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Original poster

She wants me out. What are my rights?

72 replies

Dilraj68 · 18/06/2022 17:41

So that dreaded day has come, my landlady is evicting me. She's giving me 3 months notice and I'll need to be out by 18th September. Estate agent will come to value the house next week and builders will be in to renovate the house ready for its sale.

Gutted is an understatement as we've loved this home so much. Landlady is also a friend which makes it a bit awkward as she's being a bit too cold and clinical. I understand she's got to get things done as she's living in America and doing things her end delays things cos of the time zone.

I always thought the LL is to give 6 months notice and not 3? She's insisting that we had an oral agreement ( moved in 5 years ago ) but I don't recall this. Hopefully it's in my contract and I'll check when I find it.

It's incredibly hard to find housing within 3 months and I'm open to areas out of our comfort zone even if it means me driving DD to school ( I'm hoping there's no disruption to her Year 9)

Any advice you lovely peeps?

OP posts:
CallOnMe · 18/06/2022 18:38

Sorry I thought you were a single person - sharing a room isn’t possible then.

Cameleongirl · 18/06/2022 18:39

I appreciate that she’s your friend, but I wouldn’t allow builders in to do renovations while you’re living there. Perhaps a compromise would be to allow them in to take measurements, etc., but not to start work until you’ve moved out?

Just my personal view, but I wouldn’t wait to be evicted unless I really couldn’t find anywhere else. Start looking now, but hold firm on the renovations, that’s a entirely unreasonable request. Good luck.💐

Cameleongirl · 18/06/2022 18:41

Just saw your update, I’m glad the builders aren’t starting until after the three months.

NoSquirrels · 18/06/2022 18:42

Three months should be plenty of time. I understand it’s an upheaval but it is long enough to find somewhere else, you just don’t have the luxury of being really specific about location or ideal house etc. But if you’re open to a wider search area and willing to compromise you have the time to find somewhere. It’s not like house purchasing, where 3 months would be a short timescale. The rental market moves fast and landlords don’t want voids between tenancies so just get yourself on all the local letting agency lists and be proactive.

ClocksGoingBackwards · 18/06/2022 18:43

Three months is plenty, you’re just experiencing the initial shock because you weren’t expecting to have to move.

You’ve already got viewings lined up, and you may well find you’re ready to move before the three months is up if you find something quickly.

MrsTerryPratchett · 18/06/2022 18:47

Petronus · 18/06/2022 18:03

Tell her to do one about the builders. There is no way I would be paying rent whilst builders traipsed through my house for the landlords benefit.

Well it's also for OP's friend's benefit. Which is obviously why it's best to to mix business and personal.

I think I would consider if the friendship means you were offered the place for less money, or over other people who weren't her friend. Because if it's a very clear business contract, it is different to your friend helping you and you accepting that help but behaving like it's strictly business.

Cyclebabble · 18/06/2022 18:50

Not sure where you are, but where I live the rental market goes really quickly, i.e. you are looking at maybe 4-6 weeks tops to move in when a rental is agreed so three months sounds okay for notice. In reality you may have a gap before you can start to look. As a thought, the building work will be disruptive, but I did quite well once out of agreeing a rolling contract whilst a property was being renovated and sold-it took longer than expected and I lived therefore six months on half rent. Might be worth a discussion with your friend if you can cope with the building work?

m00rfarm · 18/06/2022 18:53

Has she been paying tax on the rental income? Have you had receipts for payments?

Cameleongirl · 18/06/2022 19:04

m00rfarm · 18/06/2022 18:53

Has she been paying tax on the rental income? Have you had receipts for payments?

The LL’s tax status is none of the OP’s business, tbh. The receipts are.

I really don’t like the way MNer’s assume that LL’s are automatically in the wrong when they want to sell their properties and that the tenants should do everything they can to prevent them. This sounds like an amicable five-year business arrangement that now needs to end, perhaps because the LL now lives abroad. Given that they’re friends, I doubt LL will want to see her friend homeless, hence the extra month’s notice.

SpiderinaWingMirror · 18/06/2022 19:23

In addition to rightmove etc, post on your town Facebook site. Local family looking for long term let, references and deposit in hand. The area I live in, you would have better luck.

caringcarer · 18/06/2022 19:27

LL has to give you 2 month's notice but if you want to leave it is 1 month. Your LL is giving you more notice than they have to. I think a lot of LL's will be selling up ahead of new renters rights bill about to go through parliament. Private rentals will be many fewer.

