Would like to ask tenant to leave but now we have a change in regulations?

[cheeseandbranston]

I have a small renter. I have only put the rent up by £50 in the past 4 years because I had (wrongly) assumed the tenant was a good one, because she rarely asks for anything, is polite and pays on time.

however, I asked to walk through the property a month ago, and it was shocking. She had painted everything herself and down a very bad job, the garden was full of junk as was the garage, she has a pet that we never discussed and the carpets are all ripped up by the pet.

i didn’t say much at the time because my visit obviously made her super anxious - she covered all the floors with sheets and claimed she had just carpeted them when it was obvious that it was because she didn’t want me to see them. And she tried to stop me going outside claiming the rain had made the garden and garage dangerous.

I could see she was close to tears as I left.

i felt sorry for and after texted saying that I hoped the walk through didn’t make her too anxious and I wouldn’t need to do it again for another year - I didn’t want her to be frightened.

BUT, it has made me realise, I don’t want to rent my house any more. I took a couple of months to think about it, and the damage will be costly to put right, and I don’t want my own property at risk like this.

I had planned to tell her in January because I don’t want to make Christmas difficult for them. (Her boyfriend and teenager live there too)

but yesterday I saw renting rights are changing and you can no longer simply give a tenant notice?

does anyone have any advice please? Not just opinion, but actual knowledge of what I need to do?

thank you.

I am a LL (just one flat) and although we used an agent for the first very few years, they turned out to be utterly incompetent so we sacked them and began to manage it ourselves. Among other things (like apparently not understanding what is meant by a CONTRACT) I really had to chase them to return a tenant’s deposit, after he asked me to intervene. There was absolutely no reason for it, other than incompetence, and I suspect, cash flow reasons. The co. was a major High St chain in the area, too - not a one off small business.

As others here have mentioned, the new legislation has been enacted. If you want to get her evicted, the landlord action group are for you as it can be a technically specific procedure that is easy to get wrong without support. Be aware she may not leave when you serve the notice because the local authority or other housing advisors will tell her to stay put until she is evicted. What you have to plan for is an empty house. You will be charged double council tax on it, and the only way to get out of that is for you to put it up for sale immediately. You can qualify for the 1 year in relief of double council tax but no more, and that still lands you with a council tax bill. You also have to factor in empty homes insurance, which can be more expensive than landlord insurance for a property in view of it being unoccupied. I would not blame you one bit for evicting her in terms of what she has done to your property, and because of the new reforms. As a property developer, I would not touch the BTL market with a barge poll now that the Government have made it impossible for smaller landlords to survive without considerable effort. The new Renters Reform act is supposed to protect tenants, but landlords are leaving the sector in droves. The regulations, the lack of tax reliefs on mortgage interest, the behaviour of some tenants and the new law on tenancies are some hoops to jump through. It will cause an even bigger housing crisis ultimately through well-intended but impractical laws. You need to consider the property selling market is not great in many areas atm as landlords are ditching their properties, and there are less buyers able to meet the criteria of affordability in mortgage applications. If you did the house up, you might want to think about the airbnb market in your area. This might be a short term solution until the market picks up. I do this for a living and it is less hassle than residential landlord requirements if you are organised.

Don’t be letting a friend stay there after all this, you will end up with even bigger problems!

You sound clueless and she sounds like a bad tenant.

Why haven't you got a proper agent?

Have you got ALL of the required regulatory compliance certificates for the house in date? EICR?

If you haven't got your paperwork in order, the Courts will reject your application for possession, if your tenant refuses to leave under s.21.

As you say, the Renter's Reform Bill became law but they've not set out the dates for implementation.

You need REALLY good advice and to get shifting, especially if you're currently not compliant.

I see the OP has done a flounce. She is fucking clueless, despite the protestations. I despair.

“Give her a couple of months notice maybe” - what likely legally you have to do?

