Tenant facing notice due to complaining about repairs.

[letsmakeamark]

I am helping someone out. This one is abit over my head.

 

Tenant took out a tenancy with a relative and also payed 1 months rent in advance and deposit of £900 ish. So far no payments have been delayed etc or have been held back. They moved in approx 3 years ago. As soon as tenants family moved in they took pictures of things that needed doing or proof of what condition the house was in.

 

The landlord has been cooperative upto a point. Problems that have started to arise are

: Floor boards creeking(loudly)

: Steps moving up and down when used in stairway.

: Several places where there are depressions as if the floor is giving way.

: the carpets need repalcing in several rooms. (Every time carpet is worn landlord comes along and cuts the bit of and replaces with a small patch)

There are other niggles etc. The main door which was replaced last year made of wood lets a lot of cold air in. Etc.

 

Everytime this has been raised with the landlord he makes some sort of excuse.

A week b4 xmas the cieling in the bedroom caved in due to a leaking water pipe. The land lord only took action when the tenants had a row with him in front of their children with the landlord being very very obnoxious.

 

The landlord has now said that he is not happy and wants the property vacated. He is due to serve them with a s21 two month notice. What do they do ? There isnt a papr trail of any complaints made. The tenants would rather stay where they are than move. I am completely stuck as to what i could advise them about ?

[*RainbowTears*]

Why would anyone want to stay in a house that clearly has serious issues?

 

Esp now the ceiling has come down & that they say the floors & stairs are moving, possibly giving way (as this is indeed serious if they do).

 

There are children involved here!

 

If the LL is not willing to spend money on proper repairs & is instead bodging carpets & ignoring repeated requests, then it's time to either contact your local Housing Authority & ask them to intervene on the families behalf or simply move out to a safer home.

 

If this were me personally, I would get my children out of there before the situation gets any worse.

 

Edit to add;

 

Do you know if the yearly Gas Safety inspections are done every year?

 

If not this is serious, get onto the local Council Housing Dept, this morning & get them involved!

 

I do hope the family get this situation resolved one way or another, as the LL should be providing a safe home for their Tenants.

[BankFodder]

There are rules about gas safety inspections, smoke alarms, electricity safety certs.

 

You can either go directly to the local authority or else tell your LL that you are proposing to do so.

 

Start keeping proper records and also get a recorder and record conversations with the LL - covertly

[The Carpet Cleaners]

If the deposit is protected and they have been given the prescribed information, and the section 21 is all correct, then there is nothing that they can do, as inevitably the eviction will take place. they don't have to leave within the 2 months, as a section 21 is just a notice to seek possession, and the LL will have to go to court to actually get them out.

If they want to stay for as long as possible, then they can hope that the deposit is not protected, as the section 21 is invalid. However it would be in their best interests not to mention it, and let the LL go through the whole 2 months, issue court summons etc and then use that as the defense, the LL will then have to either protect the deposit, or give them it back in full, and start the whole process again.

 

But at the end of the day... If all is correct in the deposit and the section 21 ... the LL will get them out.

[andydd]

I agree with above, ultimately (and assuming that there are no health & safety or laws being broken) then the LL is free to evict people if he follows the correct process, these so called revenge evictions have recently been discussed in parliament here > http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/news/revenge-eviction-figures-could-be-misleading-say-mps

[Steve__M]

I am completely stuck as to what i could advise them about ?

 

The defences against a Section 21 are:

- that it is not valid (e.g. it has wrong dates).

- that the deposit has not been protected.

 

Other than that there are no defences, really.

 

From the description, this house is obviously not the best, but if the rent is cheap a few wobbly floorboards and stairs are neither here nor there (I say that as an owner of a Victorian house that had wobbly floorboards for several years without any risk till I replaced the very rotten joists).

 

Currently I am involved in a situation analogous to this. In the scenario I'm involved with, though, I see the landlords point of view.

 

In "my" situation, the tenants have a house that is much cheaper than similar houses and landlord has chosen not to spend to much unnecessary money on it (partly because the tenant is quite a difficult person to deal with, and partly because the tenant has a tendency to damage things).

 

But when a more serious issue occurred, the tenants were so wound up about the niggles that they were unable to rationally discuss how to resolve the serious issue, leading to a row in which, no doubt, both tenant and landlord thought the other was being "obnoxious". As a result of the row (which in this case very nearly turned violent) the LL issued notice.

[letsmakeamark]

There are children involved and from what i understand the deposit is protected. The gas cert has been issued and the electricity has been done as well. If worst comes to worst what happens when notice is served and then when it goes through the court ?

[The Carpet Cleaners]

First of all if the dates on the section 21 are all correct etc, they have the full 2 months of that.

Then the LL has to file for the court, and that whole process until court date can be up to another 2 months.

The judge will then give a date for the tenants to leave (not sure but I think 28 days, but have read somewhere it can be up to 42... someone else may know that for certain).

Once that has passed and they are still in the house, LL has to apply for the bailiffs to come and evict the tenants, this can also be up to about a month later.

So from today I would say May/June/July depending on the speed everything goes through.

But sure as eggs is eggs, if the LL wants them out..... they will have to go.

[letsmakeamark]

I am experienced in other things. Housing isnt really my subject. Do the family notify the council and when do they do that?

[letsmakeamark]

Thats the thing. Ones word against the others.

[The Carpet Cleaners]

They should notify the council the moment the section 21 arrives...

 

Some councils act on that notice, others wait for the ruling, and others for the bailiffs.

