Help needed with my unauthorised tenant?

That’s so unfair

This is definitely a new one for me, tell them you don't have a tenancy agreement you need to move out ASAP otherwise call the police.

On the face of it this is squatting- a criminal offence.

But when you say:

"The neighbour then indicated that their daughter would like to rent the property.

I agreed in principal, subject to satisfactory vetting/financial checks by the letting agent"

By doing this you may well have created a tenancy by default. You need to seek professional legal advice from either a solicitor or one of the eviction specialists.

Hmm is it on paper?

Do not accept any rent payments if you want them to leave. If you do, an AST will be created.

You need an interim possession order and bailiffs.

Or you could negotiate a tenancy agreement.

https://www.gov.uk/squatting-law/remove-squatters#:~:text=You%20can%20remove%20squatters%20using,making%20a%20claim%20for%20possession.

Reply to the comment left by Fed Up Landlord at 28/12/2023 - 09:47I can’t see that any tenancy has been created here. A presumably verbal agreement to rent the property, subject to going through an agent and subject to satisfactory references being obtained which didn’t happen cannot create a tenancy here. A verbal tenancy has not been created and neither a written one. Just kick the tenants out and change the locks they’ve no rights to be in the property. (Perhaps phone the Police first maybe see what they’ve got to say, but they probably won’t want to get involved).

These people occupying your property look to me like squatters as they have entered your property without any criminal damage. If they have been there less than 28 days then there is a quick method of getting rid of them by an IPC (interim possession order). Google 'squatters' and all the information comes up. Whatever you do changing locks or any form of harassment is out of the question as squatters have rights, but its best to take measures to remove them sooner than later, as this lessens their rights. I'm wondering if any claim could be made by the builder for not returning the keys?

Also, if it were me, I would not accept these people as tenants in light of them failing their credit checks and acting in such a manner.

She is not an ‘unauthorised tenant’. She is a squatter and needs to be treated as such. The government provides good advice (see my link above).

Check out Excluded Occupier - Shelter gives a list of who can be considered.

If they haven’t yet paid for anything that
Benefits you (I.e. window cleaning ) she might be considered to be an Excluded occupier.

Reply to the comment left by Dylan Morris at 28/12/2023 - 10:47Illegal occupation, no written contract, the Landlord did not hand the keys to them, unless he did then its another matter, so kick them out change the door locks. Builder may be responsible for the cock up, as the next door was his friend so he gave the keys to father with his own initiative to get the carpet fitters in when he should have been there to oversee fitting of the carpet. Landlord should now hold builder responsible to get the keys back and evict his friends daughter and have all the outside door locks changed by him, and hand the keys back to landlord,