The myth that landlords can evict at a moment’s notice

The myth that landlords can evict at a moment’s notice

15:24 PM, 13th November 2019, About 4 years ago 42

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Some of the so-called housing charities like to say that tenants must be protected, that they have no security in the private rented sector, that they can be asked to leave at a moment’s notice, on a whim from the landlord. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Landlords must always give at least two months’ notice and usually only issue notice if the tenant has not paid the rent for some time and has accrued a large amount of arrears. This is the point at which the possession process begins. It then takes many months, with obstacles thrown in the landlord’s way, left, right and centre.

Below is a recent case, which illustrates how long it actually takes to get possession with Section 21. All the time that possession is denied the landlord, the landlord is pushed further and further into debt while the tenant lives rent free. What is clear is that Section 21 must not be abolished; it must be strengthened.

A recent case:

Sarah is a polite young lady, 26 years of age. She works as an administration assistant for an electronics company, quite well paid but she’ll never be a millionaire on her salary.

In mid-2016 she excitedly picked up the keys for her first property purchase, a Taylor Wimpey new-build apartment in a shiny new development in Newport.

Two years later Sarah and her boyfriend of 3 years Steve decide to take the next step on the property ladder and purchase a 3-bed home. They find a buyer for Sarah’s flat but at the last minute Sarah’s buyer has his mortgage offer withdrawn by his lender.

Sarah is told that the lease for the flat is toxic and the lender isn’t willing to take a chance on it, because of issues to do with the ground rent the lender could lose the money secured against the property.

Steve and Sarah have to decide whether to proceed with the purchase of their dream home. Money would be tight until another buyer is found. Convinced it won’t take long given the interest in the apartment, they press ahead. Unfortunately, however, each time they find a buyer for the apartment, it falls through for the same reason as the first time.

By this time Steve and Sarah are getting desperate for the money they need in order to refurbish their new home. They are living in a property with damp and no proper kitchen.

Sarah decides to look into renting out the apartment. However, she is told that as she took out a Help To Buy loan when she bought the property, she can’t rent it out. She therefore decides to get someone to rent it on a lodger agreement as these have no restrictions.

A lodger/tenant in his early 40s moves in on 21st January at a rent of £162pw, including bills and council tax.

On week 6 the tenant doesn’t pay the rent. Over the following month he makes a few more part payments and then stops paying completely. Around this time Sarah discovers that the tenant is on a suspended prison sentence for stealing money from a football club that was meant for an animal charity.

Sarah takes advice, as she relies on the rent to pay her own bills including the mortgage and the utilities that the tenant is benefiting from.

On 20th May, by which time the tenants owes a considerable amount of arrears, Sarah issues a Section 21 notice, with an expiry date of 22nd July.

The tenant does not vacate by 22nd July so court proceedings are started. The possession hearing takes place on 26th September. Due to a technicality over the serving of a S21 for a lodger agreement the hearing is adjourned.

The second possession hearing takes place on 15th October; possession is granted. The tenant must leave by 29th October.

The tenant does not leave by 29th October and informs Sarah that his council housing officer had instructed him to ‘sit tight’ and wait for a Bailiff’s warrant. An application is made on 30th October for a bailiff’s warrant.

The bailiff who covers the area has been away on compassionate leave and returns to the office to find around 30 cases waiting for his attention. He estimates he will not be able to enact the eviction any time before 12th December. By this point, the tenant will have ripped Sarah off the tune of around £3636, excluding eviction costs of around £1200. In what universe is this seen as a system favouring the landlord and not the tenant?

Other issues:

  1. Is it right that when someone is not paying the rent, they get to stay rent-free in a property, where the landlord is paying the mortgage and all the bills, for, in this case, 8 months? –
  2. How come councils and ‘charities’ are still instructing tenants to ‘sit tight’ and wait for a bailiff’s warrant, when this causes huge losses to private landlords?
  3. How can the Government even be contemplating getting rid of Section 21 – currently the least awful option for landlords – because it is seen as favouring the landlord?

I would welcome landlords adding their own examples in the comments section below, of how long it has taken them to get their property back, so that we can present this to Government. These will be real examples, and not the fantasy ones imagined by the likes of Shelter – who, indeed are often complicit in advocating for these rogue tenants so that they can rip off decent landlords for even longer.

Debbie


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Comments

christine walker

13:54 PM, 14th November 2019, About 4 years ago

Reply to the comment left by hitesh Kotadia at 14/11/2019 - 12:22
Hi HItosh, yes it is very costly and the future doesn't get brighter I'm afraid

Old Mrs Landlord

15:05 PM, 14th November 2019, About 4 years ago

Reply to the comment left by The Forever Tenant at 14/11/2019 - 12:06
I agree with Luke P. - your first suggestion would be welcomed by most landlords. However it would need some modification to obviate the risk of tenants gaming the system by entering into an initial six-month tenancy, when the landlord cannot serve notice to quit until four months have passed, then never paying any rent beyond their first month in advance. Quite a few landlords of mortgaged properties could be bankrupted by losing eight or more months' rent plus bailiff charges and probable repairs and cleaning costs followed by a void period before a new tenant moves in.

Michael Barnes

18:50 PM, 14th November 2019, About 4 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Luke P at 14/11/2019 - 12:46
Tenant is not required to leave until a court order has been made and enforced (Housing Act 1988).

