My tenant wants me to issue her a Notice to Leave?

One sure thing is that the council will advise the tenant to stay put until the bailiffs turn up and then won’t have anywhere for her to move when she’s on the streets with her children.

They may also suggest that you are ‘evicting’ her because she has flagged up the condensation (not damp) problem caused by her own lifestyle. I hope your exchanges have been in writing because without a doubt she will soon retract her wishes when the council won’t rehome her immediately

This is the well trodden path to get on the social housing ladder. Luckily for you she is being up front, most engineer moves and have legal aid and various organisations who will step in.
By issuing leave notice she will become homeless, then the council are obliged to take up the housing responsibility.

Its not right but you need the simplest exit out or she will turn into a caged tenant which will be hell. She wants out so trust me, make it happen.

S21 property back you’ll all be sorted in 8 weeks. Council might discuss things with you but as it stands S21 no fault will work.

Wait and that ship will sail.

And a word of caution, few months from now this option will cease to exist so consider if DSS/this scenario is high risk or not.

As for condensation, going forward dehumidifiers are a game changer, you cannot force them to use them nor to open windows but most of our tenants recognise the improvement it brings.

Reply to the comment left by K Anon at 11/03/2025 – 09:58
and Nikki is right, it may not be smooth ” without a doubt she will soon retract her wishes when the council won’t rehome her immediately” but your S21 request for no fault is mandatory granted to you after 8 weeks.

I would not U turn now, you know her intent so get rid, it will be a ton of stress and hassle later on.

The council won’t take action to house her until she legally has to move out of the property; a simple Notice to Leave won’t trigger anything and you will have an incumbent tenant costing you £175pcm ad infinitum. Therefore, formalise with S21 while you still can. At the same time be proactive about the lifestyle damp and send a decorator over to clear up so you can evidence you’re a responsible landlord.

Tenants in PRS property often ask for this to get a council property.

1.You have to give 2 months written notice served as per your tenancy agreement. So wouldn’t be effective on the date her current tenancy ends so would need to roll over to periodic. What does your tenancy agreement state or not about rolling on to a periodic tenancy?
2. Be aware your tenancy could go to the council re mould. You cannot legally dictate, nor can Environmental Health, how a tenant lives their lives ie “too much furniture”, doesn’t ventilate rooms, doesn’t wipe condensation from windows, doesn’t heat the property adequately etc etc
3. Council will only rehouse when you have gone through the judicial procedures and instructed (and paid for) Bailiffs to remove her.
4. Council may not have any Council properties so she could find herself in temporary accommodation ie bed and breakfast.

So if she wants out, serve the s21 while you still can BUT make sure ALL your tenancy docs have been served correctly and everything up to date AND put in writing plan to eradicate the mould. (Suggest she or you use HD Mould Remover – do not rinse off but the fumes are pretty heavy duty. Also have a look at MGC’s website for mould removal. Brilliant products. https://www.mgcltd.co.uk/)

As has been said the council will advise her to stay until the bailiffs turn up.
You may think you are doing the tenant a favour and that is true however you will need to take her to court and pay for the privilege.

Is she going to pay you the court costs?

Why does everyone go for the long drawn out and expensive option straight away? Talk to her. Explain to her that she isn’t simply going to get a council house right away and the most likely option is a dingy B&B for months if not years. Point out that you will have no option but to seek the full cost of eviction AND that you will go for a CCJ if she fails to pay. Tell her the whole truth of what happens once a S21 has been served. I bet she has no idea. The council might even pay you the £175 extra as its much cheaper than paying for B&B for her.

Why should he/she talk to her, what to convince her ? When her mate Chantelle got one and some Facebook page group says it. The very situation you describe of b&b is because they’re all jumping on. Hence abolishing S21.

She doesn’t want to pay market rate and is convinced being evicted is the right way to go. You can’t march someone round all the b&bs !
She probably also knows time to be made homeless through ‘no fault’ is running out.

We provide a service, it’s a business. I never went to a restaurant and had a chef plead with me to eat there lol.

I take my hat off to you, If you’ve been through utter hell with a bad egg (DSS) and still write that post then you’re a saint, good on you .

The long drawn out option is to keep her on even though she so clearly wants out. It will never be right and she will never know the grass in fact isn’t greener….

Once S21 is gone then boom.

Reply to the comment left by K Anon at 11/03/2025 – 11:38
I am in the exact situation with my tenant, has two children, uses them as a sympathy tool. I told her last year I needed my property back, I tried to sell to an investor even to help her stay in the property. She refused viewings. So I took off the market served her a S21 before Christmas , she not paid increased rent to nearer the market value also, now stating all sorts of claims about me after 8 plus years of letting them live there under market rate. She now not paying anything at all, I am still waiting to hear from the courts regarding paperwork I submitted myself due to lack of cash for legal fees. There is no housing available for anything near what I was charging her, so not going to move anytime soon. So landlords are ok to be without income yet expected to pay out and keep our responsibilities are landlords. It’s a joke of a system and the new reforms are all for the tenants. I tried to ring UC and I was asked what was my tenants 1st pet called ?? So tenant gets benefit, spends it , gets into arrears a d then gets put in a hotel because been badly treated. Any idea what to do next ??

Look on the forum for Chris, possession friend, you also need this sorted sooner rather than later for your own sanity

It takes another couple of years to get over it but good luck.