Out on my ear after 25 years

Is you have an assured tenancy as opposed to an AST then the shelter website provides useful information of the basis on which you can be asked to leave.. the compulsory ones are quite limited.. otherwise the court has a discretion.. see below..

My feeling is that you should invite the landlord and their solicitors to provide you with a copy of every single tenancy agreement you have signed since you took up occupation and not provide them with any information until they have answered this question and provided you with copies.

Reasons for eviction

The reasons for eviction that landlords can use are set out by law. They are known as 'grounds for possession'. They are split into two groups, mandatory grounds and discretionary grounds.

Mandatory grounds

If your landlord proves a mandatory ground for possession the court has no choice but to make a possession order. The court has to be satisfied, however, that the ground exists and you may be able to prove otherwise. Examples of mandatory grounds include:
you are more than eight weeks behind with the rent
your landlord's mortgage lender is repossessing the property and you were informed in advance that your land lord used to live in the property
the property is being redeveloped

It may be possible to delay the possession order for up to six weeks if it is causing you exceptional hardship.

Discretionary grounds

If your landlord is using a discretionary ground for possession the court can only make a possession order if it is reasonable to do so. Examples of discretionary grounds include:
you have some rent arrears
persistent delays in paying your rent
you have broken your tenancy agreement
you have caused nuisance or used the property for illegal activities
you have allowed the condition of the property to deteriorate

The court takes your circumstances (such as your health and income) into account when it decides whether it is reasonable for a possession order to be made.

After a court order takes effect your landlord can ask the bailiffs to evict you.

Reply to the comment left by "Anthony Wilson" at "01/06/2015 - 00:42":

Thank you Anthony
I can see absolutely nothing there that would apply to me.
I have it in writing from my landlord thay he only has the last 3 agreements .
I almost feel like i am being harrassed to give information over that my landlord should already hold ........
My gut insinct agrees with you , switching off from the emotional side is prooving to be somewhat difficult.
How i appreciate you all for the help and advice given here
Thank you !

Hi Anthony,

I think it's worth saying that when you say Nicola could be exposed to 'significant' costs liability, these are generally 'just' £280.00 for a possession order and £110 (or has this gone up slightly recently?) for a bailiff warrant (perhaps more if high court enforcement officers were used). And the bailiff cost would only be needed if Nicola stayed after the date given in the possession order.

Having said that, landlords can add on their legal expenses, but is there a limit on how much landlords can 'charge' for legal costs in posession proceedings? I have a feeling there is, but I could be wrong? Or is it just that a magistrate may not award all the costs if they're seen to be excessive?

Yesterday i recieved an email from the owner ( not the landlord ) of the property wanting to talk .....
Any thoughts on this ?
As regards to the costs , i do feel that i have quite a strong case , and have far more to lose than a few hundred pounds ...not that it wont hurt me financially but sometimes a person has to go with their gut instinct ?
Thanks
NN

I agree with you Nicola, I feel you have a strong case and yes I guess you do have a lot more to lose and it is therefore worth taking a stand with it.

I would personally want to email back the owner advising him that you are happy to meet if he could first outline exactly what he would like to discuss/what he would like to establish/gain from a meeting?

Thanks Paul
That sounds like a very sensible thing for me to do ......

Reply to the comment left by "nicola wilkins" at "02/06/2015 - 10:40":

Hi Nicola

If the owner of the property is not the landlord, who is?

This doesn't make sense to me.
.

I guess it does sound a bit squiffy Mark
My landlord rents/ leases the whole building from the owner
My agreement is with my landlord not with the owner
My landlords renewal is due next year ( according to land registry )
He only wants to rent/ lease the business part of the building , but the owner has told him this is only acceptable if given vacant possesion

Reply to the comment left by "nicola wilkins" at "02/06/2015 - 11:43":

Ah, this is making a lot more sense now. Both your landlord and the owner have a serious problem. They only really have two options:-

1) To buy you out

2) To serve a section 13 notice in order to increase your rent to the market rent and hope that puts financial pressure on you to move.

They may not be aware of option two and if that is the case you have the upper hand in terms of bargaining power.

Remember, a new AST will not be valid if that is what the owner talks you into signing, unless of course you also sign a deed of surrender in respect of your existing assured tenancy.

If you are given any paperwork to sign I strongly recommend you to take legal advice before signing. Tony Wilson, who has commented above, is a good guy to talk to.
.
.

Thanks Mark
There has never been anything in any rent agreement about rent increases
It started at 340 in ( pcm ) in 1990 went up in dribs n drabs till ot reached 640 in 2007 have had no increase since then
The market rent for here is almost 2.5 x that would they legally be able to increase by that much ?