Landlords issue ‘veiled threat’ to evict tenants over Section 21

Reply to the comment left by GARY RIVETT at 24/09/2024 - 12:48The property will not be lettable so the tenants will need to be evicted.
Just a guess of course as the Bill hasn’t been published. At the moment it’s just Ed Miliband enjoying the sound of his own voice.

What is remarkable is this Mr Darling is in the company of politicians who were so obtuse they couldn’t see the problem with taking £1000s of free clothes, glasses and holidays right left and centre - some of them disingenuously reporting them as office support, some not bothering to declare at all.

On top of supporting a policy that will, without question, lead to the deaths and hospitalisation of some of those pensioners who will not get onto Pension Credit in time or will be above the less than generous £218 per week cut off (the adult minimum wage for 35 hours is now £400 pw for context).

And the clown thinks it’s landlords who have the problem!

Reply to the comment left by GARY RIVETT at 24/09/2024 - 12:48
Gary, the landlord's impecuniosity will be no excuse. Indeed he may be fined to add to his woes. It will not be possible to evict a tenant in order to do the work.

We will have to wait and see what viciousness Miliband comes up with but do not expect any protection.for landlords. We are likely to be required to spend some arbitrary sum (£10,000 was mooted by the Tories) even if it will not get the property to a Band C.

There may be defences if the tenant refuses to allow access or if it is impractical to do work with a tenant in situ but landlords may find themselves sued (or maybe prosecuted) for failure to upgrade and have to incur costs to defend themselves.

Reply to the comment left by Ian Narbeth at 26/09/2024 - 12:25
Well, I was sure that it would not be as easy for a LL just to evict and sell even though that alone would be a chore, and of course, the LL would lose his/her asset, and worse, the tenant would lose their home. I was just wondering if there was any law that stated what the punishment for the LL would be, but as you suggest, like all their plans, they haven't been thought out properly yet.
I agree that there is very likely to be a future punishment for the LL if there isn't already.
Hopefully, I will have all my properties at a C or above before their deadline, having to pass on the costs to the tenants of course.
They should have crossed all the T's and dotted all the i's before coming up with their moronic ideas/plans

Reply to the comment left by GARY RIVETT at 26/09/2024 - 14:16
You may not be able to pass on all your costs to the tenant if you put the rent up and they challenge it! It could take years to recoup. Agenda 2030 “You will own nothing and be happy!!!!”

Hi Everyone,

I don’t normally comment so a bit nervous posting but wanted to share my story.
My husband and I have a small two bed flat it was my husbands first property.
We both work hard have a small mortgage left on it and it’s basically our pension when we retire.
We have rented it out in Scotland for years but it’s needing work done - it’s not perfect it’s 25 years old and the rent has reflected that - it’s needing a little tlc now. It was however very clean everything worked and in general a lovely place to stay.
Through our agent we gave our tenants 3 months notice on 1st April. They are still there - our house is wrecked the council have told them to stay and wait for us to evict them - they have flooded down stairs flat - poured cat litter into bins without bagging - the other residents have had to lock their bins - there was no animals in the lease but they do what they want. Every room is infested with flies - bath rails vanity units pulled off the walls - I could go on but I can not describe how bad the flat is and how bad the law is here in Scotland - all evictions are looked at by some pencil pushing government civil servants who don’t care how long it takes as long as the renters are fine - there is thousands of pounds worth of damage and will cost thousands when we do actually get permission to serve an eviction notice. It’s utter madness - fight again the changes as much as you can as once these laws are past landlord have to rights whatsoever.
Thank you for reading this.

Reply to the comment left by Fiona Donaldson at 29/09/2024 - 21:50
Hi Fiona,

Yes, it sounds fairly familiar to me, I was in the same situation albeit in the East of England. I have had this happen to me on about 5 occasions which cost me all my holiday time for 3 years and I got into huge debt in my attempts to sort it out, this was 15 years ago and my 8 properties are all running fine now. I blamed myself for letting these scum into my properties, and I also got no sympathy from the council who sent me the worst of them with promises of paying the rent and looking after everything if I would just let these people in, they then proceeded to wash their hands of the whole matter.
Tenant selection is everything, even more so when we won't be able to evict.
It's just politics Fiona, the socialist Govt sees us "evil landlords" as an easy target as they know that we will probably not vote for them and the renters probably will, it is completely unfair.
You will eventually get through this after much stress and cost, my advice would be to make sure that your next tenant is 100% reliable, if in any doubt, reject them. I would insist that they had a history of renting as these people usually know what is required to be a "renter" as "first time renters" are almost always problematical, this has been my experience anyway, and I ALWAYS insist on them getting a guarantor, I believe that this is key. If the renter thinks that you will chase their relatives in court for unpaid rent then they are more likely to make sure that it's paid. I would rather have a property stand empty than rent it to somebody who I was not 100% happy with. I also do not trust agents either, as it is in their interest to get a property inhabited by any means, even though I always use agents to find the prospective tenant, I always insist on checking through all their references and renting history before I let them into my properties. Since I started to do this, I haven't had any major problems. I also self-manage my properties as if you go for the full management program you are just throwing away any profit and you can do everything yourself anyway just get an electrician, a plumber, and a general handyman who you trust and do everything from your phone and laptop and save yourself thousands of pounds. It takes about 1 hour a week for me to run my 8 properties, and most of that is general chit-chat.
I know there are some excellent agents out there, but there are also some dreadful ones too, my experience shows me that the best person to trust is yourself.
Good luck

Reply to the comment left by Cider Drinker at 24/09/2024 - 14:32
LOL Indeed.

Reply to the comment left by GARY RIVETT at 30/09/2024 - 10:43
Hi Gary,
Thank you so much for your kind words and advice.
You are absolutely right - the agents are lovely but they let a young member of staff choose the tenants and that person has now left the business.
Once I finally get this lot out and do quite a few months of renovations I shall be doing everything myself going forward.
Good luck to you I hope you have good tenants for ever more!
Best wishes ,
Fiona.

Hi everyone. Firstly. Good luck Fiona. I know how stressful these situations can be!

Please can anyone advise…Is my thought process accurate?
My fixed term ends 27/5/25 and counting, as we wish to sell. Dipped our toe in and will be leaving as things did not go to plan, as you will have read from previous posts.

My agent has advised to serve s21 27/3/25 which follows the 2 months notice period. Assuming all documents are valid which so far so good! Wouldn’t it be best to serve s21 say 27/1/25 before this is abolished as there is no guarantee it will be summer time when government scrap this, it could pass Royal Assent! sooner. The s21 would still be valid until July (as valid for 6 months) Assuming the tenant leaves on the last day, I still have 2 months to apply (if needed) for the accelerated possession order. Am I finally sounding like I know what I am doing, or have I missed something crucial? lol.

Thank you.