Tenancy Ending Help!

[caledfwlch]

Me and my partners Tenancy (6 months) comes to an end at the end of this month, its been a bit of a mad one - we have paid the rent every month, but late usually a couple of weeks after it was due (on the 4th of each month) We have been waiting for almost the entire tenancy for the Landlord to repair the kitchen, the ceiling is collapsing, chunks of plaster fall off with regularity, smashing crockery the first time it happened, the walls are full of damp, there is a big hole in the floor of one of the rooms and so on.

The Landlord is strongly hinting that he wont be renewing our agreement at the end of the month, so what rights do we have?

I think its an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (whatever is standard these days in private rental) And there is another thing, we are renting an Unfurnished House but our Contract is for a Furnished House! apparantly he didnt have any copies left I doubt that makes any difference to matters though.

So what are the notice periods etc? The Tenancy will officially end on the 21st October, but our rent due date is normally the 4th. How much notice are we entitled to? and what is the correct procedure the Landlord will have to follow to get us out once the tenancy contract is finished?

[Nightmare4banks]

caledfwlch in reply to your post:

1.As soon as your fixed term tenancy expires you will have a Periodic Assured Shorthold Tenancy created.In practice,this could continue for an indefinite period with you paying the rent and the landlord accepting it.

2.If your landlord wants you to move out,he must give you 2 months written notice.
If you have not moved out by then he get fairly easily get you evicted but only through the court by applying for a possession order.This would be easy because you a shorthold tenancy.

3.If you want to move out you need to give 1 month notice.Also,you should be fairly flexible regarding access in order for your landlord to show around potential new tenants.

4.Regarding the damp and bad conditions,you could sue your landlord after vacating or if you are remaining contact The Private Tenancy Officer within the council of the locality that you reside in.Councils have the powers to compel landlords to treat their tenants in a fair and proper manner.But always take note if you do complain now your landlord will more than likely issue you with a notice to vacate.However,in my view you should not put up with bad living conditions regardless.

I hope you find this information useful.

If you have any more questions,just ask.Also,read through other threads which I have mainly posted in order help you further.

Keep us posted.

All the best!

[caledfwlch]

We think there is a possibility that he wants to move in while his own house is being refurbished, so if he decides to evict us how long do we have? The tenancy ends on the 4th November, so how quick would we legally need to leave once he issues a Notice?

Knowing him, he would just verbally say get out end of the month, and forget to issue a written notice, but on the offchance he does, I need to know how much time we would have.

[caledfwlch]

Ok I have been reading some of the other threads, do I understand this right?

we have a 6 months assured shorthold tenancy, this comes to an end on the 4th of November, he very possibly wants us out. Does he have to give us 2 months notice to leave, or can he issue us with a notice to leave between now and the 4th giving us either 2 weeks before the 4th, or at any time in the next couple of weeks to leave by the 4th, meaning that we would have to be packed and gone on the 4th?

[Nightmare4banks]

caledfwlch in reply to your last post:

1.Any notice MUST be in writing.If the landlord forgets that is not your concern.He must issue it on the 4th of any month and you would have 2months notice from that date onwards.

2.You would have until January 4,2007 to remain in the property assuming the landlord issued the correct notice.If you do not vacate by this date,your landlord could apply to the court and gain possesion of the property in probably no longer than 1 month - 6 weeks from this date.If needed,a bailiff would attend to change the locks and physically remove you if you had not vacated by then.

3.My advice to you is that if you feel your landlord would want you to vacate the property is for you to find yourself alternative accomodation between now and the above mentioned date.

[caledfwlch]

Thanks for the info Nightmare

2 months from 4th November gives us plenty of time if he does decide to evict, rather than (my imagined) horror that he may have us out by the 4th.

Incidently what is the law regarding electrics, we have a couple of sockets that don't work and have brown marks (scorches i think) he new about these at the start but never sent an electrician to sort it or check the electrics in general, though he did get someone to rewire 2 of the lightswitches which were the wrong way round.

Im trying to build a little dossier of rules, regulations and his violations so if he does say OUT I can hit him with them.

The plasterer we have been waiting 6 months for came round to have a look last week to see what needed doing, the minute he walked into the house he exclaimed "bloody hell, you can smell it (damp) soon as you come in" Im no expert on such things but is Plastering walls and a ceiling that is damp enough that people can smell it straight away wise?

[Nightmare4banks]

caledfwlch,in reply to your last post:

1.Electrics should be given a "clean bill of health every 3 years".

2.Regarding gas appliance etc,a landlord must obtain a Landlord Certificate from a Corgi registered gas fitter.This MUST be done yearly or at the commencement of every tenancy.The tenant has a right to retain his/her copy.

