Monday,

landlord texts me asks me to call him,

I do and get told that someone from his mortgage company,

he said they do this every so often and that my house along with 2 others were picked,

so i said they can call Friday.

Friday, a gentleman turns up and asks if im aware as to who he is and why he is there,

i told him what landlord said,

and he said not really and explains he working for a company that the mortgage lenders have hired to come and look at the house he shows me ID and tell me the company DMS.

I let him in,

I've no reason not to,

he says he has to take pictures of the property to see if the landlord has done anything to it,

im fine with that as

in the 5 years being here he has done nothing,

lucky had proof which he took and the environmental health report,

he took pictures and then he explained that he knows the mortgage will not be happy that he has not carried out any work to the house since buying and that a lot of work is needed, he told us to prepare for the worse.

Im devastated as we have been trying for a few years to move house in the area,

but no luck,

and the local housing association and council said a court order must be given before they will do anything to help us.

Any advice would be really grateful,

im on edge now,

we have changed the locks 1st thing we did, a

nd have CCTV on the house.

You can't change locks without landlords permission.

I suspect DMS will tell your landlord of what work they require on the house to put it back into a good state of repair. They may be given a time period in which the work has to be done. The landlord should find you alternative accommodation if required to allow the work to be done.

If the work is not done i guess repossession could follow, as no doubt the mortgage has terms about keeping the mortgage companies asset in good repair.

See the link to Shelter if repossession is started.

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/repossession/repossession_by_a_landlords_lender

You can't change locks without landlords permission.

If you have a lease (& thus exclusive possession) you absolutely can, unless the lease specifically prohibits this (& then it becomes a debate as to if this is a reasonable or unreasonable term).

All you need do is replace the original lock(s) leaving no damage at the end of the lease.

Personally, when I rented I had a decent LL and was thus happy to have someone who held a spare set of keys.

Those with awful LL's often change the locks if they find the LL letting themselves in with no notice.

LL should have a right to inspect with reasonable notice / access for emergency repairs.

We have no lease as the original estate agents went so landlord took back over and we got a letter saying we are taking back over on house and will call round to sign a new agreement, that's was 4 years ago.

Not heard from him since, I doubt he will do any repairs at all as window collapses and he did nowt we had to repair, kitchen flooded nothing, lost appliances etc, toilet leaked I had to pay. A plumber

If the house is unfit to live in, then you speak to Shelter about your situation. They will know all of your housing rights and you might be able to approach the council. I can't see that it is reasonable for a court order to be required for the council to offer fit housing, if you cannot rent somewhere else yourselves.

Unfortunately that is the case unless I want to live outside this area, shelter tried to help but they said unless we willing on relocating there is not much they can do.

You might not have much choice, but to move out of the area. If the landlord refuses to bring the house up to a decent condition, then the mortgage company might well look to repossess and you have no guarantee that the council would then arrange housing where you are.

Do I have any right to a notice though, I don't want baliffs turning up turfing us out

you will get a reposession notice but it will only give you a month at most. Most councils and HA's insist you are not homeless if you vacate just becasue a repossession order has been granted, they make you stay until the matter has been taken to court and you are physically chucked out before they act. This si not waht the law says and can gieb you a bill for the court processa dn the bailiff costs, which is unfair as with it being the council's insistence but they dont pick up the bill.

And i wonder whether absence of any current tenancy agreement is a problem.

In the event of a repossession hearing, i understand tenants can attend to ask for a delay of up to 2 months. But if they have no contract with the landlord, i wonder whether the tenants would be recognised ?

In this position, i am not sure i would be waiting to be kicked out into emergency accommodation, when the house is apparently not in good condition. I would collecting evidence of the house issues e.g photos and i would be putting pressure on the council. Given there is an election, perhaps the local MP might be keen to show they are helpful with such issues.

We have been putting pressure on them, as one of our children has a disability,

we are looking to relocate, but we have to think of the schools and partners job, we're they want to put us, would not be ideal for school or getting to work.

we are trying to private rent too.

