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

I'm in this fix right now, LL sold house, I found out when (ssc) board went up! Then was told I could stay during sale process, I was then told buyer pulled out, 2 months later got a text saying Help! House now sold, need to give you section 21 asap and can I move out as quick as possible, I'm a single dad of 2 and no private LL's anywhere near my town, EA's tell me as I only earn £28000 I can only get affordability on £750 p/m rental, but 1 bed flats go to that, 2 beds are now around £1000, this is why some of us are stuck with nowhere to go.

Thanks all for your insights. It's interesting seeing things from a different perspective. This house wasn't supposed to be making any money I.e. I wasn't renting it and saving hundreds of pounds a month. The rent covered the mortgage. The letting agency asked me in 2023 if I wanted to increase the rent by £150 and given the house was going up I declined because my mortgage was being covered and that's all I needed.

The house has been on the market since July 2023 so they've known for a very long time. Again I suggested at that point they are probably better off moving particularly with inconvenienced viewings etc but they insisted they wanted to stay for the interim period.

The Section 21 was served in January and they had time to find something. I've been as flexible as I could have been re their move out dates.

The letting agent himself said they don't want to move as he'd sent them a list of suitable properties within the price range but they declined to follow up on- 2 of which were his properties within his company.

I sought legal advice twice about serving a Section 13 to increase rent whilst the Section 21 was in place. The solicitors said its two separate processes and that doesn't have any impact on the Section 21. So if the tenant is abiding by the law and they're able to stay in the home until court evicts them because that's what housing legislation says then housing legislation also is clear that I can increase the rent whilst that possession order process is in place. You cannot pick and choose which part of legislation you want to abide by because that suits your needs.

It's interesting the comments that I'm being unreasonable especially increasing the rent but aren't they being unreasonable having not vacated my property?

I feel I've been a fair landlord to them. All repairs often got completed on the same day- it was a new house as we did all the work when we moved in (we only stayed in our for a year) so it was in good working order. At Christmas in 2022 and 2023 I gave them £200 off the rent because well it was Christmas and they had young children and I could manage it.

Now it's just a waiting game as the application has gone in for the possession order and just need to wait for a court date.

Thank you all for your insights!

Sounds like you've given them opportunity to move on, especially if they have multiple incomes, I'm on a single wage with 2 kids and would of acted on your kind offers.

They sold with you in situ? The new owners are now your landlords then! You don't need to speak to your previous landlord any further. Unless he means he's had an offer and didn't bother service you notice before marketing? How did they do viewings if you didn't know about the sale?

I am a former long let landlord, was so for 15 years, i.e. very good grasp of landlord/tenant law.* I’ve also been a AST tenant myself, so I know how it looks and feels from the other side.

From what you say, you have been very fair with the tenant.

The interest rate hike in late 2022 was due to Truss’s disastrous premiership - unpredictable event.

You met in person with the tenants in April 2023 and explained your financial situation. You told them you were flexible. They said they were interested in maybe buying and asked you to wait till they got mortgage advice. You agreed.

You then waited, got no response, and eventually put the house on the market two months later in June 2023, and served a Section 21 notice under Housing Act 1988 in early Jan 2024

But you should’ve served the Section 21 notice much earlier than you did.

Note that a Section 21 notice is not a ’notice to quit’ nor an ‘eviction notice’ and does not oblige the tenant to vacate at expiry of the notice, it simply entitles the landlord to apply to the court for a possession order after expiry of the notice. Probably, the letting agent didn’t advise you of this.

Also important to note that you have no right of entry to the property for buyer viewings, regardless of what it says in the tenancy contract. If you enter the property against the tenant’s express wishes, they could claim unlawful harassment under Protection from Harassment Act 1977 (a favourite tactic of the ‘professional’ tenant).

It is entirely reasonable to serve a Section 13 notice to increase the rent, meanwhile. You have no idea how long the tenants may remain in situ, given the delays with court procedure for eviction.

In terms of ultimately claiming against the tenant for unpaid rent, - while you can certainly obtain a CCJ against them, in order to enforce it you need to know where to find the tenants (after they move out). So, seek out work details, etc, gain whatever contact information you can get.

