Landlord evicting us

[Mummyof2asd]

Hi I have renting in a property for 5 years the land lord has told us we have to be out by February as he is selling. I’m a carer for my two autistic children, my husband and Is self employed but doesn’t earn a great wage, we are on universal credits. My son after a year out of school and severe anxiety got into a Sen school a few months ago and he is like a different childhood been doing so well, I’m so scared he will have to leave his school. This property was with a private landlord a friend of a friend . so the rent was really cheap. We can’t afford to rent on one wage, plus estate agents will not accept just my husband‘s wage as income. Would I be entitled to help from the council? I just don’t no what to do so worried. My other son was due to start the same Sen school in September feel so gutted it was such a fight to get them in.Their both autistic and on DLA high rate care . Any advise would be great. I suffer from anxiety and this is making me really really anxious and worried. Obviously renting you have to expect this but just been such a hard couple of years with my child’s diagnosis and constant fights for school. My child have a lot of needs they do not sleep so I don’t sleep I can’t even think straight atm, they are very pound, meltdowns , throw things been lucky with neighbours that they understand this as we aren’t the quietest
a neighbours so imagining being in a flat with my two ASD children terrifies me as of how pound they can be when stimming ect or melt downs . Feel so drained and clueless what to do, feel I have let my child down so much but not providing them a home if their own . Sorry if this don’t make sense or for spelling and grammar. Writing this through tears I’m just so fearful .

It’s a lot harder to sell a property with tenants in situ though as it is off putting to anyone who doesn’t want to be a LL.

And even someone who does want to be a LL might want the property empty for a while so the Seller will probably get less money for the property with a tenant in situ.

Call Shelter first thing this morning.

Your landlord has not given formal notice, I presume the text was a heads up and a letter will follow in the post. You will need this to be prioritised on the council housing list.

But call Shelter as your top priority. They will give you better advice than any of us on here.

That’s the bit I don’t understand - surely many LLs will just pretend they are planning to sell and then not do so once the tenant has been evicted? I’m not convinced the new law will make things that different in reality but I could well be missing something.

As a landlord I have only used Section 21 eviction once. The tenant stopped paying her rent and freely admitted that she wanted to be evicted so she could be housed by the council. ( I could have used Section 8, but court waiting times were much longer).
As well as the court order for her to leave she was ordered to pay the court fees, and then bailiffs fees. Upon application the court collected this via an attachment of earnings order.
I don’t have much sympathy for her as she engineered the situation. I do feel sorry for people who have no choice.
Councils have a duty to help people who are threatened with homelessness, but most don’t have many properties, so employ every delaying tactic possible.
They should help once the court ordered eviction date has been reached, but still make people wait for bailiffs, even though some landlords have successfully sued councils for compensation in that situation.

Contact the council, they have a duty to try to prevent homelessness now. It's not like it used to be where they won't house you until you are evicted by bailiffs. It does sometimes still happen but they do at least try to find an alternative now.

Tell Shelter that. They’ve campaigned for years against private landlords. They’re a disgrace.

I agree with this . Blame the government for attacking landlords from all sides .

Under the new law, they will not be allowed to relet for 12 months if they don’t sell.

Which for decent landlords, will have unintended consequences that affect tenants. As most of government regulation tends to do. Bad landlords continue to do whatever the hell they want.

They have always had a duty to prevent homelessness and they should not have been telling people to stay put until eviction although it has become common practice due to lack of supply.

Ah! Thank you 🙏🏻

Who pays for the eviction & legal process to get tenants to leave a property that the owner wants to sell?

Technically they're not, but if there's lots of potential tenants for every property then in reality they can, sadly.

If he is a nice man he will understand.

Just explain your predicament that you can’t possibly afford rental elsewhere and that whilst you appreciate his situation unfortunately in order to get help through the correct channels you have to be made forcibly homeless by demonstrating it wasn’t your choice to leave

you need to start thinking about packing your house up, getting your furniture and possessions into storage in time for when you are forcibly evicted. When that time comes you need to just be able to walk out with bare minimum really and then it’s a case of straight on the phone and saying “I’m homeless I’ve nowhere to sleep tonight I have two SEN kids- find me somewhere now”

a good council will give you a support worker. Don’t be worried if social services get involved. Use this to add weight to your need for a house.

make sure you understand and use the equality act. Your children are considered disabled and the council need to consider that when placing you they need to ensure their needs are being met so reasonable distance and access to school, transport, type of accommodation etc.