OP there is no need to take panic action - you’ll still be able to issue S21 notices for a number of months yet and they will remain valid as long as they were issued before the new legislation comes into force. Spend to time to properly understand your options (and obligations!). You might feel less emotional after your feeling settle and find you think a tenant who is reliably paying you the rent is not the worst thing and you can work proactively with her (via an improvement notice if necessary) to help bring things up to scratch. Basically you’re going to have to do it eventually with or without a tenant so why not see if you can do it with her - she still has a home, you are still getting an income.

The worst thing you could do from your perspective would be to inadvertently issue an invalid S21 notice now in a panic, tenant refuses to move before legal eviction, you wait months for it to come to court, it is dismissed as notice was invalid and then you can’t then issue another S21 because the new legislation will have come into force by then.

Sorry if this has already been asked but I haven’t read the full post. You sound a bit naive to the requirements of renting. Have you met all legal obligations such as a gas safety check before she moved in, providing Right to Rent information, and providing an EPC? If you have not, then you may not be able to evict via section 21.

OP, you need proper advice on this ASAP to make sure that you follow the law properly and understand each stage and what you need to do if the tenant doesn't leave on the expected date.

Either join NRLA and get advice, or engage an estate agent to deal with it all for you and pay their fees. It also puts somebody between you and the tenant.

Check the tenancy agreement, and an inventory (hopefully you did one to record the state it was in at the beginning) and if it states they are not allowed to paint or have to reinstate, then remind the tenant of that when you give them notice.

You are also allowed to raise the rent by a certain amount.

@cheeseandbranston If you doing continue as a landlord, I would highly recommend using a managing agent. The costs are offset against tax and the reduction in stress and peace of mind is absolutely worth it.

Edited to add - While you might not want to mention how she lives, you will likely be entitled to keep some of her deposit if there is damage so unless you don’t want to do this, the issue will need to be raised.

I would evict ASAP. Your tenants future living arrangements are not your problem. Afterall, I bet she doesn't show the same consideration to your living arrangements.

I think people are being a bit unfair to you OP. I have rented for many years, and in none of the properties would it have been OK for me to decorate or get a pet without the permission of the landlord.

One house really needed redecorating (wall paper coming of the walls which we had been promised would be sorted before we moved in, kitchen cupboards with peeling wood) - we asked if we could do some repainting and decorating and the LL refused, annoying for us but understandable for him as he couldn't be sure we would do it to a good standard or cause a mess as your tenant has.

I hope the situation works out OK for you, it sounds a stressful process for everyone involved, but I don't think it's unreasonable to want a tenant to leave who has done things behind your back, the trust is gone.

I forgot to mention, if you return to the thread, once the section 21 is issued, you cannot give her an extension to leave past the date you are seeking possession (minimum of 2 months). She isn’t legally obliged to leave, that’s what the court process is for, to seek legal eviction. However, if you take pity on her, give her leeway and say you allow her to stay even a day longer, then you have invalidated the section 21. If she then doesn’t leave, she is in breach of contract. And you can start court proceedings.

Thanks for this.
yes, honestly, when she went in it was a really pretty and fresh house with a recently updated kitchen, all neutral decoration and a lovely garden full of established plants and nice deck etc.
it was in quite a state on the walk through, piles or rotting rubbish and plastic sheeting in the garden, and the garage was packed with junk and she’d tried to hide the pet in there... Beyond wear and tear, all a bit bonkers - and putting down sheets and claiming she’d just shampooed carpets and when really they were just really damaged….

I did look up all the regs, provide the contractor and handbook, store the deposit with gov etc.

Ive made an effort to be kind, keep her rent low and communicate kindly because that’s my choice.

I never wanted to be a landlord, my circumstances changed suddenly because of a bereavement and a divorce and I was working things out as sensibly as I could.

to the rude and superior people on here who seem to energy from jumping on someone and telling them they’re hopeless, nieave, neglectful of responsibilities etc, or implying I am lying or covering something up, fuck all the way off.

this forum is to ask questions of other women who may have answers. If you choose to use it to get a little ego rush from being bossy and obnoxious that’s up to you, but no thank you.

I refer you to my below message.

No-one is saying this is a good tenant who is following the letter of tenancy agreement.