• Rusty on deposit protection, as it’s been a while..., but it’s possible your S.21 notice may be invalid if the deposit wasn’t correctly protected - letting agents are notoriously ignorant.

Hi, apparently the lady lived next door years ago and took this house at face value for her to move into they used old stock photos to show her the inside by looks of it, Surveyor came next day after board went up end of February, but second survey was cancelled because she pulled out, then I was served Section 21 3rd of may a day after getting the message house is sold which all seems very strange to me.

@PineappleTime

Sorry - a bit garbled earlier. It's difficult to rent your house out now. When my friends worked abroad, they agreed a year. Everyone knew it was a year and tenants moved out as agreed. Now they could stay so where would my friends go now? It's become so difficult when you cannot trust anyone and the law is going to work against landlords like my friends.

Long term rental is a different matter but short term rents are now a nightmare and Labour will make it worse.

Tenants have always been able to stay after the end of a fixed term period. That's not new! The reason that so many are forced to is in part due to 13 years of Tory government and spiralling rent. Following from however many years of boom under nulab and stemming from thatcher's policies. Short term rentals aren't a solution to the housing problem for anyone and frankly shouldn't be encouraged anyway. It rarely benefits tenants to have a house just for a year.

Utter word salad. You haven't a clue what you're talking about.

@RogueFemale

Are you always so nasty? What is word salad? The experience of my friends? I'm just trying to explain it's easy to think tenants will leave and you get your house back. In the distant past they did. Now: they don't. So don't rent an asset out if you want it back.

If, by nasty, you mean forthright and honest, then, yes I am.

Google word salad.

Well yes. Accidental landlords are a plague.

They might be a plague but they own a lot of houses tenants will find disappear as they are sold off. Landlords who decide to rent out and don't use an agent are mad and even doing it at all is madness because you cannot trust anyone. I hope tenants like professional landlords who are going to put up rental prices too as, guess what m, they also borrow money. The cost of borrowing money will not be 2% again.

@DrySherry yes- that landlord was actually a very nice landlord who felt really bad as he needed to sell yet had 'sold it to us' Asa long term rental only 9 months before.

He came up with it as a pragmatic solution - as he could see the fact of suddenly having to find around £7k out the blue was a bit of a no go .

They won't disappear into thin air will they? They will be bought either by other landlords or by owner occupiers thereby removing (ultimately) a household from the renter pool.

@PineappleTime

They might well go from the rental sector. It's certainly already causing rents to go up - we have a housing shortage. If there was a plentiful supply, rents would come down because it would be a renters' market. Obviously higher interest rates don't help but a chronic shortage of homes is driving very high rents and attacking decent landlords makes the situation worse. .

Yes they might, but the housing shortage isn’t going to be solved by amateur (laughable to call them decent) landlords who just want their mortgage covering for a short period with no consideration that their money spinner is also someone’s home.

@SocialButterfly101 you need to legally enforce the section 21 and commence eviction proceedings if they wont move out. dont take any more shit from them.

While I do support Tenants right things like this just reduce the number of rental properties available. There are far more Tenants than houses and Landlords are selling in droves so things just get more difficult for people needing to rent who may not look like perfect Tenants on paper.

They are idiots because a court eviction will not help their future plans.

And were obviously never going to cooperate once they took down the For Sale board.

Just pursue the due process with all possible vigour.

Thanks all for your help! Rent day is tomorrow so we'll see what they pay!

@SocialButterfly101 any update? Did they pay your full rent? Agree with others- just puruse with the court process and get them out!

When I read housing may Call you . For a reference. People often use the word housing. When they are talking about social housing. Not saying for definite as I could have it totally wrong . But I feel they had no intention of buying your house. They probably know they are going the eviction route but messed about instead of being honest.

Social housing can go to people that work it's not just for non working families. Council will ask their housing history abd why thry left each property.

Eviction route can take a while so you may have them there for a while yet

Nothing from the agency yet regarding rent.

Further exploration has uncovered that they actually own a 4 bedroom home in the area. It's a matter of public record to access title deeds of any property and they are both clearly listed as home owners of this home. I suspect they may not have informed housing of this property if they're after a council house. I'm unsure what to do with this info but that's the update so far!

CFs