you wait for eviction the downside is the reference you get from the landlord when looking to rent another property.

• Partner needs to find a new job. Supermarket, factory, warehouse, anything.
• Do not wait to be evicted. No private landlord will rent to you with that on your references.
• Find somewhere sooner rather than later. Even if it's a 1 bed, the baby will be sharing with you initially anyway. Don't look for the perfect place, just find somewhere live-able.

Either buy your own house or accept as a tenant a landlord can sell up at any time and you will jave to look for somewhere else to live

ffs this post takes the biscuit, but this comment is so far detached from reality. As if those rent can just buy a fecking house. have you any idea at all about the housing crisis and why people are struggling to buy? Or are you just particularly naive

You might find you get help from your council sooner than you think so it is definitely worth asking. We bought a house last year that was previously being rented out and the tenants had been served S21. We had a very stressful wait to see if they would actually leave so we could exchange as it looked like they were going to wait it out at one point. 3 days before S21 expired they were offered temporary accommodation by the council and they left. You may find your council is similar. Good luck!

The poster clearly said “either” so if you can’t buy then you need to accept it’s not yours.. Your comment makes no sense, it would only make sense if they said buy a house as a stand alone option.

some people on here are displaying a level of entitlement that’s shocking. Tenants have rights, but they will never ever have the right to move into someone’s property, rent it and then claim it as theirs for as long as they wish. It is not theirs, that’s ownership

people who private rent will never ever have the same claim to a property as the owner, and neither should they.

The op clearly hasn’t got the choice of buying a property, so why put it in a post? The either is irrelevant

op please go to the council, contact shelter and get advice. I really hope you manage to get rehoused somehow and your dp gets employment

Shelter will give you excellent advice.

Becayse clearly he or she was talking in general.

im not going to defend some random. But trying to police like this is never going to work.

I've been there @dionysoss . We were evicted 3 times in 4 yrs for landlords selling up after promising long lets. I was 7 months pg with DC2 the first time. We did manage to find somewhere quickly and moved before due date. So stressful. By the third time, we were unable to find somewhere but fortunate the council housed us before end of eviction notice. Never again do I want to return to private renting and I wish we'd gone to the council the first time.

Agree with PPs who say make the council your first port of call and contact Shelter. Depending on the area you live, you may be offered somewhere sooner than you think.

Wont someone please think of the poor Landlords! Anyone, someone! They are suffering!

#endbuytolet

Talk to your Landlord and then talk to the council.

Some councils will consider you voluntarily homeless if you leave before you are evicted- Islington council insisted that my tenant wait for bailiffs - very stressful for her and me and expensive for her. I used a section 21 -even though i could have used others (my tenant was majorly in arrears) as I was advised that if she paid anything towards her arrears it could potentially invalidate the notice - so its not as straightforward as being a landlords charter to evict tenants. I had months of my tenant not paying and still had to pay my mortgage and my rent - because she "liked" that area of London.

I would love to do a long let - but with a paying tenant!

I would be a bit suspicious of the timing- does the landlord know about the job loss? who pays the rent? And your partner is a moron.

OP - its also worth noting that they take your maternity pay as your salary rather than your actual salary at alot of agencies - I had this issue while moving on maternity leave. Massively sexist and stopped us getting so many places. I would raise this with the Council as an issue.

And then where will the renters live? Cause they still won’t be able to afford to buy. So basically yoire shouting for them to be made homeless? Sleep on the streets? Cause they ain’t gonna build or buy millions of council houses and hand them out like sweeties.

I don’t think LLs are doing people a favour by housing them, private rental is nothing like council. Private LLs are the reason many can’t buy as they’re driving the price up so far!

Theyre not doing it out the kindness of their heart and helping ease the housing crisis, they’re causing the housing crisis and making a profit from it.

OP everytime you speak to the council ask when you’ll get an update - keep on at them about it. In the meantime partner needs to find a job, no matter what it is even working in a supermarket. Do you have family you could stay with in a worst case scenario?

I would love to be wrong but I think that you may be more of a priority once you have had the baby. You cannot be legally homeless unless you are convicted. This doesn't mean you can't apply for housing now. In my area you register and the properties are advertised every week. You can then apply. Miracles do still happen in social housing....a friend lived in a private flat rental, applied for a housing association new house, and got it. It was her, her husband and two girls

People on here always talk about landlords serving notice just for the sake of being shit landlords. In reality, no landlord wants a good tenant to leave as it will always cost more to have to look for a new tenant than to keep an existing one (even if the property was re-let at a higher rent) because there's usually a void period in between with no rental income coming in but bills and mortgage payments still due, along with cleaning costs, letting agent fees and so on.