Tenant refuses to leave until council re-house her?

Tenant refuses to leave until council re-house her?

10:14 AM, 13th March 2023, About 2 years ago 19

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Hi, I have an issue with a tenant who is refusing to leave after I served a section 21 notice. I am forced to sell as my mortgage has soared over £3,000 a month and rental income is only £1,600!

I have sold the property at a massively reduced price for the same price I bought it 6 years ago. The buyers will likely pull out of the sale now.

The council (RBKC) have advised the tenant to not leave until bailiffs remove her which after an accelerate possession order may take a month.

Moreover, I don’t have much time as I cannot afford to keep paying the mortgage which is now affecting my primary residence and I am becoming increasingly in debt.

Are there any associations that can help me to meet the council to see sense and re-house her as I am on the verge of ruin?

Us landlords have been truly disadvantaged by the lenders and changes to tax legislation – unfortunately, this is the result of their policies. I’m sure I am not the only one.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Note: I have even offered her a cash settlement. However, the council have advised her to stay.

Thank you,

Mel


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Graham Bowcock

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12:07 PM, 13th March 2023, About 2 years ago

Hi Mel

I am sure that most landlords on here will sympathise with you. However, you cannot remove the tenant without a court order so you need to get on to that as soon as possible.

I doubt that the council will meet to review the tenant's circumstances; most councils are under pressure themselves, hence their advice to tenants to "stay put".

If the tenant is currently renting privately from you, why can't she rent elsewhere in the private sector?

Sadly, there's probably not a lot you can do other than pursue for possession through the courts.

Neil Heffey

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13:05 PM, 13th March 2023, About 2 years ago

Many landlords are facing similar issues. When applying for the court order for possession ask the court to add a penal notice to the order warning the tenant that if they fail to comply with the order, they may be held in contempt of court.

The LA should not be advising tenants not to vacate in breach of the courts order, and you may be able to make a complaint to the LA, and then on to the LGO and claim compensation for losses suffered after the date for possession has passed. Not sure if it would be successful, but the best you can do is proceed with issuing for possession before further rate hikes take place.

Have you considered increasing the rent in the interim period?

Judith Wordsworth

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14:12 PM, 13th March 2023, About 2 years ago

What date is the expiry date on the s21?
If she has not moved out by that date, immediately put in an application to the Court for a possession order IF you have served ALL the correct paperwork and deposit is protected and the relevant paperwork given to the tenant.

Has your mortgage lender on the rental property served notice to foreclose? (s8 ground 2).

Why is your main residence under threat? Is your loan to value on the rental property the problem? Did you use your main residence as collateral for the mortgage on the rental property?

Is the tenant up to date with her rental payments/still paying her rent?

If not serve a s8 Notice with every applicable ground stated. Some grounds are mandatory possession, some are discretionary.

If she owes more than 3 months rent, yes legally it's 2 (s8 ground 8) but she only has to pay 1 days rent to make any s8 non-viable unless you use Grounds 10 and 11 too.

Have you looked to see if any other landlord has property she could rent even if you paid the deposit and initial 1st month rent? (s8 ground 9)

Are grounds 10,11, or any other s8 grounds applicable?
https://legalforlandlords.co.uk/section-8-grounds-for-eviction/

Christine Greig

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15:19 PM, 13th March 2023, About 2 years ago

Hi,
council can put them in temporary accommodation like what I got, till she's rehoused properly ....most council are supposed to after a section21 is served. Most landlords get court order which I got to get Tennant removed. The private rent that I was in was being sold...

Jason Harris

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15:57 PM, 13th March 2023, About 2 years ago

The council are correct. The tenant is not required to leave until a court order is secured.
The reason they advise this is not to be difficult, but to give themselves more time to work with the tenant to secure an alternative option. They will be holding hundreds of homeless applications some of which carry far more risk.
The second thing will be the tenant has been advised, if she has approached the LA as homeless and they ignore the advice to remain the LA may look at if they are intentionally homeless (rightly or wrongly)
If the tenant has not applied as homeless encourage them to do so, as the authority will need to consider your circumstances for the S21 to determine if it is appropriate they remain until court action.

The authority are not required to provide temporary accommodation for the tenant unless they fit into the category of priority need (shelter has a good article on this)

Tim Rogers

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16:50 PM, 13th March 2023, About 2 years ago

It may be possible to arrange a suspension of mortgage payments until the property is sold. Provided you can prove that you will gain sufficient money from the sale to both repay the mortgage and any accrued interest not paid.

Chris H

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16:58 PM, 13th March 2023, About 2 years ago

Couple thoughts that might help
Check if the mortgage has a freeze payments option
Search and see how much you could sell the property with the tenant inplace, some specialists are happy to take on difficult cases, long term they are not under the cosh such as you find yourself.
I cannot understand why the mortgage has increased by so much?

Sera Adeleye

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17:17 PM, 13th March 2023, About 2 years ago

Hi Mel, Sorry about your situation. Perhaps you could offer some motivation by offering between £1000 to £3000 if they agree to leave by a set date. Or could you re-mortgage ?

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18:07 PM, 13th March 2023, About 2 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Neil Heffey at 13/03/2023 - 13:05
Hi,
Yes I have tried increasing the rent however, it would be a small drop in the ocean. I have been paying £3k per month for 5 months now since I was unable to remortgage due to the decrease in the price of the property and high loan to value.

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18:09 PM, 13th March 2023, About 2 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Sera Adeleye at 13/03/2023 - 17:17
Hi,

Yes I have tried to offer a payment however most of her rent is paid by the LA and she would rather a council house so she has been advised to stay put. Apparently punishing the PRS is the best way to get a council house these days 👍.

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