I assume that they will have EHCP and as such that will help strengthen that.

make sure you are in receipt of all benefits before you get evicted such as carers / attendance/ housing etc

As others have said Shelter are the ones you need to speak to but also if there are any other local charities that help out then seek them out too - I know there’s a place up near Manchester where a woman helps homeless people find accommodation and gets a lot of help from local landlords etc for that so that’s great. If there’s anything like that near you it could be useful

You don't.

I have some slightly different advice (but yes, call Shelter first thing and also make a CAB appointment)

While you are certainly in a difficult situation, your anxiety is making it much more distressing for you. It is clear from your posts that you’re focusing on ‘what if’ and - understandably- worrying about your children and things that are not immediate problems. Anxiety is tiring, and the overwhelm can actually prevent you taking helpful action.

Get hold of books by Dr Claire Weekes - preferably on audiobook. Her method of Face - Accept - Float - Let time pass will help you cope with the symptoms of anxiety and take steps to solve your problems. You’re obviously a capable person who’s been able to advocate for your children very effectively.

You don’t need to go through life suffering the horrible and exhausting symptoms of anxiety, no matter what problems you face. Dr Weekes’ method will enable you to cope with your situation no matter what, and given that this situation is likely to go on for a long time, and you’re already sleep deprived, you really need to look after yourself.

Anxiety can feel like a life sentence but it really, really doesn’t have to be. Good luck.

Also, do write to your MP. Keep them informed as to your contact with the council, Shelter and the LL.

Your MP is duty bound to respond to your request.

My mum had housing issues, I contacted
every organisation I could.

In your email go heavy on your DDs SEN.

I know some may not have faith in the government, but they have a job to do. Housing and education for their constituents is part
of the job.

It sounds like Wnglish law is catching up with Scottish Housing Law.

In Scotland you have to show evidence that you are selling, e.g. advert om Rightmove, Home Report etc.

Whether this then gets checked for actual sales I don't know.

Can you offer to pay him a more realistic rent? I know people who have done this and stayed in their rental.

They advise that because you won't be entitled to be rehoused by the council if you leave voluntarily. Honestly in your place I wouldn't feel guilty if the landlord had to pay a bit more by way of tax for a few extra months whilst going through the lawful processes.

Yes, you need to speak to Shelter and, yes, it sounds as though you may well have longer than the landlord intended in the property as it will take a while to sort everything out so that he can serve a s21 but, overall, I imagine it will be less stressful for you if you can find somewhere else to live before you get evicted as you will get an element of choice as to where you live (even if that choice is very limited due to affordability) rather than having to go wherever the council can find you for emergency accommodation.
So that you can properly househunt, I suggest finding out all of the benefits that you are entitled to so that you know what your budget is.

It was be unlawful for the landlord to relet the house for 12 months so it will be monitored that way.

Ignore me. Quoteing wrong post

partially true, but the duty can be met by housing in

• a B&B (with possible need to frequently move on to another)
• a hostel (less likely for a family)
• a property in an entirely different part of the UK

Several refusals to accept what is offered puts you back down the list as they have met their duty.

So sorry OP. Youll get good advice from Shelter.

Your landlord may be a nice person @Mummyof2asd but he's a very bad landlord.
Rather than thinking about how nice he's been (?🤔) you need to pull on your fighting mummy pants and start getting legal with your LL - this is your DC's lives that this is effecting. You've had a lot of correct advice on here so use it to your advantage.

Your LL can't tell you to leave by text/WhatsApp - it must be via the correct notice by email/letter.

Apply to go on your local councils housing register - you have disabled DC so you should score quite high on eligibility.
Tell your LL that there is a legal procedure that he must follow before formally asking you to leave (gas check, Right to Rent book etc) as advised by PP's.
Tell your LL that he must follow the law by issuing the correct notices at the correct time and in the correct way.
You should take the Section 21 straight to the housing office at your local council so that you can register as being 'in need'. They will advise you stay until evicted (whether you feel that's wrong is of no consequence) and double check the validity of the S21
LL absolutely can't just ask you to go and expect you to do that. He can not just turn up and expect you to have left or just go - that is not how the law works. As nice as LL appears to be he is not your friend.