Tenant Issues!

[SocialButterfly101]

Hi

I just wondered if anyone could provide advise on the next step. Apologies for the long read.

I currently rent out my house. Following a divorce in 2022 I didn't want to live in the house any longer so I moved out of the area and put my house on rent. My current tenants moved in June 2022. On the whole I've had a good relationship with them. In March 2023 the female tenant contacted me asking if the tenancy will be fixed again and requested the rent not to increase. However this was the time mortgage rates rocketed and my fixed term was ending in December 2023 and therefore I decided to sell as I wasn't ever going to move back in with the bad memories etc. I met with the tenants in April 2023 and broke the news to them that I was selling but I was absolutely flexible re what they wanted to do I.e. if they wanted to move out they could and viewings etc would work around them. They advised they were looking to buy the house and requested I wait until they got some mortgage advise. I absolutely agreed and as they were already living there they were my first choice in selling too. Fast forward about a 6 weeks- I'd been chasing and chasing and still hadn't heard back. At around June 2023 I said I was going to have to put the house up because for 8weeks they hadn't confirmed their position so I paid an online agent and put it on sale.

It wasn't of course the best time to sell given the mortgage rates etc. The tenants were clear they loved the house and it appeared they didn't want it to sell- they'd even taken the for sale board down which of course I challenged. I have been open and honest with them throughout that my mortgage rate is ending and on top of that being single now my self assessment tax bill had been 6k. So alongside the increase in mortgage and the tax I simply couldn't afford to keep it and if I had any other choice I would let them stay.

In Nov 2023 the estate agent said sometimes tenanted properties are difficult to sell and suggested I ask them to leave and see if I can sell it empty. I of course did not want to do that with Christmas and New Years coming up so I waited and served the Section 21 early January again apologising and explaining the situation from my side. They again said maybe by March they might by it.

Throughout January and February they continued asking for more time sighting various reasons which I politely declined again explaining my current situation and why I needed to sell. A week before the eviction notice was going to expire the lady messaged me stating she would give me 2k for my tax bill if i let them stay and I again politley declined as my priority was to sell. 2 days before the Section 21 was expiring the lady WhatsApped me and said I might get a call from housing for a reference which I said was absolutely fine. I asked if they were moving in 2 days and she replied yes. Then the next day (day before expiration of section 21) they said their house had fell through and they weren't moving. I asked via the letting agency what their plans were and they said they didn't know. On that day I gave them 24hrs notice to inspect the property and when I went round the next day nothing was packed and it was clear they had no intention of moving.

Since this date they have been very evasive with the agents not responding to emails or calls so unfortunately I've now had to apply to court for the eviction process to commence.

On April 2nd i informed her the rent was going up from 1500 to 1800 and they were of course free to vacate. The letting agency gave them formal rent increase notice on the 20th April- so they've known for about 6 weeks that it's going up. Rent is due next week and they have emailed the agents yesterday stating they can only pay 1600 as they cannot afford more. My view is they're renting 4 bedroom house and if they aren't able to afford it then they should move and downsize. For 2 years I hadn't increased the rent out of respect and actually I was selling so they were already being inconvenienced so I didn't want to be more difficult.

To give you an understanding my mortgage payments pre Dec were 1100- they're now 1985. You're probably wondering why I'd gone for the house as mortgage rates were going to increase but when the house was bought I was with ny ex husband so it would have been manageable.

Anyway if they refuse to pay the increase- would I just put a separate application to county court/Small claims court? for the rent they owe- however much will be accrued whilst the eviction process is taking place?

It seems that might want a council house but there's the man, the woman and 2 adult sons who are working in that home and 2 other under 18 children. There's other families who are actually destitute that need council support but these guys are all working. Also to add before they moved into mine they'd actually sold their house so my place was a stop gap until they brought something else so in conversation before all this had happened the woman had said that have a deposit to put as a down payment on their next house.

As you can tell I'm extremely frustrated so any other advice will be welcomed.

Thanks

What do you mean 'it's all treasured home which was never the intention'?

🙄

Business relationships are generally mutually beneficial.

These people are just taking the piss. LL are not the local Housing Association.

OP,

Court eviction, then immediate escalation to the High Court when they ignore the deadline. Also, take them to court for any rent owed and absolutely NO reference.

Let them try taking the piss out of the council emergency housing.

🙄

It's the OP's home. She ownes it.

Tenants need to stop with the delusion that a rented property is "theirs".

