Church of England Diocese tenant eviction?

Church of England Diocese tenant eviction?

13:30 PM, 15th July 2020, About 4 years ago 16

Text Size

We have a property rented to the Local Diocese of Church of England on a Company Letting Agreement for 2 years. The agreement has ended, but the permitted Occupiers refused to leave the property on the basis of the current coronavirus outbreak.

We have reluctantly agreed to extend the property occupation twice with 2 months and then 1 month to show understanding of the difficulties in the present rental market for the occupiers (Curate & Wife). The extension of the Rent Contract is based on Statutory Periodic Tenancy.

The conditions of the property have deteriorated rapidly and there has been a complete lack of maintenance. Last month rent has not been paid and our mails to C of E go unanswered.

Where do we stand legally to recover the costs of repairs and rent areas?

How can we recover possession of the property?

Any advice will be highly appreciated.

Tom


Share This Article


Comments

Reluctant Landlord

16:59 PM, 16th July 2020, About 4 years ago

Pray for divine intervention yourself!
Failing that if you are covered by some sort of LL insurance get them on the ball to sort this out. If not, you may want to seek help as when tenants stick their ground they see as they have nothing to loose and (in my experience) will not do anything to make the process easy...
At the end of the day though your contract is with the DCE so a sharp email to the top dog (collar), explaining the situation and that you have been very Christian in your assistance so far may well provoke a response. Assume they know nothing about this...they might be miffed a Curate is behaving this way ...

Reluctant Landlord

17:01 PM, 16th July 2020, About 4 years ago

...or keep sending round a load of JW's to knock at the door.. ;0) enough to annoy anyone into moving...

Chris100

19:40 PM, 17th July 2020, About 4 years ago

You trusted a religious organisation?

Tom C

22:05 PM, 18th July 2020, About 4 years ago

The Tenancy Contract was drafted by an Agent. It is not an AST. It is a Company Letting Agreement with no Deposit Protection etc. As the Full 2 year Term of the Contract has expired and I did not want to re-new Contract my assumption was that reluctantly I can allow CoE ( The Tenant) to occupy the property based on a rolling 1 Month contract like Statutory Periodic Tenancy. Is this a wrong assumption?
I got suggested to seek Professional Legal Advise, which I am considering to do. Any Recommendations for where to start?
I never had to use a Legal Service in this aspect so far.

Graham Bowcock

21:57 PM, 19th July 2020, About 4 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Tom C at 18/07/2020 - 22:05
Tom,

It's essential that the solicitor you use has good property litigation experience. The one who wrote your will is unlikely to be the one who knows what to do. It will more than likely cost you £200-300 per hour, perhaps more if you are in central London, but someone who knows what they are doing will be worth their weight in gold.

Freda Blogs

11:26 AM, 20th July 2020, About 4 years ago

Generally speaking the church has a lot of money, so should be good for meeting its liabilities. It may be that you are not getting to the right people with your emails. Some Diocese have dedicated property advisers, so in your shoes (if you haven’t already done so) I would be doing some digging around and phone calls to find out the right person to approach. Then, if you still don’t get the responses you require, I agree with Graham. It may be that a single letter from a solicitor - the right one, as Graham says - may be all that is required to get some action.

Leave Comments

In order to post comments you will need to Sign In or Sign Up for a FREE Membership

or

Don't have an account? Sign Up

Landlord Tax Planning Book Now