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

My tenant is a single mother with two children aged 8 and 2. She has been my tenant for the last 3 years. Her rent has always been below market.

This year I suggested that when her annual tenancy expires on 20 April 2025 she pays the market rate (£1250 pcm) if she wants to extend another year. Her response to this was that she did not want to pay £1250 for 2 reasons:

1) She could not afford the £175 pcm rent increase

2) The flat has damp. (She only brought the damp to my attention when I proposed the rent increase.)

Last week she suggested just continuing paying her current rent of £1075 pcm on a rolling basis from 20 April 2025 “until such time as she finds alternative accommodation”.

I visited the flat. The flat does have mould in the 2 bedrooms. This is because there is far too much furniture and clutter in the 2 bedrooms – e.g : 3 wardrobes in one bedroom. This prevents circulation and leads to damp. After discussng this the tenant now recognises the damp in the two bedrooms can be sorted if she reduces the amount of furniture and clutter in the flat and opens the bedroom windows in the mornings.

Today she has sent me an email asking me to give her a Notice to Leave the flat at the end of the tenancy so that she can get ” low cost Council housing which is affordable for a single mum of 2 kids as soon as possible”.

.I would welcome advice/the opinion of any landlords who have come across this situation.

My questions/concerns are: If I do send her this Notice to Leave, given her circumstances described above, how quickly is she likely to get affordable low rent council housing from the local council – e.g: 1 month, 2 months, 3 months or a lot longer than 3 months from receipt of the Notice to Leave?

If she reduces the amount of clutter in the bedrooms the damp problem can be resolved and only the second concern then remains. The second concern is the £175 pm rent increase. She is already receiving benefits. If the damp issue disappears would the council be likely to increase her benefit by £175 pcm so that she can stay in the property?

If I issue her with a Notice to Leave is it likely that I get dragged into a Section 21 eviction and my tenant can then continue to pay her current low rent for many months after her tenancy ends on 21 April?

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Peter