Section 21 questions for possible revenge eviction on family of 6

Reply to the comment left by "Anthony Endsor" at "02/12/2014 - 12:17":

I thought I had a right to the property until a court says otherwise.

So a section 21 means a tenant must give up the property on the day after the stated date?

I have heard of section 21 notices going on for years.

Well of course you can wait for the Landlord to take you to court, if you then want to incur their and your own costs on top of the eviction, not to mention a bad reference from the Landlord to pass on to your next Landlord, but in fact IF you are given legitimate notice the correct thing to do would be to leave the property on the date stated, unless you believe you have a case to the contrary.
That game is usually reserved for Housing Benefit tenants.

Reply to the comment left by "Anthony Endsor" at "02/12/2014 - 15:51":

I believe that the section 21 notice is invalid.

I suppose I am feeling a bit vindictive and want to see the landlord waste his time and money persuing an invalid notice, but I don't want it to affect my future prospects.

that is why I asked about the service of notice on a Saturday.
It was handed to my wife on a saturday, so I want to know if the effective date of service is the Saturday (which would give 2 months notice as required) or the Monday (which would be short of two months notice and make the notice invalid).

Perhaps my best approach is to ask nicely for a bit more time and to point out why the notice is invalid in january to buy myself a bit of time?

These days most S21 notices have wording to the effect of “or the first valid date after this”, and as it will take some time for the case to be hard, by then the S21 will be valid.

Better to spend your time finding someone else to live, then if needed get good legal advice a few days before the date on the S21 while asking nicely, as eviction action will take the landlord some time.

But at the end of the day, it is your reference that is most important, regardless of winning or losing a court case.

Reply to the comment left by "Anthony Endsor" at "02/12/2014 - 15:10":

My apologies Anthony. As you guessed, my post was meant for Ernst.

Reply to the comment left by "Ernst A tenant" at "02/12/2014 - 15:18":

I know it's tempting to go into "react" mode, especially if you feel someone is being unreasonable. However I find it is rarely worth it in retrospect. Trying to track down where the misunderstandings and miscommunications between the 3 parties is probably not worth the effort.

Damp is often a tricky problem. If the damp can be cured by a repair (eg a leaky roof), any sane landlord would want to deal with it sooner rather than later.

If not, is there a humidistat controlled extractor fan? Politely asking the landlord if he would fit one might be an easier way out.

It's in everyone's interest to finding a way forward that's positive - ie sort the problem.

As others have implied Ernst, I think you have little to be gained by simply waiting for the Landlord to take you to court without saying anything, as if it does turn out the notice is valid you will lose your home and damage your chances of getting another one. If you think it is invalid it is best all round if you point out the reasons why now.
I would feel the same in a way. It's nice to see the 'bad guy' getting his nose rubbed in it, but not quite so good when you lose your home for the sake of an attempt at points scoring.

I'd like to comment. Who is saying that the landlord is the bad guy? Am I missing something here?Contact the landlord directly, give the guy a chance to sort it or ask if you can sort the problem and deduct a £75 from the rent. DAMP - If it was flagged two months ago then there is a problem, how bad is it? It's really simple, open the windows, treat the damp with a mixture of turps and white gloss paint (it smells lol). Leave it for a day, do the same. IF the damp comes back, it's the roof space (loose tile etc). I am doing his job tomorrow for one of my tenants.

Please also do not contact the council for God's sake, no breach here (yet?). It is so important that you realize that the landlord is a human being with a mortgage to pay, so he does not want to go to court. You are still paying rent, great, that proves you are doing the right thing. Deep down you know you can sort this. If you go to court all kinds of mysterious things happen when you both come up against a judge.

A year ago I went to court armed with 6 files, I wore a great suit, I brought a well respected witness. The judge said this to both myself and the claimant (I countersued)......"Look you two, I have a round of golf in 3 hours and if I miss my tee off time I will be well angry. You both know what you want, go in that side room and negotiate and come back to me in 15 minutes". We came back, no-one really won, settled...what a waste of six months and stupid money lost.

Seriously mate, go direct to your landlord...

Kev - AA Props

Thanks for all your comments.

It seems that the general advice is "be nice even though you may not feel like it; it is in your own bests interest for the long term".

My wife and I both feel that the relationshiop with the landlord/agent has broken beyond repair and we want out, but we think we may not find another suitable place in the given time at this time of year.

I have been told by a letting agent that even if the section 21 notice is invalid, the landlord's intent is clear and failure to comply with his wishes is likely to lead to adverse references. An invalid notice just means that a judge would not issue an order for posession, so challemging it would antagonise the landlord and result in bad reference

It therefore seems that our best course of action is
- continue looking for somewhere through all available means.
- ask the landlord for a bit longer to find a new place.
- ask the agent if they would rent us a place with another landlord (which would give an idea of the sort of reference they are likely to give), and point out that if we cannot rent somewhere else, then we would be forced into social housing and we would then be advised to stay until the bailiffs come, which is in neither our interest nor the landlord's.

Sounds like a very good plan of action.