The next BTL disaster coming your way!

The next BTL disaster coming your way!

9:30 AM, 22nd April 2024, About 2 weeks ago 14

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Hi, here’s something I’d like the views of Property 118 readers on.

Some of you will have read of my ongoing saga with my tenant. Briefly, after many years I asked him to leave in December 2021 he’s still there. My Section 21 application failed as the judge at Willesden County Court invented a deposit for him, a deposit which I had not protected! My tenant signed the tenancy agreement stating there was no deposit.

My subsequent Section 8 succeeded in October of last year. Once again, my tenant has refused to go. Bailiffs were applied for. But as of today, still no eviction date. All up, two and a half years have passed, and counting! It’s quite clear that tenants are always victims, in the eyes of our impartial court system, landlords are always devil worshipers who must be taught a lesson at every available opportunity. To date it’s cost me £14000 odd.

What to do?

Extrapolating my experience, and the corrupt/incompetent court system we have, I now wish to sell all my properties – all of them. But I’m afraid. With declining BTL properties available, tenants will refuse to go. My tenants are families, mostly. As the word gets around that you can squeeze out up to 2/3/4 years extra by effectively squatting, some definitely will.

In my opinion, the current toothlessness of the Section 21/Section 8 court system will rapidly extend to sales of rental property. Sales will fall through if tenants have carte blanche to stay and cannot be evicted. The corrupt court system will string out everything. Bailiffs will refuse/be unable to do their jobs. Check out ‘Shocking eviction statistics revealed’ on Legal for Landlords for more on what, in my opinion, is likely to happen.

I have written to Barry Gardiner but he, like Willesden County Court has blanked me. As far as Barry is concerned, all is right with Brent’s wonderful legal redress system.

If I appear bitter and twisted, it’s because I am!

Your thoughts please,

Thomas


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Comments

Cider Drinker

9:36 AM, 22nd April 2024, About 2 weeks ago

I draw some similarities with the Post Office scandal.

I firmly believe that the government directed the Post Office to take the route that they did. They will have done so because it wouldn’t have been in the national interest to admit that they’d got it wrong.

I also believe that the government is directing the Courts to frustrate possession orders.

It is a fool’s errand. Keeping one family in a property simply condemns another family to more years in temporary accommodation.

Private landlords need an Alan Bates.

Zen

11:17 AM, 22nd April 2024, About 2 weeks ago

This country is in crisis and totally corrupt. If they government can't even run the legal system then law and order will breakdown. Shoplifters, burglars, fraudsters and theives of all kinds know they can get away with breaking the law. Or a least be given minimum sentences. Our jail's are full so they let prisoners out early. Solicitors, judge's and the police are not capable of doing their jobs. They seem to make it up as they go along.
I constantly find it astonishing that the media love to tell criminals what they can get away next. As happened with shoplifting. The media were constantly telling us that the police do nothing so low-and-behold shoplifting becomes rife.
The same will happen with squatting in empty retail units, which appears to be the media's latest thing. They are shoving it down our throats at the moment, what do they think will happen??? This will become rife in the next few years. It has clearly happened in the PRS. Giving criminals and bad people the knowledge of what they can get away with WILL obviously encourage them.
I don't understand why the media and the government are hell bent on destroying our green and plesent land. If the government can't keep law and order then they deserve everything they get

Cider Drinker

11:28 AM, 22nd April 2024, About 2 weeks ago

Reply to the comment left by Zen at 22/04/2024 - 11:17
𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬…

And that just the politicians.

Kate Mellor

11:36 AM, 22nd April 2024, About 2 weeks ago

I've been very fortunate in that I've had limited experience using the court system in my years as a landlord, but one thing I have learned the hard way is to alway employ private bailiffs and process servers and NEVER rely on the court bailiffs! If you'd gone private it would've been done and dusted ASAP. It's SO worth the investment.

Fatai Haruna

11:56 AM, 22nd April 2024, About 2 weeks ago

Many years ago, my dad’s council tenant managed to get away with 18 months of unpaid rent, certainly put him off being a landlord forever. Council backed off when they started a part time job on the side, courts were more interested in protecting tenant’s dog.

Fast forward to now , Landlords are struggling to evict bad, non-paying tenants and struggling to offload the properties on to other investors.

If the government wanted to buy all tenanted properties off landlords at market value , why don’t they just enforce it and put people out of their misery.?

Can someone remind someone exactly what the purpose of the Renters Reform Toilet Paper is again ?

Cider Drinker

15:46 PM, 22nd April 2024, About 2 weeks ago

Reply to the comment left by Fatai Haruna at 22/04/2024 - 11:56
What made your dad’s tenant a ‘council tenant’?

I understand a council tenant to be a tenant who has a council house, a social housing tenant to be one who has a social housing provider as their landlord.

Are you suggesting that a tenant living in a PRS property and claiming housing benefit is a ‘council tenant’?

Apologies if I’m being a bit thick.

TheBiggerPicture

22:26 PM, 22nd April 2024, About 2 weeks ago

I have heard stories where people intimidate tenants to leave.
I always thought that's not the way to act, the rule of law should be followed.
However the justice system is completely without justice now. So with no legal recourse, must it be achieved another way?

Gromit

8:08 AM, 23rd April 2024, About 2 weeks ago

Reply to the comment left by Zen at 22/04/2024 - 11:17
To "build back better" [sic] you have to demolish what is already there.

TJP

18:49 PM, 25th April 2024, About A week ago

Reply to the comment left by Kate Mellor at 22/04/2024 - 11:36
I was advised by my solicitor to use the court bailiffs

TJP

19:01 PM, 25th April 2024, About A week ago

Reply to the comment left by TheBiggerPicture at 22/04/2024 - 22:26
I have written to Willesden County Court. My solicitor has tried to phone them and email them. They blank/ghost all correspondence. To date, six months after repossession was finally granted, their only response was a detailed explanation of their complaints procedure( why?) and a long-winded diatribe about how many words are allowed on an A4 sized sheet of paper ? And how many pages are permitted. Basically, the same sort of tactics Putin's court system employs to frustrate justice seekers in Russia.

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