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9:15 AM, 8th August 2023, About 9 months ago 36
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Hello, I am approaching 70 and I issued my tenant with a letter to vacate the property on the 22nd of February 2023. I did not give a time frame but just to let the tenant know what my intentions were.
On receiving the letter my tenant decided that he was going to apply for a council property. He is an ex-serviceman and also very ill as he suffered from PTSD as a paratrooper for many years.
My tenant was assigned an adviser from the Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust which deals with homeless issues. My tenant met with the adviser who has been a great support and a good point of contact for me if I had any concerns or issues.
My tenant contacted me informing what documentation was required by myself to start the application process for accommodation for him.
The documentation I was asked for is as follows:
By Easter, I was advised by my tenant that the mental health trust adviser had all the documents that he needed to forward to Solihull Housing for his application to be processed. The tenant will then be issued his PIN number to bid or express an interest in a home.
This is where everything went wrong.
The first contact I had with Solihull Housing was a telephone call on the 23rd of May asking me to supply the Section 21 notice as the dates did not marry up and part of the form was missing. I was not best pleased as I had given everything to the adviser by email. The council seemed to care more about following procedures rather than my tenant’s health!
I contacted the mental health adviser and asked what the problem was but he had no idea and confirmed that everything had been sent over.
I kept asking my tenant if he had received his pin number. The answer was no.
I placed the property with the estate agents mid-May and agreed to a sale 2 weeks later to a FTB. I informed my tenant of the agreed sale and said it would be the end of July before the sale would be complete. He still did not have his pin number.
I received another call from someone at Solihull Housing on Wednesday 7th June to say that my tenant was not getting his pin number as I had not started repossession procedures.
They said that if my tenant left the property of his own validation then he would go to the bottom of the housing queue. They said I had to follow procedure and apply for repossession at a cost of £375 and then wait for the bailiffs to evict him.
The sale was still progressing but no movement regarding the pin number.
I got another call on 1st August from Solihull Housing saying that they needed the section 21 form as all they had was my letter dated 22nd February. I was angry because I had sent the documents again to the mental health adviser as a precaution.
Solihull Housing said again that I had to apply for repossession to get my tenant out and to follow procedure.
The person said that they have told my tenant not to leave the property and that he had to be evicted. Solihull Housing asked for the Estate Agent’s details as they said they were going to contact them and tell them that he would not be leaving the property!!
By this time I was very agitated and rang my tenant’s mental health adviser immediately and told them of the situation.
The adviser confirmed that I had on several occasions sent all the paperwork. The adviser said they would contact someone they had dealings with at Solihull Housing and get the matter sorted.
The adviser told me my tenant should have received his pin number two months ago!!!
I rang my tenant late afternoon on Wednesday 2nd August told him the situation and said that he had to vacate the property by the 11th August as that was the exchange day for the sale.
Within an hour of our telephone conversation, the tenant received his pin number.
This was an appalling stressful and inefficient service as it has taken 5 months to get this far. I hope my tenant will get a home so he can recover and I can complete my sale.
Thanks for reading.
Editors Note: You can find Property118 investigation on councils telling tenants to stay put here
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Chris @ Possession Friend
13:38 PM, 8th August 2023, About 9 months ago
Where there's cogent and blatant proof of the Council telling a tenant to remain until Bailiffs evict, The Local Government Ombudsman has found against them and awarded complainants compensation.
Contact us if you want some ( Free ) advice.
A W
13:42 PM, 8th August 2023, About 9 months ago
I had a phone call from the Southwark council officer yesterday on 7th of August and said to me that I have to apply "the request for Warrant of Possession of Land" in order to make the tenants homeless.
The tenants have an order from the court to leave on August 7th.
But not good enough to make the tenants homeless for the Council provide a place for the tenants.
Is it right?
The council does not take the court order seriously, and waste times and public money(all the judges have to spent great amount of time to read documents and to make decisions which are still not good enough for the council acting).
Why then from the beginning to request for Warrant of Possession of Land?
The tenants are relatively waiting for a place from the council as so many people including the council officers told them not to leave the property until the landlord to get an order for bailiffs. ( they do not try to find a flat because they believe that this is their chance to get a council flat as they are told. I have offered many ways to get a flat for them but the tenants are not interested in because they believe that once they become homeless then they will be given a temporary place then to get a permanent place from the council and the council encourages the tenants to ignore the order from the court).
Ma'at Housing Solutions
16:17 PM, 8th August 2023, About 9 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Fergus Dodd at 08/08/2023 - 10:51
You should have notified Newham that you will report them to the Scrutiny Committee ( I wish more landlords would do this to try and force accountability and reduce the maladministration modus operandi of too many inept local authority housing/ homeless teams!)
Ma'at Housing Solutions
16:24 PM, 8th August 2023, About 9 months ago
I am sorry to inform you that actually " where things went wrong" was at the point where as the Landlord you had evidently failed to provide the related tenancy documents, ie: Gas Safety Record, Electrical Installation Report, EPC, Prescribed Information, Deposit Protection proof ( if a deposit was paid) and key is the current government 'How To Rent Guide' and every updated version since the tenancy commenced.
It is this lack of what a landlord's stautory responsibilities are and issuing these tenancy documents that I found to be the primary reason why issues arise with invalid Section 21 and repossession issues.
I say this as a former council housing officer!
Churchills Tax Advisers
16:34 PM, 8th August 2023, About 9 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Ma'at Housing Solutions at 08/08/2023 - 16:24
Actually, where things go wrong is when there is so much red tape to comply with, and where everything is stacked against the landlord, it puts off anyone from wanting to become one.
In addition, the tax rules are heavily in favour of companies, making it even less worthwhile for individual landlords.
No doubt there is a lot of lobbying going on to squeeze out private landlords. Either that or the government is stupid and wants less rental property to be available.....Probably both!
Jason Harris
19:07 PM, 8th August 2023, About 9 months ago
I don’t understand why many landlords find the S21 so complex, it’s incredibly easy and straightforward, just time consuming.
The tenant is not required to leave until the court have brought the tenancy to an end. That is the legal standpoint the council did not make it so, it is the legislation set by government.
They will be looking to find alternative options for the tenant but they have advised them of their right to not leave until the court ends their tenancy agreement, your sale is irrelevant to the process, you should make your buyer aware of the situation.
C-cider
19:52 PM, 8th August 2023, About 9 months ago
I’m surprised that you have a completion date when you don’t have vacant possession.
This could get messy )and expensive(.
Churchills Tax Advisers
22:43 PM, 8th August 2023, About 9 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Whitby Host at 08/08/2023 - 19:52
He told the tenant that there was a completion date, I don't think that he actually had one - unless his solicitor was negligent.
N N
8:37 AM, 9th August 2023, About 9 months ago
This is unfortunately quite common and I've had this myself a few times. There's not a lot you can do, it's all verbal communication between the council and tenant. Some tenants reject this advice, some follow it.
It's worth just proceeding straight to court, it will take time anyway to get a hearing. You can pull the plug anytime. Expensive, but keeps the pressure on.
Midland Property
12:08 PM, 9th August 2023, About 9 months ago
Reply to the comment left by Graham Bowcock at 08/08/2023 - 09:43So here's what I did. My tenants were advised the same . I knew it was true from previous experience. So I got the friendly tenant who was looking to move to record the call and they got an email confirming it . In the call they actually asked if the the council was telling then to go against the court order . And the council confirmed it was . I did a summons to the council for losses resulting from there advice to the tenant as it was instructions to be in contemp of court and effective blackmail to the tenant who did not wish to in contemp of a court order . They rehoused in 3 days and paid half my claim rather than risk court