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

I understand the law, you are using it to your advantage by being unscrupulous - as I said above, he will likely start proceedings, which will incur costs, which regardless of the outcome he can pursue you for in the civil courts.

Thankfully not - as I say my tenants have been with me for 30 years.

I’ll be gone by the time any of that starts so the courts won’t bother @DeftWasp. According to shelter’s advice on illegal evictions, so you can be as pissed off as you like, it makes no difference. There are protections in place for tenants. Sorry that annoys you so much. Nighty night x

Are you aware that if you go to the council and ask for advice they tell you to stay until you're evicted by the courts or you'll be classed "intentionally homeless". Are all the people who follow this official advice as they have no other options rogue tenants too? 🤔

The landlord can make an application to court for possession but this will take time and he can’t evict you or change the locks or anything in that time. He can make an application for the court costs to be paid by you though. Probably best to keep him in the loop.

I suppose the thing to consider is if you need the landlords reference and are you dead sure the accommodation you’re moving to is definitely going to be available on the date you’re meant to be moving in?

Whatever shelter say, if he incurs solicitors costs he can take you to court to recoup those, that has nothing to do with any protections you have as a tenant.

I'd wish you the best but I don't, your attitude to the situation stinks.

No, as I say, I have great sympathy with them, they are usually in a situation where they cannot afford alternative accommodation. The OP is a different case, she can afford the interim accommodation and is just messing the landlord around. He has done nothing wrong and has acted professionally.

Actually @DeftWasp the OP said near the start of the thread that she CANNOT afford to go to an air B&B and put her stuff in storage for a month, contrary to what you just wrote. Most tenants couldn't, it would be very expensive. She is doing nothing wrong legally,and has taken proper advice.

Thankfully the law is humane and sensible, and recognises the power imbalance in the tenant /landlord relationship. Unlike you, tbh. It seems doubtful that the landlord will suffer much from having to wait an extra 4 weeks to get their rental property back. At least they can be reassured that they will get it back quickly as she has another tenancy organised,so they should be relieved about that.

If a landlord can't cope with situations like this, perhaps being a landlord was never really suitable for them. They should be philosophical and professional about the situation, and reflect on their own privilege - owning more than one property when so many people struggle to find somewhere to live.

A random poster on MN, just as you are.
Frankly, I'm surprised that you say you are a LL as you don't appear to understand the legalities of this situation. You appear to be taking this all personally which is a very strange way to react. Your posts to the OP are unpleasant and bullying so best to step away from this thread.

After my DH died, I decided to sell his rental property. I didn’t want to be a landlord. In our area you have to jump through several hoops and pay the council, to be a landlord.

We gave the tenant plenty of notice and explained the situation. She struggled to find somewhere, so we were patient. Eventually she found a place and moved. She owed four months rent, which she never paid. The property was left in a mess. I was just glad she found something and moved out.

Why do you describe your landlord as unscrupulous, @BlakeCarrington ?

He has served you a section 21 with 2 month leaving date on it. This is the correct notice for a s21.You have contacted him to try and negotiate that date but he doesn’t want to change it.

None of this seems to warrant a description of unscrupulous.

Interesting that on these threads, the tenant is always advised to take advantage of the legal loopholes while the landlord is expected to do (as percieved by the grabby tenant) as the ‘moral’ thing..
Ironic that these tenants don’t seem to know or care that they have entered into a contract and any attempts to weasel out of it is by their own logic ‘immoral’ - wholly hypocritical.

It's not a legal loophole, it's the law and it's designed that way on purpose. When a tenant signs a tenancy agreement there is nothing in that agreement that says the landlord can end the tenancy by giving notice. Because they can't. The contract doesn't say that, nobody has signed up to that. If the landlord believes the tenant has signed a contract to that effect the landlord has misunderstood the law and the meaning of the contract.

I would normally be on the side of the Tenant and still am in this case... but tenants with these attitudes are the reason LLs are leaving the sector.

Labours new "Renters Rights Bill" and subsequent changes like Decent Homes standard and LL Register are the probable reason the LL is evicting the OP.

ALL the costs involved will be passed on to Tenants, what is needed is current regulation enforced plus Tenants can still be evicted after all these extra reg's but instead now will clog up the courts even more... Well Done Labour!

This is ONE person posting on this thread with a very minority view.

There is more than ONE person on this thread who thinks the landlord is NBU.

IANALL. But…

There is very little doubt that many landlords want to stop being so, in particular because of the new Bill. Landlords are berated for seeing properties as an investment when it’s the tenant’s home. Fine. The logic of that, though, is for a LL to take money out of property and into another type of investing.

Now is absolutely the time to make that decision, as a section 21 issued under the current law will - I believe - only been enforceable by the court until 31/7/26.

The Renters Rights Bill was a Tory bill.

🙋‍♀️ I’ve also posted on this thread thinking LL is NBU

What?
im talking about the person saying they are vindictive and would screw over the landlord. Thats the minority view.

Huh
the minority view is the shitty tenant who wants to screw over her landlord on principle. That's what I'm referring to.

Then you should probably post/quote more clearly.

Look at the quote thread I was responding to
I literally quoted someone who was quoting that original post

I'd just ask him.

Can you afford negative references in the future?

I recently had to sell my late mother's rental property, to cover her care debt.
The tenant asked for an extension twice, which I agreed to, rather that then have them just stay and wait for the bailiffs, which would be costly for me and take six months.

Unfortunately I couldn't market the property with them in place as they'd turned the place into a shit tip (cost me a fortune to get the house and garden cleared), but in your case @BlakeCarrington I'd offer to allow photos and viewings so that your landlord can get the house on the market.

Given that MN collapses the quote thread, and I was not the only one to find your post lacking in clarity, "quoting the person quoting the post" without further tagging or explanation is evidently not the way to go for good communication.

Have a great day.