Michael Barnes

18:51 PM, 14th November 2019, About 4 years ago

Reply to the comment left by christine walker at 14/11/2019 - 10:28
CCJs make it harder for T in the future, and warn other LLs.

Luke P

20:15 PM, 14th November 2019, About 4 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Michael Barnes at 14/11/2019 - 18:50
We know. A tenant was suggesting a possible approach.

zhorik

11:34 AM, 15th November 2019, About 4 years ago

Courts do not make things easier, especially where i live where they have closed one court leaving just one county court to deal with evrything. My saga started September 2018, i and my wife were living abroad whilst she tended her sick father, when the lease was up and we were still abroad i agreed to extend for a year with no rent increase. On the end of the following yearthe tenat was notified and the company issued a section 21. I was letting to a company who specialised in sub letting to people on Benefit. At the end of the notice she had not made any objections and so the company applied for a court date. Another month went by and then the court notified that the tenant had objected to the s21, and a new court date was fixed for two months later. at that court hearing the judge threw out the s21 as he claimed that advance rent was really a deposit and that it should be in the depoist scheme. There had been no deposit asked for but as the tenant was a bad credit risk they asked for 5 weeks advance rent and indeed she never paid rent for the first five weeks. The company had never had this judgement before and when i asked why they did not just put the money in a deposit scheme they pointed out the financial implications. Instead they submitted it again hoping for another judge at that time idiscovered Johnson V Old where the court of Appeal accepted that when a tenant had a bad credit history then asking for advance rent was not to be counted as a deposit. They included this and after the second s21 notice had finished put this in their papers and other legal opinion and resubmitted for a court date. Another 3 months ensued whilst a date came up. by now it was april 2019. The same judge never bothered with thee papers and rejected it outright without a reason. All this time i and my wife were homeless , staying with relatives and friends. THe one good thing was the rent was till being paid. THis time the company placed the money in a deposit scheme and reissued the s21 at the same time formalising an offical complaint about the judge who we suspected knew the tenant as she was a legal secretary and had dealings with the court. However 3 months later they have still not had a court date. So whilst the tenant is sitting pretty in my only house , i and my wife have been sleeping in spare rooms and sofas while we wait. if we had some idea how long it would take we could rent ourselves even though it would cost more than the money we receive from the rental. it has now been over 1 year and 2 months and still no end in sight,.

disgruntled landlord

8:28 AM, 16th November 2019, About 4 years ago

The only way to resolve this is making it a criminal offence to not pay rent, damage property. Rapid possession should be allowed like with commercial properties. The laws are not fit for purpose. Why would any landlord want to evict a decent rent paying tenant who looks after the property, its the disgusting attitude of certain tenants who abuse the law which is 99% in their favour.

Ll1210

19:11 PM, 16th November 2019, About 4 years ago

I started evicting a family in May 2018 because they were running a motorbike
car repair and salvage yard business in my garden. The neighbours complained and that is why I had to evict them and I was responsible if planning or environmental laws were breached. Once they received the section 21 notice they stopped paying rent. It was awful. I had to make sure I had all the right paper work for the last three years. Maintenance gas safety cert right to rent guide. I went paronoid. They said they had not received the notice or the right to rent guide. During the days at the end of the two month notice they went back to Poland but did not give the keys back. The neighbours told me they had left. They had a friend who was coming into the property to continue mending bikes. I think they thought they were would be evicted and he had his family in a safe place. They returned after a few weeks and I then had to take them to court and they tried to appeal too. At the court they bought their twins and tried to get the family into the court room for sympathy. The usher would not allow it. The judge told me I had won the case this was in November. They were supposed to be evicted a few weeks later but then somehow Christmas came and they do not evict over the holidays the bailiffs came in January. But then all their bikes and cars and rubbish was everywhere and in a locked shed that the tenant had the key to. They still continued to come in the night with his friends drinking. There was so much stuff I did not know what to do. They left cars on my drive too and you just cannot push a car into the road. I was nt sure about the law of tort as no one would tell me how long you must keep their possessions for I put a notice up to tell them they must take their things and they threatened to sue me for putting it up in a public place. Eventually after I month they took the things but it cost me around £1500to clear the garden. £2500SOLICITORS AND £7700 lost rent. The car and tyres on my drive were towed across the road to another private service road of the neighbours and caused havoc for them. After they had gone they wrote and asked for their deposit back and threatened me with lagal action. I wrote and asked them where they lived but they told me I had no right to know. The solicitor told me I should return it. And then go to small claims court to get my rent paid. The truth is that these people won't pay because they work by cash and favours and work under the radar of the system. Therefore they qualify for benefits and say they cannot afford to pay. The judge will make a plan of £1 a week.. I lost my eye sight with the stress and due to have an operation for the cataracts. I m 64snd this was supposed to be my pension as there is not one forthcoming from the state til I'm 66. Now I cannot work as my eyes are ruined. The rules relaxed in the last few years for better for tenants and you need land lord insurance. At the time in 2026when I got the property it was another new thing to have. ....

Ll1210

17:48 PM, 20th November 2019, About 4 years ago

It sounds like there are a lot of crafty people out there whether Landlords or tenants and they tell lies too.

Luke P

18:18 PM, 20th November 2019, About 4 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Ll1210 at 20/11/2019 - 17:48
Maybe we should ban tenants, then there’ll be no need for LLs…problem solved.

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