Can landlord force me out after no-fault notice if I stay?

[BlakeCarrington]

Hello wise Mumsnetters

I hope some of you might have experience in this area. I’m a private tenant who has been in a property for a year and am on a month by month rolling contract. I’ve looked after the place well, paid my rent on time etc.

My landlord has decided to sell up and has given me a no fault eviction notice and 2 months notice which runs out at the end of this month.

I have sorted somewhere else to go, but I can’t get into the new place until end of April. I was thinking of asking him to extend u til then but I doubt he’ll go for it, he’s champing at the bit to sell it.

Where would I stand if I just said I can’t move out until end of April as I’ve nowhere to go? It’s only 4 extra weeks and I would still pay rent. Could he send in the bailiffs or change the locks or something?

Thanks

He can't say no. Well he can, but you can ignore it. There is precisely nothing he can do within a month to cause you any harm whatsoever or to force you to leave the properly. Don't ask, politely inform of your moving out date. Ignore any pushback.

Letting her stay? You realise you'd have no choice so it's not about letting or otherwise?

Some of the responses on this thread confirm my feelings as a LL that I want out of this. Tenants are not doing LLs a favour it’s a business transaction. However reasonable and fair you are as a LL it seems the general view is to ‘screw you’.

It's not a shitty thing to do at all. It's completely legal and reasonable. No sane person would make themselves voluntarily homeless nor put themselves in serious financial difficulty because the LL wants to sell his property. There is no comparison in terms of hardship between the LL waiting another month vs a tenant becoming homeless.

Agreed!

There are a huge chunk of landlords who have been ruthless and led to the legal changes then theres everyone else who are moderate. However I find that tenant attitude of “screw you” really scary and can see why this combined with the legislation changes has led to an avalanche of landlord exits. I think “screwed yourself” may be an unfortunate consequence of bad attitudes all round

ETA - OP do some due diligence on the place youre moving to - like your current landlord, they may also decide to sell up at short notice

This appalling attitude is precisely why so many decent landlords are selling up asap.

The decent landlords are selling up.
We’ll be left with the ones who play hardball like some of the tenants describe on here- minimum legal requirement, when forced, and maximising profit.

Totally agree.
as a LL I’ve done everything I can to make sure the house is comfortable and safe. Hardly ever have any issues but if the tenant raises them they are fixed immediately. I don't even charge the market rate as I’ve always been a bit under and didnt think it was fair to make an increase when times are hard.
but I’m getting out of this very soon because the house is my pension pot after years of working part time around kids and elderly family. I can’t take the risk of not being able to access the money when I really need it due to the changes.

I think it would be a shitty and entitled thing to do.

My mum the same. She had to take a tenant to court because he wouldn’t let anyone in the property for the various checks, was probably subletting and consistently underpaid. She didn’t put the rent up because he wasn’t paying so what was the point. There was antisocial behaviour as well, but that’s really hard to evidence so she was advised to do the no fault.
Still in the process now, but she’ll sell when he’s out because it’s stressful.

This is why LL'ing isn't for amateurs. It's for professionals who know the law inside out and are properly diversified and not emotionally attached to their assets. They don't consider tenants actions to be "shitty". They just see them as risks to be managed.

OP, just ask to be able to stay to the date you need.

It does entirely depend on where you live. Around here they are processed Court seems to deal with them pretty efficiently.

I would talk to your Landlord though and explain the situation.

"Thanks everyone. I am going to ask TELL him I have to extend for 4 weeks. I’m worried he might say no though."

Fixed that for you, dont be too timid. You are perfectly reasonable to need a little more time. He will know he has to accept you just need to be assertive enough.

I can only see one response on here that has a 'screw you' attitude, although he/she has only listed the legal obligations of a LL after that, which any decent LL will obviously have already fulfilled. Apparently, this particular LL has not been reasonable or fair. He has been slow with repairs and led @BlakeCarrington to believe that this was a long term rental when it was not. There is no inconvenience to him if she stays a month longer, as is her legal right.

Why would it be shitty and entitled to not make herself voluntarily homeless and follow the law? You may as well said that the LL is shitty and entitled for expecting rent to be paid.

Thanks everyone for your comments, all very helpful. I will call the landlord today and report back. Bit nervous but will be assertive!

@Friendlygingercat unfortunately I fear that the behaviour you describe will be prevalent after the 1st May. This is the reason that landlords are now selling up in their droves.

There will be a massive shortage of rental properties.

It s not an appalling attitude to expect a LL to work within the law. Any decent LL will have worked within the law so it really wouldn't matter as the section 21 will have been drafted and served correctly, along with all the correct protective safelty checks having been done over the years the property was rented.

Apparently, this particular LL has not been reasonable or fair. He has been slow with repairs and led OP to believe that this was a long term rental when it was not.

Slow with repairs isn’t great, but LL may well have been happy to contemplate a long term let last year; however, with the changes in the law, he has changed his view. If OP got a job somewhere else or came into money and was able to buy a house, you wouldn’t consider her bound to any more than her notice period, whatever discussions she had had at the outset

She wouldn’t be homeless though, she’d have to deal with additional costs of paying for an AirBnB for this month. Imagine the boiler breaks, then her LL needs to deal with additional costs of getting a new one. He couldn’t just say ‘oh well, why getting myself into debt’. Same obviously if she’d own her property, there would be sudden unexpected maintenance costs at various points for her. My point is, whether you are a tenant or a landlord (and I was both), you have certain risks and you need to accept that you have to deal with these.

Those are fair points. I agree that the legal changes haven't been well thought through. I don't think it's fair to compare the implications of the LL changing his/her mind and deciding to sell vs the impact the of a tenant deciding not to stay very long term. For one, it is their shelter, a basic need, for the other, an investment.

Grow the fuck up.

OP just ask. Most landlords will be happy as larry to have a proper date and nothing will happen in terms of selling in one month. He can still put it on the market now.

She has said that you can't afford an expensive AirBnB. You can't compare that to the LL needing to replace the boiler! The LL has chosen to rent out his/her property. With that comes legal responsibilities, including replacing boilers that stop working. These things need to be factored into the LL business plan. The risk that a tenant may not move out as soon as the S21 has expired is also a risk that the LL needs to factor in. The tenant would simply be following legal process. In this particular case, the OP hasn't mentioned a partner of DC but in many cases, you will be talking about the implications of a family having to move all their possesions at short notice, possibly needing to find £££ for removal costs, as well as a second deposit. This is impossible for many families within a 2 month period, hence the legal protections. I don't agree with tenants who refuse to move out just to spite the LL, etc but tenants undoubtedly need protection.

@RogueFemale
Tbh given it’s never been huge amounts or excessive damage I’ve always just sucked it up and sorted it out myself. It’s just less hassle, the tenants that left a house full of crap refused to give a forwarding address anyway. I have used the small claims court for other things and would if larger sums were involved. I just think tenants rarely treat let’s as they would their own home, I’m seriously considering selling the 2 properties I currently let out.

OP has given no indication that the repairs mentioned were for a boiler.

LL hasn’t said yes or no to the request yet - this all may end amicably!