Shit this is a mess

[thisisgoingtobelong]

There are so many different factors to this I had no idea where to post it. I rent my house from my aunt, we pay a lot less rental because she just wants some extra income, its all legal as far as I know, we have a contract, but no deposit, also I should say we haven't actually talked face to face about this, which is going to be my next step.

I am disabled and receive various benefits, the council is aware I rent from a relative. She has recently been dropping hints that she is not happy in her relationship and might be leaving him, her daughter (my cousin) has said that maybe the reason she hasn't left him is because she knows the situation she is going to put us in (we don't have a pot to piss in) and that maybe we should start to look for places now and then give our notice.

I pointed out that if she was unhappy all she had to give was 4 weeks notice. I get the whole council thing and having to wait for the eviction but to be honest we can't be put in a position where we are put in emergency accomadation, unless that accomadation is a house, which will house a dog, 2 cats, a child and someone with mental health problems (plus my poor suffering partner) also there is no way I could deal with an evicition.

The other problem with us giving our notice, is if she changes her mind (this has happened twice now within the last year) we then will get guilt tripped and there is no way I am paying to move only to be guilt tripped by own damn family for getting out of this situation.

The other thing is, she is a grown adult, if she wants to move back, 4 weeks notice and we are out.

I get the whole never rent to family and friends, but this has been a good thing for both parties, we get a lower rent, but also we have had to pay out for certain things which in a normal contact would of been the landlords responsibility.

I suppose I am not going to get the answer till I have the conversation, but then I am going to have the problem that I want to move further north to at least be able to afford something in our budget and my partner won't because he has a son down here. This is why this place was so perfect and while I know it wouldn't last forever I was hoping for another couple of years.

Talk to your Aunt. Explain that because of your circumstances that you must be given official notice if she intends to move back in. You're very grateful for the current arrangement but the not so subtle hints by her daughter are causing you distress because you don't know if it's true or not.

However, at the end of the day, it's her house and if she does choose to evict you then she does have the right.

Hope for the best and prepare for the worst, now is the time to explore your options but your priorities are putting a roof over you and your children's heads. Your partner does have the option to stay in the area if he wants but if you can't, then the priority is a roof over you and your children's heads, where ever that may be.

Are you sure it’s 4 weeks? It’s usually two months england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/eviction/eviction_notices_from_private_landlords I know that doesn’t help with the rest of your issues but it might be something.

Also, unless it’s an assistance dog, I don’t think the council have to House you somewhere that will take animals so you might have to give them up.

All in all, you really need to talk to your aunt.

You can’t insist the council house you in a house (rather than a flat) that will take 2 cats and a dog. Wise up.

Don't worry op, I am sure most of us can read and understand words. It's clear you didn't say you expected to be housed in a council house with all your pets, quite the opposite in fact

Sounds like a conversation is in order. Perhaps you could negotiate a longer time scale of notice at the same time. You might find it all comes to nothing and these are just rumours, your aunt has different plans

“We can’t be put in a position where we are put in emergency accommodation” and then the op goes on to say because we have to have a house because dog and 2 cats.

Yes. They can. Of course they can.

What op means is that she understands the local council procedure on rehoming people. You need to be evicted from your existing accommodation rather than just leaving at the end of your notice period. Op knows this but is not prepared to do this, for several reasons: it is stressful being evicted, especially as it is a family rental; she has pets and the council would not have suitable accommodation anyway.
Op no doubt mentioned this to show she had considered it as an option, to preempt posters suggesting it. Op does not therefore need to "wise up"

I think you should talk to her. Tell her that her daughter has mentioned that she may be wanting her house back, which is absolutely fine but that you'd appreciate enough notice to find somewhere suitable and affordable.

Thank you all, I know the simple way out of this is just to have the conversation about what she is planning on doing, and people are right this is her house and she has the right to end our tennancy. I am just nervous about having the conversation as it might make us having to move very very real.

I am the bury my head in the sand and hope it doesn't happen type of person. But, this is too important for me to ignore.

I will double check the notice she has to give us, I was under the impression it was four weeks, if it is 8 then even better, it gives us a bit more breathing space.

And thank you paintingbynumbers I am glad my meaning about the council house was understood.

The law says she must give you 8 weeks notice. Do you have an Assured Shorthold Tenancy with her? Because if so, she must, by law, protect your deposit with one of the deposit schemes or you can sue for three times the amount, I believe.

You need to get your head out of the sand, OP and have the conversation with her.

Maelstrop, its me who assumed it was 4 weeks, so I assume she would know that. We didn't put down a deposit on the house.

I have tried today to get hold of her but no luck. I suppose part of the reason I have my head in the sand, because of my partner, he won't consider being less than an hour away from his eldest, which is fair enough. But we are going to struggle with rent round this area, even with housing benefit. There is a lot of other shit as well and to be honest I was praying for another 2 years, for us to be able to get back on our feet and be roughly where we were when we moved in.

If its not to be, then its not be and we shall figure something out, I know I am not going to get screwed by my aunt, but also the whole rumour shit does my head in. Especially because I can't get hold of her now, so it just hikes my anxiety up.