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.

I didnt say end renting, I said end buy to let mortgages and landlords who then cannot afford to run the property as a rental.

The whole 'Where would people live if it wasnt for landlords' has been debunked as tory crap btw.

We would live in the houses that were not hoovered up by greedy landlords. I can easily afford a mortgage. I cant afford to save for the deposit on the house that's value is massively inflated.

It's rubbish OP.

I've been served a Section 21 also back in January. They did their paperwork wrong and had to serve another in March.

My date to leave is tomorrow 14 May.

I'm on my own, 2 DC. No partner or parents to help.

I've been here 10 years and never missed a rent payment in all that time.

A new landlord took over last year. He wanted to raise the rent by over £200pcm.
He bought it with me in knowing I'm on housing benefit.
He didn't check the paperwork. My tenancy agreement states the rent cannot increase by more than 10% per year.

I took it to tribunal.

So he raised it by the 10% and served me a section 21.

I cannot get private rent as I am on benefits even though I work part time this is not enough. They all want a guarantor which I don't have. I can't really afford the private rates either.

So I am on the council waiting list which I've been on for about 6 years anyway.

I've had to see a solicitor and now I'm being given a prevention duty which should place us in the highest band.

I have a meeting with our MP Yvette Cooper next week. I need her help as my son is taking GCSEs and cannot move schools.

My job is walking distance from me and I can't drive.

My mental and physical health are long term conditions and I need to stay near my GP.

Anyway, I totally understand the feelings of stress you are under. It is awful.

The date on the notice does not mean you have to leave then. It is only a date from which a landlord can then apply for a posession order.

After that is granted they have to apply for bailiffs.

The council will not help me if I leave before this so we are forced to stay put for now.

There are very little houses available so it's very likely we will end up in temporary accommodation somewhere miles away.

I have no idea what will happen.

And all because a big businessman who is literally a millionaire wants to make more money on his asset. Not a care in the world for the family that live there. Its disgusting.

He should never have bought it in the first place.

Wishing you all the luck OP.

The most important thing here is that your partner gets a job, that pays well, and can be walked to - and he needs to do this quickly, he should already be well stuck into the process I imagine as he knows the result of his speeding and has already lost his job.....if he's not been looking he needs to make this a priority.~

You could also consider relocating to a different area or town where you could rent cheaper in easy walking distance of a job for him that pays well, so he may not necessarily need to cast his job search net in a small area.
He should get a bicycle to increase his range of jobs if he doesn't already have one.

That's really hard, OP. Hope the council can help. Possibly a longer term solution but if you have any new estates being built in your area, I believe 50% of the houses have to be affordable housing (to rent). We've had 2 built in our village and I know quite a few people who have moved in (who weren't in desperate need of council housing) so definitely worth looking at.

@naughty40me I hope you are found somewhere very soon.

I hope too @dionysosshas found some support and good advice on this thread.

@Notcreativeatall I do find it suspicious as well. We were asked if we wanted to renew the contact in mid April and we said yes. Basically I never spoke or met the landlord, everything was said and done through the agency. The agency said that the landlord would like to know if we’d want to renew the contract and we obs said yes. Somebody here mentioned gas certificate, which I thought was weird because we recently had a gas engineer come and the check the boiler. And we did get an approved gas certificate. Also I believe my partner mentioned to the agency that he has been between jobs. When we first got the place, we had a temporary contract and a garantor. 3 months back after we moved the company let him and other go because of covid.I am in full time employment. We also had checks every 6 months. Somebody would come over and take pictures of the property. I think the latest one( 3 -4 months ago) might have captured the baby scan pictures on the fridge and table.

The lease was for a full year. In April we were asked if we’d like to extend it and we said yes. I was under the impression that it was going to be for another year? Since we signed a long term lease at the beginning.

And then where will the renters live?

I always see this ridiculous line trotted out on these threads, parasites landlords are unlikely to hold onto their empty properties, especially those with large portfolios, that means a glut of properties are likely to become available at the same time driving the prices down and likely to make banks look at their mortgage rates at the same time

Op what type of tenancy do you have? Have a look at the tenancy agreement, did you sign a new agreement from April?

the gas certificate is a yearly requirement so if coming to the end of your tenancy period it’s not suspicious that it’s been renewed- good that it’s safe for you.

What a nasty thing to say.