MrsTerryPratchett · 18/06/2022 19:28

I really don’t like the way MNer’s assume that LL’s are automatically in the wrong when they want to sell their properties and that the tenants should do everything they can to prevent them. This sounds like an amicable five-year business arrangement that now needs to end, perhaps because the LL now lives abroad.

This. There is a really nasty undercurrent of ' landlords are evil and deserve to be punished' which seems to override friendship in this case, and common decency in others. It's very odd.

I think the current commodification of housing is utterly dreadful. But does that mean any amount of shitty behaviour is justified against individual people who are landlords? I mean Amazon and Starbucks still make money so the class war isn't working!

caringcarer · 18/06/2022 19:30

Where abouts on country are you OP?

B1rthis · 18/06/2022 19:41

If you have a child and you're being evicted I think there are time delays that landlords etc have to adhere to.

ClearButtons · 18/06/2022 20:02

MrsTerryPratchett · 18/06/2022 19:28

I really don’t like the way MNer’s assume that LL’s are automatically in the wrong when they want to sell their properties and that the tenants should do everything they can to prevent them. This sounds like an amicable five-year business arrangement that now needs to end, perhaps because the LL now lives abroad.

This. There is a really nasty undercurrent of ' landlords are evil and deserve to be punished' which seems to override friendship in this case, and common decency in others. It's very odd.

I think the current commodification of housing is utterly dreadful. But does that mean any amount of shitty behaviour is justified against individual people who are landlords? I mean Amazon and Starbucks still make money so the class war isn't working!

I don't think it's necessarily that landlords should be punished - just reminding OP that if you have no where else to go, then they have to wait for you to leave or take you to court. Sure it would be nice for everyone to leave on the agreed date but that is not always possible. The rental market is shocking at the moment - there is nothing at all to rent in my town at the moment, and anything that does come up has 10+ applicants. 3 months would be a tight timeline to find somewhere to be honest.

Imagine it was the same way for home owners - someone puts an offer on your house and then makes you leave in a couple of months regardless if you had somewhere to go to or not. It just wouldn't happen.

MrsTerryPratchett · 18/06/2022 20:34

I don't think it's necessarily that landlords should be punished

Not everyone. But there were definitely comments, and there always are, which are worse. I'm assuming the one about taxes was one of them.

Spohn · 18/06/2022 23:03

This reply has been withdrawn

This message has been withdrawn at the poster's request

Spohn · 18/06/2022 23:04

Wrong thread, sorry! No idea how that happened, I was reading the thread where a woman is wanting to be worse off just to have a bloke 😂

Anniefrenchfry · 18/06/2022 23:08

m00rfarm · 18/06/2022 18:53

Has she been paying tax on the rental income? Have you had receipts for payments?

This can’t be a serious post? Im what universe does a renter have the right to review the landlords tax returns or vice versa.

jay55 · 19/06/2022 07:12

When the landlord in overseas in some situations the tenant is supposed to deduct tax from the rent and pay it to hmrc. That would be when the tax status of the landlord is the ops business.

DirtyteaCup · 19/06/2022 07:17

jay55 · 19/06/2022 07:12

When the landlord in overseas in some situations the tenant is supposed to deduct tax from the rent and pay it to hmrc. That would be when the tax status of the landlord is the ops business.

Would you like to provide evidence for that?
the ll is in the USA

Twiglets1 · 19/06/2022 07:40

Your friend is being completely reasonable in giving you 3 months notice and booking builders for after the date you should move out. I know it must be hard to have to leave a property before you feel ready but tenants should always remember the property is not their property. They don’t own it and the landlords are not being mean to give notice that they want their properties back.

Im not a landlord myself and never have been but I find it strange to see on MN so much bad feeling in general towards landlords who simply want to exercise their legal right to end a rental agreement.

Original poster
Dilraj68 · 19/06/2022 08:27

I'm in Surrey!

OP posts:
Original poster
Dilraj68 · 19/06/2022 08:31

So the LL has only emailed me giving me notice. There's no mention of section 21 and I'm not going to remind her.

She's being extra nice, promising me a glowing reference in the hope that I'll go quietly.

We've sorted out the deposit which, thank god she's put it into the depository scheme so that's one issue resolved. I reminded her too that after she left, her luggage was still in my storage do she paid for that too.

OP posts:
bjjgirl · 19/06/2022 08:45

I don't understand all the bad feeling towards land lords, she is your friend and you can't have possibly believed she would never sell the house.

It's her asset that she needs to liquidise. She is trying to be as nice as possible and organise things for when you have left etc. it is not her fault the rental market is expensive, it is not her fault you can not afford to buy, it is not her fault you will struggle to find somewhere else.

Direct your anger / frustration to the elected officials, the system