Council told tenants to wait for court eviction?

Council told tenants to wait for court eviction?

15:35 PM, 16th November 2020, About 3 years ago 10

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“You don’t have to leave the property when the notice period expires. You still have a legal right to occupy the property after this date and until your landlord obtains a possession order from the court. If you haven’t found alternative accommodation by the time your notice period expires, we would try to negotiate for more time with your landlord”.

This is the communication our tenants received when they asked for help from the council. We have a good relationship with the tenants, a hard-working family with 4 children who have been there for over ten years, and we have kept the rent low. There is nothing else on the market in the area that they can afford and the council are telling them that they can’t help because there’s no social housing as they are not on a high enough band.

I thought they’d been told not to tell tenants to stay put. The council representative has phoned me (before this above communication was sent) and checked the documentation, seems to think we have done everything correctly. I don’t think more time will make a lot of difference to them finding somewhere.

Our son, who wants to move out of our home and buy his own, has a 60% share in the house which is why we will need to sell it and have given the tenants the required 6 months notice.

Council rep did ask if there is any way they can persuade us to keep the tenants. The LHA is over £200 a month more than we are charging. It’s tempting to say, yes, pay us £944 a month and we’ll get a mortgage! Because when the tenants do move that will be at least what they have to pay.

Suggestions, please.

Di


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Comments

Chris Bunn

9:47 AM, 17th November 2020, About 3 years ago

Hi
If you are happy with your tenant ask the council to consider doing a contract with you so they rent the house for say 5 years providing your tenant can stay on. They will want to pay around 10% less than the going rate for the property but after 5 years insure they would be responsibly for redecorating and returning the property to you in the same condition it is in now. Also take into account if your tenant moves on they get to put in whoever they want into your property. Think about what you want out of the property over the contract term.

Chris @ Possession Friend

12:13 PM, 17th November 2020, About 3 years ago

Local Govt & Social Care Ombudsman recently found against Haringey for this in June, see Ref. 19 014 008

Jan

15:41 PM, 17th November 2020, About 3 years ago

I think your issue might be that if your son does want to buy his own place and still has an interest in the property he'll have to pay an extra 3% SDLT on top of whatever he would otherwise and presumably won't qualify as a first time buyer either....

terry sullivan

20:17 PM, 17th November 2020, About 3 years ago

surely council is committing perjury?

TheBiggerPicture

21:35 PM, 17th November 2020, About 3 years ago

Particularly perverse to pay council taxes for a council that acts against you.
Must be against some human right to finance organisations that are working against your interest.

Bemused

9:26 AM, 21st November 2020, About 3 years ago

I have been told I have committed a criminal offence for ‘evicting’ a mentally ill relative who i gave a room for free in a shared house for 15 years. They quoted housing benefit that the authorities had claimed on his behalf during in-patient periods as evidence of tenancies, not taking into account that any implied contract would end each time he left the property (which he did every few years for 6-12 months) nor the lack of any rent paid outside of these periods. They also quoted an AST we produced to get a parking permit. Note that the LHA insist on proof of occupancy to issue permits so I stupidly thought there was no harm in producing a spurious contract - after all my relative was never going to take me to court as he would lose free housing!! Lesson learnt. Despite this and losing all my other tenants and rent during the pandemic due to him deteriorating, despite his medical records being punctuated daily by my recorded support for this person, despite the adaptations made to try and accommodate his needs - all of which would not eventually prevent the vigilante neighbours making it impossible for him to return to the house - the council see fit to see me as a criminal and threaten to prosecute. I agree that councils are worse than tenants now.

Di Driscoll

10:33 AM, 21st November 2020, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Chris @ Possession Friend at 17/11/2020 - 12:13
I thought I'd seen a case somewhere. Thanks

Di Driscoll

10:35 AM, 21st November 2020, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Jan at 17/11/2020 - 15:41
No, You're right, he will have both issues if he buys here but he is planning to buy in Italy and needs to free up the cash.

Di Driscoll

10:35 AM, 21st November 2020, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by terry sullivan at 17/11/2020 - 20:17
Or ignorant???

Prakash Tanna

10:40 AM, 21st November 2020, About 3 years ago

I thought the mindset of Councils was changing (pre-Covid) and they were encouraging tenants to look for alternative accommodation well before the bailiffs come knocking. Asking them to stay on ruins the Council/Landlord relationship .... but if they have nowhere else to offer them, what are they to do?

Due to the size of the family and their LHA entitlement is sounds like it's a rental worth keeping at the current LHA rates if that is an option for you and your son.

If however you are wanting to sell am sure you could find an investor you could buy it with tenants in-situ. We buy property all over the country, offer a quick cash transaction and are happy to take on existing tenants subject to due diligence ofc and a fair market price. If selling is what you want to do and want the peace of mind that your good tenants are being kept, get in touch.

Prakash, Tanna Property Services Ltd.
info@TannaProperty.com

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