The Tennants aren't paying for a failing business, they are taking the piss and refusing to move out of a house which they don't own.

This behaviour is exactly why LL are getting out of the business, meaning less rentals, meaning higher rents. They are the problem, not the OP.

I had to stop reading because I don’t understand why you haven’t gone to court and got the baliffs sent round to get them out. They clearly aren’t going to leave

Well you can put a separate claim on the County Court for the unpaid rent but the biggest problem you'll have is that you're evicting them so you'll probably not know where they are.

Just really perplexed as to why you didn't serve the S21 so that they were evicted before the foxed rate on your mortgage ended?

They're not taking the piss. Tenancies are legal contracts and tenants have the right to stay until the tenancy is terminated.

If landlords can't cope with following the law they shouldn't be landlords.

However, increasing the rent after you have already served a S21 notice is a lousy thing to do. To then attempt to reclaim for unpaid increased rent at small claims, is even more unreasonable. I’m surprised you morally think this is ok.

Can you even increase the rent once a S21 notice has been served? I mean obviously you can do what you want but legally, do they actually have to pay the increase? I’m not sure how you can legally expect tenants to pay you more money once you’ve evicted them (if they haven’t signed a new tenancy agreement etc)

The first line of your post is incorrect. By law, it is the owners property and the tenants home. Only the tenant or the court can end a tenancy - it is not within the remit of the owner. They can only ‘request’ that the property is returned to them. The tenant is legally allowed to remain in their home until court ordered bailiffs arrive.

@Hereyoume it's the tenant's home, they live there. Homes are to be lived in.

The house I live in is my family home regardless of who owns it.

The owner doesn't want to live it in so they should have sold it.

And this is why amateur landlords need to be eradicated from the market.

@OneForTheToad

yeah because that'll really help with the lack of rental stock.

No, it's a s13 notice.

You're incorrect, morally and legally. Also it's spelt tenant not tennant.

If amateur landlords sell up the properties will be bought either by professional landlords or by owner occupiers which will remove renters from the renter pool. Maybe one day the government will show some vision and buy properties for social housing too, who knows.
Whatever you think, more housing stock being released to the market isn't either a good thing or a bad thing. It doesn't automatically mean fewer homes for people who need them.

And this is why the rental market is so difficult for renters, due to inexperienced landlords such as yourself.

Tenant is exercising their legal right to stay, and it is legally "their" home until the court has evicted them.

What reasonable LL wants to keep going to court? Courts are clogged up. If a tenancy agreement ends, it ends. It's become too difficult for ordinary folk to navigate so it will be larger companies in this sector. If tenants won't move out before a court case, what reasonable person would rent to them? It's sad.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

It is sad, in my town a private LL has advertised a house on local Facebook page, 90 people have enquired in 3 days, some have commented "is this for real" as rental stock is so low, this is why tenants are staying beyond section 21 notice.including myself. No normal person would want to go through the courts to be evicted, there just aren't enough homes for everyone.

Usually the reason tenants don't move out before eviction (and it really doesn't happen that often!) is because they can't find anywhere to move to on their own and they need to be housed by the council. Leaving voluntarily would make them intentionally homeless.
People with other options than emergency accommodation usually take them.

As tenants ourselves albeit in a very lovely house, I never forget it's my home but it's not my property - one thing that landlords forget though (admittedly it's not really their issue) is keeping on moving costs hard cash each time, and it's not small especially if unfurnished houses ! Not just the cost of moving which will likely be several thousand on a house that size if unfurnished , but the fact you are having to put down 5 weeks deposit plus months rent which at this level will be around £4000 - and needs paying out well 'before' you get your deposit back on the other house. I've had it take 3 weeks to get deposits back . I appreciate situations change but there are a lot of amateur landlords out there who change their minds like the wind and then wonder why tenants drag their feet- chances are they are probably having to 'save up' to actually be able to move. One landlord we had desparately needed to sell quickly and actually came and checked the house over before we moved and then paid our deposit and moving costs on our new house - and then retained the deposit as we agreed- this was a huge help! And enabled us to move within 5 weeks.

"One landlord we had desparately needed to sell quickly and actually came and checked the house over before we moved and then paid our deposit and moving costs on our new house"

Actually that might be quite a helpful idea for the OP to suggest to her Tenant's she could do. It would probably solve the issue for her considerably quicker and enable her to be free to sell.

*Fixed not foxed!

Tenancy agreements don't just end. They can be terminated only by the tenant or the court following a warrant of execution.