As to the matter at hand, while I totally emphasise with he difficulties OP is facing, surely people should be able to do whatever they want with their properties. And nobody should have to go to court to evict someone from their own property.

Be very careful with the advice here thats clearly offered by some of socoieties parasites, shelter and the council, also speak to your health visitor and GP which may help when applying for HA/council properties incase they identify any additional needs you may have in regards to housing

Do you mean the landlords selling the property? Where do you think the tenants will go if the property they rent is sold?

The ones that can't buy, where will they live? Buying property is not for everyone, there needs to be the option to rent.

Are these properties going to suddenly vanish into the ether? The drop in house pricing will change the entire power dynamic between parasite and renter those that are stuck renting but cant afford to buy will free up some properties when the drop in price makes it affordable for them

OP - I think you have put your partner's name in your post (at 11:10). You might want to report it for privacy.

surely people should be able to do whatever they want with their properties. And nobody should have to go to court to evict someone from their own property

As a landlord I am appalled by this statement. Tenants are people, not pawns in someone else's game, and as such they deserve to be protected by laws that ensure they are treated decently and fairly.

As I understand it, current legislation allows rent increases of up to 10% per year. This is a ridiculous amount! It should be limited to inflation. Personally I always have a clause that ensures no rent increase during the fixed term, and I feel this should be a legal requirement.

On the other hand, Councils should stop insisting that tenants have to be evicted before they offer accommodation. This makes life difficult for landlords and doesn't help tenants in any way. In fact, it just adds to their stress. (Though I accept that Councils are probably doing this because they are bound by legislation...)

The whole mess goes back to Thatcher selling council houses and subsequent governments making it difficult for new council houses to be built. The whole housing set-up in this country is dysfunctional.

There is no drop in house prices. Prices are rising due to demand, they've gone up by about 9.6% in the last year alone. That doesn't leave people like the OP here with plenty of options.

Hope you find the right place for you soon OP, and that your DH can pick up some suitable work that will help you both at what must be a difficult time for you both.

With the end of section 21, section 8 is being modified, not yet sure what that entails, but it will give landlords more options than the current section 8.

Tenancy agreements will probably have fixed end dates.

The business landlords will probably buy the ‘accidental’ landlords properties up, especially those who have had to go to Court to evict and don’t want/ can afford to risk another one going the same way, the reduction in available properties will almost certainly push up rents, which is already happening with a spike in Section 21 notices this year.

I’m not convinced things will change for the better for tenants, I guess time will tell.

No I don’t think much will change either and it will potentially get worse. House prices won’t drop suddenly to such a level all the renters can buy, that’s just silly thinking what will happen is as you said, the big landlords will buy them up, the small, private and often kind accidental landlords will be a thing of the past. And the big landlords will have the money and knowledge to manage the system and the tenants will have even less rights than they do today, becayse they won’t have the money to game the system and will he dealing with something incredibly faceless and devoid of emotion.

I agree, especially your point re have systems in place, less likely to use agents due to costs, so total control, less due diligence, unless councils receive funding to support tenants and chase rogue landlords, I don’t think that funding will ever happen.

@Mia85 Ahh thank you for the heads up! Fixed that!

@JustAnotherPoster00 Thank you for the advice. I am taking everything with a grain of salt and I appreciate everyone's advice and help. Was thinking of mentioning the situation to my midwife. Not sure if she can help with putting in a word for us?

@FlowerArranger Agreed! Especially with the last part. I find it appalling that some wait until you are homeless especially with a child or pregnant. It def doesn't make it easier for tenants, which I can see now why so many wait to be evicted by the LL, which is strenuous for LL as well

why would you end buy to let mortgages though? All types of landlords borrow to acquire their rental properties including housing associations and corporate landlords. Why should landlords have to buy property outright? It makes no sense.

Also its just obvious logic that if there are fewer rental properties available, there will be fewer places for tenants to rent. Its not something that has at all been "debunked as tory crap". Rents are pretty high at the moment and rentals are very hard to get in most places due to a shortage of rental property. This is partly due to lots of landlords getting out of the market due to tax rises. This is why the op is currently in the position she is in (I was in a similar position when my first dd was born).

There is also a shortage of property to buy (there is an overall shortage of property as we haven't build enough houses for years). That's the reason property is very expensive at the moment.

You can't afford to buy if you cant afford the market rate for the property. That's nothing to do with landlords or their tenants.

I wholeheartedly agree with this.