3.Regarding the damp etc,the council can get involved in seeing that landlords maintain their properties and inthe worst cases,the council carries out the repairs and bills the landlord.Also,a damp property can be a severe health hazard if lived in for many years this is why the council would get involved if requested by a tenant.

I cannot comment on the wisdom behind plastering because I have not seen the property but really a property in that bad sort of state should be upgraded when tenants do not live in it.This is mainly because to resolve damp problems would need the use of toxic chemicals and injecting them after hacking off the damp ridden materials and replacing them in order to permanently be rid the property of damp.Plastering would only be a cheap and temporary solution.

4.Personally,I would not tell the landlord anything but the fact that you are fully aware of your rights regarding the written notices etc.

[meagain]

Double-check your original agreement - it is becoming increasingly common for the notice requiring posession to be attached to it, stating the date on which posession is required. If it is there, then you have already had your notice. BUT, whenever notice is served, after the notice period has run out, the landlord may get a court order for your eviction. The order is generally that you have 28 days to vacate the premises, so even in worst-case you would still have a month to get your house in order.

[caledfwlch]

Originally Posted by meagain

Double-check your original agreement - it is becoming increasingly common for the notice requiring posession to be attached to it, stating the date on which posession is required. If it is there, then you have already had your notice. BUT, whenever notice is served, after the notice period has run out, the landlord may get a court order for your eviction. The order is generally that you have 28 days to vacate the premises, so even in worst-case you would still have a month to get your house in order.

There was never a notice requiring posession attached. The actual Contract (which I need to dig out later) is a very bog standard probably bought in WH Smiths Assured Shorthold Tenancy job, for a Furnished House, even though its unfurnished (apparantly he couldnt find unfurnished) So I presume 2 months is still correct then

He is coming around tomorrow so we find out then if we are staying or not. If he says out, then he will be receiving a bill for a lot of work stripping the wallpaper in the kitchen to prepare for plastering. deciding to end a Tenancy is hardly a spur of the moment thing, so He got us to do the work while having the intention of evicting us, at the very least he has attempted to profit from our tenancy with that. So what 10 hours at £20 an hour?

I expect its a bit of a legal minefield, but one thought (while feeling vindictive last night) is that when we moved in there was a large hole in the living room floor, which someone had attempted to cover up by placing a settee (left by previous tenant) near it in the hope its weight on the carpet would stop anyone falling down!

Out of our own expense we had the hole sorted, so maybe if were out on the last day, I might just take a hammer and put the hole back Well, you are supposed to leave the property in the state it was in when you moved in, if we leave it in the state it was in, it could be an extra month or 2 before he can even show tenants around

[meagain]

Originally Posted by caledfwlch

So I presume 2 months is still correct then

Yep. Two months from the service of the notice before it expires. Even then, if an order for posession is granted when the notice period expires, you will be given a further 28 days to comply with it. So, there's no immediate rush - plenty of time to sort out whether you're staying or going, and for making alternative arrangements if necessary.

Out of our own expense we had the hole sorted, so maybe if were out on the last day, I might just take a hammer and put the hole back

You should probably be able to get that expense repaid by the landlord, since it is their duty to ensure the safety of the property. If you find you have to put the hole back, you can probably have that done at te landlord's expense too (not that I'd recommend it)

[jhynes]

hi
when we were having trouble with our private landlord the council advised us to take photos which we could use as evidence at a later stage.

[caledfwlch]

Originally Posted by jhynes

hi
when we were having trouble with our private landlord the council advised us to take photos which we could use as evidence at a later stage.

Im taking some on my camera tonight.

The plasterer apparently cancelled on him last weekend, not that he bothered to inform us, we were up at 8am waiting, and landlords phone turned off... he complains he cant get through to us on our phones, and yet he is worse to get hold off. Anyways he has just rung and quel suprise Plaster has cancelled AGAIN! still we have been waiting 6 months whats 2 more weeks, I mean its his house if he doesnt mind the kitchen ceiling collapsing and most likely the bath falling through thats his lookout specially when our compensation claim for unsafe house hits him

It seems that rather than hireing people to do things he tries to get mates who work for the council to do it, in their spare time. Seems a false economy to me, if the work is bad, or later proves to be negligent at least with a proper professional company there would probably be insurance, or the L'Lords would cover it, somehow I dont think my mate did it in his time off would quite cut it with them. We're not even sure he actually has Landlord or Structure insurance anymore We know he fell out with his insurance company who were supposed to be fixing the kitchen because he was taking so long to sort things.

It seems we have to wait ANOTHER day now to find out if hes evicting us or not gives me time to prepare various bills and complaints anyway