Over-crowding issue – Tenant Has 3 Kids In One Room

Hi Neil

Yes I would definitely report this to Social Services if I were you.
.

Reply to the comment left by "Mark Alexander" at "23/11/2014 - 09:37":

i did last night over the phone, they were not interested, told me to go to citizen advice etc..i think i'll call up the council housing department, for my borough, maybe it's a issue for them>?

Contact your local housing and report, that way when they come at you for having too many people in your property you have a defence. I would then issue a section 21 dated for the end of her 6 month tenancy. The only way to do this is for you to evict her so the council will rehouse her. Sucks 🙁

Reply to the comment left by "Sally T" at "23/11/2014 - 18:47":

i will do that first thing in the morning, but how am i to cope with so many people in one room? is this not a health and safety issue,? do you think the council will allow them to stay in such an arrangement, given their ages, for another 6-8 months, because thats how long it's going to take me to get a court order eviction etc..

We had a guy with his 2 son's in his room because it wasn't safe for them to go back to their mothers. The council will house them as quick as they can but it can take time, the section 21 will protect you if the council try to blame you. Is your rent inclusive of bills, if so you may want to add an extra charge for the extra people.
Don't know the legals, but you may have ground for a section 8. I don't know if you can, would be worth seeking legal advice.

Should of added, we didn't give our chap an evection notice, because of the 'mother issues' they moved him as soon as they could.

Reply to the comment left by "Sally T" at "23/11/2014 - 21:41":

i have already served her with a section 21 notice because she owes 7 weeks of rent and also she never pays on time, i served this over a month ago. I will be serving a section 8 notice soon as her rent arrears are over 8 weeks.. The 21 notice expires in march as does her fixed tenancy. From what i understand i can serve her a section 8 notice and then if she doesnt leave i can take court action, however reading online, it seems the judge tends to favor the tenant in this situations revolving rent arrears, so i think it will be a waste of time trying to evict her through section 8.

i pay all bills, she will not pay me a dime, she doesnt even pay her rent anymore and this is prior to all this other stuff thats been going on.,

in the past she has gone to the council and lied about there being no gas in the house, i had a phone call from a housing officer and i informed them that she's lying. Then a month later i had a phone call from the same housing officer and she told me that the tenant says i have changed the locks to the house, which was a lie. This tenant is clearly trying to get on the council housing ladder, so now she's brought in extra 2 people to live with her...the housing officer housed her in temporary accommodation for one day until they realized she was having them on, and they sent her packing back to me lol... i am so stressed out, this woman is a compulsive liar

also can i ask, will they council ask me to house them in another room? can they force me to give them an extra room? i dont want to give them another room..

Reply to the comment left by "Neil Cooper" at "23/11/2014 - 22:57":

No the council cannot force you to do that. Its not your responsibility to house anyone other than the original people you agreed to in the family structure. I would put all your concerns in writing via letter and e mail to the council. social services and the police to cover yourself.

Dont rely on phone calls as they are not a reliable method of recording information ( unless they are recorded ). Especially when potential legal disputes may occur. Social services cannot simply wash their hands of the problem so get them to reply to you in writing as to why it is not their responsibility. There are neglect issues here Give them tight deadlines to adhere to. Copy the police in as well because as you have potential neglect issues as well by the mother there are potential criminal offences too to consider which means they may get involved .

All this may produce a mini case conference between the relevant authorities as to how to resolve the problem and let them come up with a cohesive realistic action plan. Put the ball squarely in their court and if they do nothing positive at least they have no comeback on you.

The room is seriously overcrowded so the council should up its game and provide emergency accommodation for them all or / and social services should look at potentially taking some/all the children into care and take the problem of your hands.

You need help on this (especially if she is being uncooperative and lying) so use these public sector authorities and hold them to account. The children`s welfare will come first. They have procedures to deal with these eventualities and service level agreements between them . They sometimes need prompting though so don`t give up at the first hurdle. Go to the chief execs if you get no joy from a trainee who is unsure of their legal responsibilities. Remain always polite but firm.

Good Luck

I can’t see what the panic is?
You say ‘How am I to cope with 3 in a room?’ Is it you living there?

I get this all the time, not on purpose, when the tenants instigate it.
What can they do if there ain’t no big houses for ‘em?

Do we have 4 on the street in zero degrees & rain? Or 4 in a room in warm house in beds? Not rocket science is it.

I’ve had ONE social worker ask the question ‘Why does Mick do this’. I reply ‘Not my doing, I would say not ideal-But what’s the alternative? You best get ‘em big house then’.

I’ve took a husband & wife with SIX kids in a 2 bed house which was Housing Association house (so one would think they know the rules, & they lived there for TEN years.

I don’t know the proper rules & laws, but I’m sure if highly illegal, Housing Association wouldn’t have done it.

If there ain’t no bigger houses for ‘em, what do they do? What’s the alternative?
In an ideal world, kids would all have their own bedroom. We ain’t in an ideal world.

I’ve gone from 15 years ago creating small bedroom-converting 2 bed into a 3 bed-this small bedroom to get cot in & draws. TO NOWADAYS, that small room, we’re converting to get bunk beds in to house 2 teenagers-Not my fault the Govt & council ain’t got houses for these people.

I wrote the above quickly not realising she only has ONE room from you. But I can’t see it too different to what’s happening all over the country. You haven’t intentionally done it like the beds in a shed thing.

If u r worried, like Sally says, issue the Sec 21 to cover your back. And like the others say, contact housing etc. to get a record down that it wasn’t your doing.