See what help you can get locally. In most areas they have charities that deal with these issues and quite often Solicitors who can offer some help.

Hi

1. Did you pay a Deposit and is it Protected?

2. If the property has Gas, when was the last Gas Safety inspection carried out by a registered member of the Gas Safety Register? https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/

3. Keep a good record & photographic evidence of all the issues.

With Council yes they wait till the legal process is complete and your are basically out the door before they will help and that is as long as they don't class you as intentionally homeless.

Now what you can do in the mean time with Council & housing Associations in your area and there is nothing stopping you doing this is put a Housing Application Form into each. (it wont get you immediate housing but at least your application/name is added to there waiting list)

No deposit just 8 weeks rent up front.

No gas certificate in 3 years.

I'm gonna go offices on Monday to see what they can do, as they took us of there list.

All rent is paid and up to date as I know not paying it makes us intentionally homeless.

No deposit just 8 weeks rent up front.

 

No gas certificate in 3 years.

 

I'm gonna go offices on Monday to see what they can do, as they took us of there list.

 

All rent is paid and up to date as I know not paying it makes us intentionally homeless.

Your local council should have a department that deals with housing issues e.g safety of tenants, environment issues.

Perhaps the way forward is to make the council aware of the current situation and ask them to explain what legal responsibilities they have,

environmental health are involved and so far they just keep sending demands to landlord.

Housing association is aware but still in band f and won't give reason why

Have a look at s36 (5) 6)) of the gas regulations. Where it states...

(5) The record referred to in paragraph (3)© above, or a copy thereof, shall be made available upon request and upon reasonable notice for the inspection of any person in lawful occupation of relevant premises who may be affected by the use or operation of any appliance to which the record relates.

And

(6) Notwithstanding paragraph (5) above, every landlord shall ensure that—

(a) a copy of the record made pursuant to the requirements of paragraph (3)© above is given to each existing tenant of premises to which the record relates within 28 days of the date of the check; and

(b) a copy of the last record made in respect of each appliance or flue is given to any new tenant of premises to which the record relates before that tenant occupies those premises save that, in respect of a tenant whose right to occupy those premises is for a period not exceeding 28 days, a copy of the record may instead be prominently displayed within those premises.

These are from the regs regarding new tenancies created after 1st of October 2015. May be of use to you more to follow shortly once I've checked my data...

Secondly it maybe if the landlord serves a s21 notice to you without a certificate it may make the notice invalid.. which is good for you bad for them.... more to follow. ..

Secondly if your deposit is not protected it helps your cause too. Similar to post above...

environmental health are involved and so far they just keep sending demands to landlord.

 

Housing association is aware but still in band f and won't give reason why

Think you need to get copies of all paperwork off to your local MP and ask them to intervene.

Have a look at s36 (5) 6)) of the gas regulations. Where it states...

 

(5) The record referred to in paragraph (3)© above, or a copy thereof, shall be made available upon request and upon reasonable notice for the inspection of any person in lawful occupation of relevant premises who may be affected by the use or operation of any appliance to which the record relates.

 

And

 

(6) Notwithstanding paragraph (5) above, every landlord shall ensure that—

(a) a copy of the record made pursuant to the requirements of paragraph (3)© above is given to each existing tenant of premises to which the record relates within 28 days of the date of the check; and

(b) a copy of the last record made in respect of each appliance or flue is given to any new tenant of premises to which the record relates before that tenant occupies those premises save that, in respect of a tenant whose right to occupy those premises is for a period not exceeding 28 days, a copy of the record may instead be prominently displayed within those premises.

 

These are from the regs regarding new tenancies created after 1st of October 2015. May be of use to you more to follow shortly once I've checked my data...

 

Secondly it maybe if the landlord serves a s21 notice to you without a certificate it may make the notice invalid.. which is good for you bad for them.... more to follow. ..

The link to this response can be found here >> http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/2451/regulation/36/made Sorry I could not add the link earlier!