Evicting Family Members

Hi Brandan

Yes I think section 21 is the way to go. His age makes no difference.

Presumably your wife is agreeable?

I do suggest you put some distance between this and seek professional advice, it could save you money in the long run too. See >>> http://www.property118.com/tenant-eviction/
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Reply to the comment left by "Mark Alexander" at "26/11/2014 - 16:58":

Hi Mark

I was going to do a belt & braces job on this because of the potential fallout, I was thinking of giving him 5 months notice, I know that's far to much but as Xmas is on the doorstep and the winter months upon us anyway, the end of April would be overly generous, but if challenged we could not be accused of turfing out a poor old man in the depths of winter.
I don't think they would have an argument to try and block it legally, as I said because it has this added ingredient of being a family member I'm treading carefully.

Regards Brendan

Reply to the comment left by "Brendan Fitzgerald" at "26/11/2014 - 19:36":

Hi Brendan

Anything more than 2 months notice is very generous.

Please factor in that expiry of notice doesn't mean you have possession though. You may well need to go to Court for that, which can take another couple of months. You may then have to appoint bailiffs and that may result in a further few months wait until you eventually get possession. By that time nearly a full year may have passed if your s21 gives him 5 months from the outset.
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Hi, we've done an eviction ourselves where the tenant was non related and that was tough enough. It may be easier (especially on your wife) if you get a company in to do it so you have no involvement. It may make it easier when/if confronted by other family members as you can say it's out of your hands. Good luck 🙂

Thanks Sally

We're damned if we do & damned if we don't, I can take the stick but I have seriously got to consider my wife's feelings, her families behaviour recently just beggers belief and it's a tough one as she is the one who will help anyone, and it's shocking to her how quickly they have turned on her, I'm sure this is going to be a long and painful process, but it's about time we gave them something to think about and what do they say" you don't know what you've got until it's gone" and this is going

If it's been on a month-by-month basis from the start, you may need to make sure your s.21 ends on the correct date. i.e. the end of a period of the tenancy. It's usually enough to issue 2 full month's clear notice wit s.21 but not if it's a contractual periodic tenancy.

I would advise against being overly generous with the notice period. It could be that father in-law digs his heals in and you have to get a court order to regain possession. It could also be that you notice for a variey of reasons is held to be invalid at court and you are therefore back at suqare one, many months down the line, out of pocket in court costs and maybe father in-law has stopped paying his rent to spite you in the meantime?

Factor these risks in when thinking about notice periods and whether to seek proffessional advice.

A messy situation. I would be concerned that the property could be left in a damaged state by vengeful family members, when you do finally get him out. Do you have any photos of the current state of the property, or could you obtain them?

Another rationale for evicting him, if you feel you need one, is that you could announce you have decided to sell the property for financial reasons of your own.

Yes, I think Tony's idea is a good one. A little white lie won't hurt, and is justifiable if he's been an old git. It's always good to have a reason they can't argue with and to say you are selling because you are buying x,y,z isn't so personal. You can then 'change your mind' when he's out. I would maybe compromise and give him 3 months' notice if you don't feel comfortable with the 2 months. As the others have said, people often do not leave at the end of the notice you serve them and it then takes a further few months to get them out, so you're likely to end up giving him 6 months to get out, whether you like it or not. Good luck.

I was interested to note that there have been no comments about not having a normal AST Agreement. Does this mean that the monthly, presumably verbal agreement, is all that is necessary and a section 21 notice can still be used?

I would also use a section 13 to put the rent up to market rent, starting on the date the s21 expires on.

Or sell it with him in place, and give the problem to the next owner…. Maybe at an auction. Just tell the family you need the money and they can bid if they wish.