 

I took my last section 21 into the council, they verified it was legal (I already knew it was) and then put me on the gold strand of the house bidding.... Luckily I found private.

[letsmakeamark]

Just waiting at the moment. Landlord has made it clear he wants the tenants out.

[letsmakeamark]

The section 21(4)(a) Notice has arrived but is dated a few days later. Date of notice is 02/02/15 . Date of expiry is 11/04/15. Also it states on notice that where joint landlords one has to sign. The notice has been served by a letting agent.

[letsmakeamark]

Is it worth doing a claim for disrepair ? As is ongoing with housing dept sending in one of thier inspectors ?

[Steve__M]

Is it worth doing a claim for disrepair ? As is ongoing with housing dept sending in one of thier inspectors ?

 

I don't think any of the issues you have listed are significant issues - except for the water leak issue that seems to have triggered a flood of complaints about unrelated issues.

 

I think that if the housing department are aware that tenants have been issued notice they will lose interest as landlord can probably delay any action till tenants have left. In my example above, tenants in question called in the inspectors. The landlord was phoned and inspector suggested he *may* issue an improvement notice about the one major issue involved, but they never did and tenants are now gone.

 

Such action may wind up the LL more. If tenants want to do that, they need to consider what LL may do in return and whether tenants need anything from LL (e.g. flexibility about moving dates, quick return of deposit, reference etc).

[45002]

Is it worth doing a claim for disrepair ? As is ongoing with housing dept sending in one of thier inspectors ?

 

No not really.

 

You need to spend All your time finding somewhere else to live, Sorry to be blunt.

....

The section 21(4)(a) Notice has arrived but is dated a few days later. Date of notice is 02/02/15 . Date of expiry is 11/04/15. Also it states on notice that where joint landlords one has to sign. The notice has been served by a letting agent.

 

 

 

 

letsmakeamark

 

You should take the s21 to your local CAB or Shelter office ASAP and have it checked out for any mistake so on

 

Enter your full post code on right hand side http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_ad...rivate_renting and click Find

 

or contact or go to your Local CAB office, Again Enter your full post code in the middle

 

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/englan...get_advice.htm

 

and click search....

 

Don't delay, do this today !

[mariner51]

Tenant took out a tenancy with a relative - First mistake.

 

 

OP - is rent due pcm and on what date of month?

There is no defence to s21 other than 'not valid', you are confusing with s8.

 

 

Bankfodder - the only req for a non HMO let is annual GSC IF gas is supplied to the property. which OP says has been provided.

 

 

CCs - Judge normally 'stays' repo Order for 14 days, to a max 42 days. LL can send in Bailiffs day after repo Order becomes 'live'.

 

 

Ts should expend their efforts finding a new property and vacate on expiry of s21, to avoid risk of having Court fees (£280) being awarded against them.

[letsmakeamark]

From what I can understand the council have given the landlord 14 days to reply to them after which a inspection will be carried out. Although nothing looks like it is enforceable. The people have been to council who have confirmed notice is valid. However is it worth asking shelter as they do not have a branch here.

[mariner51]

The letter to LL will be routine advice of inspection at T request. They are unlikely to require remedy, unless Cat 1 hazard found, before T is evicted, but poss before property is let again. Expect Ts to have request for s21 costs to be awarded against them.

[letsmakeamark]

Tenants have had advice from council. If notice period ends then stay put and do not move under pressure as then tenants making selves homeless. Wait till bailiffs are involved. Council have said most landlords only issue notices and do not act. Hence why they do not take seriously until bailiffs are involved. Tenants have asked local court who have told them 4-5 months for hearing and then a further 5-6 months for warrant hearing and then a further 3-4 months b4 bailiff action.

[letsmakeamark]

It looks like land lord is instructing solicitors to act on his behalf.

[Steve__M]

Tenants have asked local court who have told them 4-5 months for hearing and then a further 5-6 months for warrant hearing and then a further 3-4 months b4 bailiff action.

 

Really!!???!? That long, for an "accelerated possession"?

[Lea_HTH]

Tenants have had advice from council. If notice period ends then stay put and do not move under pressure as then tenants making selves homeless. Wait till bailiffs are involved. Council have said most landlords only issue notices and do not act. Hence why they do not take seriously until bailiffs are involved. Tenants have asked local court who have told them 4-5 months for hearing and then a further 5-6 months for warrant hearing and then a further 3-4 months b4 bailiff action.

 

The busiest county courts are in London - and nowhere in London does a s21 possession claim take a year from start to finish!

 

If you were genuinely told that by the court, then you have been seriously mislead, or much more likely have seriously misunderstood.

 

2-3 weeks for an accelerated hearing (will be done on the papers), 14 days quite likely, but may be given 28 days - eviction by bailiffs (even in the busiest London area) approximately 3-6 weeks from execution of the warrant. All told 10 -12 weeks start to finish...and that's if they are SLOW. Many LLs are asking for HCE, in which case, the day after the execution of the warrant, the HCEOs will be on the doorstep evicting, so 4-6 weeks in total.

 

Council are also talking absolute nonsense - LLs issue s21 notices when they know they want the property back with no problems (it's guaranteed if they get everything right). Councils refuse to act before eviction because they don't have any housing stock, so the longer the tenant stays put, the less pressure there is on the council to rehouse them.

[letsmakeamark]

Dont know . Havent been to court recently so no longer have contact with any of the people there. Seems like landlord can get away with things.

[letsmakeamark]

Just spoken to county court who are stating 8-12 weeks for accelarated posession from issue.