Evicting a tenant

[Covidmum20]

At the moment, this is one possibility of many and I am wondering if anyone can advise me of the legalities here.

Our tenant is good in many ways but is becoming increasingly demanding with regard to both what we do and the timescales in which we can do them, snd it’s causing a great deal of strain and stress.

What is our legal position here? I’m fairly sure we can’t ‘just’ evict - I’m sure I read something about this.

Goldilocks you may be in breach of contract if you don’t notify any leaks/problems with the property.

Is it automatic we’d be looking to go to court? I’m not sure it would be. Of course it’s a possibility but you state it as if it’s a known fact.

OP being vague because shitty landlords don't like admitting being one

Sorry I didn’t clock you were talking to goldilocks not me!

Yes I am a shitty landlord who went out on a January night with a newborn to fix something non urgent you got me bang to rights.

Landlord here

I don't understand why you're being subjected to shitty messages and pushiness on timelines when you say it's fully managed by a letting agent?

That's what they are taking their 18% for!

From next week the notice period is 4 months and back to 2 months in (I think) October.

Don’t rise to it. All landlords on here are money grabbing bastards

@Covidmum20

Yes that’s why I’m asking on here tent

I am feeling pretty worn out with this. If you could give me the correct info that would be brilliant, if you’d rather not then could we move on?

The correct advice relies on whether or not the tenant is in a fixed term contract or a statutory periodic.

Are you (and the tenant) in England?

If they are in a fixed term (e.g. have signed a lease renewal) then how soon you can serve notice is different to if they are in a statutory periodic.

If they are in a statutory periodic then you can serve it now, but need to give a date of 6 months from the date you serve it and the date you should serve it may depend on the terms of the tenancy, e.g. when the tenancy started and how often they pay rent.

You also need to know, that if you serve it tomorrow, for a date in 6 months time, that is NOT the date the tenant needs to leave by. It is the date after which you can apply to court for the eviction. Currently eviction applications to court that are received today are being scheduled for Jan 2022, but it depends on where in the country you are.

Well yeah I agree but that’s another possibility.

At the moment we are considering one or more of our options which are

Eviction

Changing letting agents

Selling the property

Moving into the property and letting the one we currently live in

Weighing everything up.

It isn’t what they want doing, it’s the time frame and the way we are spoken to and about.

What time frame are we talking about? If they are asking for repairs that it is your responsibility to maintain, it needs to be dealt with immediately if it is something that affects health and safety, even if it means having to pay more for an emergency call out eg no working toilet, broken front door lock, no hot water or heating. Less urgent repairs like a broken washing machine should be done ASAP, ie as soon as you can get a workman and the spare parts. You can't delay repairs to save money.

We are in England yes: thank you. That is helpful.

I don't understand what the issue is, if you're paying someone to manage the property then you shouldn't even be seeing these messages. They're able to demand whatever timelines they want, you just get the work done to a reasonable timeline. From years of renting the last thing you want is the landlord showing up themselves to fix it, you should pay a professional--well the managing agents should.

Also, have you ever lived in the property you are renting out? If so, you could issue a section 8, not a section 21.

I’m not asking for people to criticise me. I’m asking for specific advice regarding a possible eviction.

I have lived in it, yes.

As a landlord (assuming England) you should know all the laws, hopefully your agent does. Agents are unregulated so get swotting up.

Process is

• issue section 21

• wait six months (about to drop to four)
• if tenant does not leave, apply to court.
• wait a very long time. Of all your legals are in order you will get a possession order. I hope you know what all the legals are and you have evidence of all of them.
• if tenant does not leave, apply for bailiffs.
• only when the bailiffs arrive is the tenancy ended.
• cost about £500 plus solicitor fees.

In this case it is ' no fault' on the tenant. Many landlords use section 21 to get rid of the wreck/deal/steal brigade as section 8 is easily evaded.

The person with leaks - bad landlords play on scared tenants. Knowledge is power. Read your how to rent and go from there.

I'm confused too. Why are you paying the letting agency if they're not taking the stress off your shoulders?

The Letting Agents will be able to help with this, OP. Ask them about giving the tenants notice as they will know the timeframes especially in view of any temporary changes for COVID.

Thanks mrsblurb

@Covidmum20

Yes that’s why I’m asking on here tent

I am feeling pretty worn out with this. If you could give me the correct info that would be brilliant, if you’d rather not then could we move on?

I already gave you the correct info in the link I posted. I probably wasn't clear when I said you need to give them the notice in the contract or the statutory notice that if the statutory notice period is longer (6 months) that overrides the contract.

I won’t involve the agents until I’m confident I know what I want to do going forward, thanks.

If they are paying rent on time and aren't trashing the place it sounds like you don't have a tenant problem, you have a letting agent problem

It's not clear how/ why you are receiving communications from the tenant directly?

Better the devil you know I think, you can evict but you might end up with more problems!

If you are going to return to living in it you could issue a section 8. But you can't issue a section 8 and then change your mind about living in it, you'd have to reissue a section 21, with a further notice period (whatever it is by then).

Basically, is the tenant shitty enough that you can be arsed to give them 6 months notice, apply to court, wait for the court date and then deal with the aftermath of a pissed of tenant? It is very, very unlikely to go to court, but if the tenant knows their rights (and it sounds like they do) then they'll know that as long as they continue to pay rent, they'll be liable for no costs so long as they leave before the court hearing.

No, I do have a tenant problem! Not trashing the place and paying the rent on time are fairly minimal standards.