Polly Neate – “It’s appalling that every seven minutes another private renter is slapped with a no-fault eviction notice”

Reply to the comment left by Seething Landlord at 01/05/2022 - 17:43
Why? Because firstly there is a court hearing & if the tenant pleads poverty, the chances are there’ll be no possession awarded, then you have to re-apply for possession & go through the process again, so can be a very lengthy process, secondly if they judge awards arrears etc to be paid to you, you then have to enforce, which is the hardest task, just because judge orders tenant to pay the arrears, I don’t mean shit! The tenant will just iqnore the order & then it’s up to you to pursue the debt, which as I have stated, is a thankless task

The problem with this is it completely ignores the fact that there are a % of tenants that ask the landlord to serve the section 21 as they need to be evicted in order to get on the Council waiting list. It is not their desire to stay in the house that leads to the section 21 as opposed the tenant just leaving most of the time it is because if the approach the councils take to their waiting lists.

Having said all that, i really think the renters reform etc really have to stop lauding the abolition of s21 as i really can see this being a good thing for landlords and, whilst appearing to help the tenant, in reality it will do very little.

They are talking about having section 21's still available for certain things eg landlord wants to move in or sell. It wouldn't shock me if these were moved to ground for section 8 so that Boris et al can celebrate 0% section 21's!

I had a very large and aggressive tenant who was in rent arrears.

For the 11 years of his occupation he was regularly behind with the top-up to his housing benefit and I would periodically have to ask for back payments.

When he told me he couldn’t afford to pay for 6 months to pay for his holiday, I gave up and began Section 8 Possession for circa £ 2 k rent in 2020.

The tenant went to Shelter with a list of complaints of disrepair, some he had caused the damage himself, some he hadn’t reported to me and others that I’d made efforts to rectify despite being excluded from entering the property for a year.

There was a counterclaim for disrepair and notional damages up to the amount of £ 15k claimed against me! Plus the risk of considerable legal costs should I lose the case.

I sought the assistance of Chris from Possession Friend. He worked with me from mid 2020 through to the 2-day court hearing culminating this month.

My statement of evidence was massively enhanced and Chris spent a great deal of time throughout the very emotional and time consuming process, advising and supporting me, including attending court.

The case was presented for the tenant by a barrister on legal aid, sourced by Shelter (at an unknown but significant cost to the taxpayer).

I represented myself with advice and support from Chris.

After considering the substantial evidence I submitted, the judge said he didn’t believe the tenant's version and awarded me outstanding rent and possession.

Landlord 1 - Shelter Nil.

As a result of my experience, I will be selling the property so there’ll be one less rental property in a market of high demand.

Going forward, I will not rent to a Tenant in receipt of benefit without references and a cast iron guarantor.

Reply to the comment left by Lee Bowen at 23/05/2022 - 14:50
Great series of events there Lee & thanks for taking the time to say it as it happened.
We all need people like Chris going forward.

What i have really disliked about this whole 'section 21 abolition' campaign is that the basis upon which the apparent evidence that s21 is a problem is rubbish.

All the Govt etc say is that s21's are rising but what they dont say is (1) how many of these are served, not because the tenant wants to stay, but because the tenant has to stay and be evicted in order to get on the councils waiting list; and (2) how many of these s21's were served for a reason that will be valid (albeit probably under a section 8) after this apparent abolition?

In my view, this is all smoke and mirrors and an attempt by the Govt to try and attract renters votes but in reality it will do very little...they are solving a problem that's not even there...as if they haven't got enough problems to work on!!

What every one has to realize is that with the drinking culture of the government and in particular the left wing civil service how many acts of parliament have actually been thought through in recent years - I would suggest even pre section 24 - this culture did not just appear with Covid or if it did let the government and an enquiry prove otherwise. I think most of these acts have been prepared through an alcoholic haze with ministers just signing off anything that happened to pass across their desk. It does put into question all manor of acts and legislation put forward in recent times.

What Shelter & the government need to understand is that as Landlords we only use S21 non fault, when we need to evict a tenant for blatant rent arrears or antisocial behaviour as S8 is not upto the job!

Reply to the comment left by Philip Savva at 27/05/2022 - 09:04
What about selling? I have another sale completing today and another that I am instructing for sale. I am now retired and cannot afford the risk of getting a bad tenant and losing all my hard earned retirement fund. I will also pay less tax, after paying a lump sum in CGT. Renting is not worth the stress. Well done Shelter and government - another family that will not have the opportunity to rent my excellent property.

Reply to the comment left by Philip Savva at 27/05/2022 - 09:04And therein lies the problem. S21 was never intended to be used for those grounds which are catered for by S8 but has become the weapon of choice for landlords as it provides an easier route to eviction than was considered appropriate when the 1988 Act was passed.

Reply to the comment left by Seething Landlord at 27/05/2022 - 09:27
Exactly!!