Only that the OP has responsibility to the tenant and to herself (as it’s protecting her asset worth at least six figures) to know what the fuck she is doing.

I simply can’t think of another business category where you would see people being so naive as to their basic role and responsibilities as is so frequently the case with landlords.

Renters Reform will not harm your position OP - you still have the right (in fact it will be made easier) to evict on the grounds of selling or moving in yourself.

So, presuming you are looking to sell or use the house yourself there will be no impediment to giving the Tennant notice.

I would suggest letting a friend live there in these new circumstances would be sailing close to the wind as it would seem like you have moved in a new tenant.

If you want to sell it then this is a valid reason to give your tenant notice.

Serving the s21 notice is the easy bit. If you need to go to court for an eviction then you will have to have every piece of legal paperwork in order otherwise it will get thrown out.
So, check through everything you have, along with the evidence that it was all correctly served with your original contract before you serve the S21.
As and when this tenant leaves, DO NOT rent to a friend instead.This will be even more difficult and stressful. Tidy up the house asap and get it on the market at a sensible price.
if you need professional help, look for an eviction specialist, not a general solicitor. Google Mark Dawson. He comes very highly recommended from other landlords.

There are landlord forums where you can get advice e.g. https://forums.landlordzone.co.uk/c/welcome-start-here/

www.propertytribes.com/

https://www.landlordforumproject.co.uk/

What day of the month is rent paid as that affects the date you tell them to leave. You can give longer that 2 months, that is a minimum but you may not get rent paid and you cant take rent once the notice expires or the tenancy continues - although you can still apply to the court for a possession notice. https://www.gov.uk/evicting-tenants/section-21-and-section-8-notices

What day of the month is rent paid as that affects the date you tell them to leave.

Wrong, unless it states this in the tenancy agreement.

you cant take rent once the notice expires

Wrong. The tenant is liable for rent until they give you vacant possession.

Why do people offer advice when they don't know what they are talking about?

@cheeseandbranston OP i have to ask, how do you know the carpets are badly damaged if she covered them? Were they actually damaged or did you assume due to the state of the house? Did you actually see the carpets?

Also, from what you've posted, I'm not seeing actual damage. More so litter and clutter.

The stuff all over the garden can easily be cleaned up by them. It's not like they've dug up the garden, have they?

The badly painted job can easily be repainted properly. They've not left holes in the walls, have they?

They can have the carpets professionally cleaned if dirty or are there holes and tears in them?

They can have the garage cleaned out so they can store their items properly.

I get how upsetting it is to see junk all over the house you own but since they've lived there for years, you have to expect that people - especially those who clearly aren't the neat and tidy sort - will have some junk. You simply have to give them written notice to improve these things. Tell them to have it all cleaned out to a good standard.

As for the pet, you can demand a deposit or something.

Besides that, you say they pay the rent on time and have no requests from you. I don't think they're necessarily bad tenants. Just very messy people like a lot of posters here are.

If you really just don't want them to stay any longer, that's fine too. But I just wanted you to look at your claim a bit more rationally first.

Yes you are right unfortunately even scumbags need somewhere to live. I have very little sympathy with landlords having rented myself in the past. However if all the landlords stopped being landlords what would happen? I guess we will find out to some extent when the law changes and if it makes a lot of people reconsider if being a landlord is worth the hassle.

How do bad tenants get references when seeking a rental property?

They don’t. They approach the council after being evicted, who then help with finding another private rental as there is usually no social housing available in most areas.

One reason that landlords are selling up is that they can no longer easily refuse to rent to people on benefits or a very low income. Whether it’s fair or not, it’s going to lead to a greater shortage of rental properties.

Get legal advice. The new regs don't allow renters to trash a place. Hopefully her deposit will cover some of the damage.

So she's been paying the rent on time every month for 4 years, been absolutely no trouble, and you've never once bothered to check in on her?

It's not your home, it's hers. And you're getting a VERY easy passive income out of it, and your mortgage paid.

After 4 years of letting a house you would expect to have to have the place redecorated. If she's actually done damage, then you have the right to argue your case with the deposit scheme you placed her deposit with at the start of the tenancy.