Rosie
Would you qualify for legal aid to get your property back?
Also is there any point in contacting the local councillors explaining the situation ?
Surely no council would want to make a pensioner homeless.
Hi Jim 
I’m confident I can get any court costs back, given time and persistence, and I’m being given free legal advice regarding how to complete the Notices etc. I also have legal insurance, so no need for legal aid (if indeed there is any, these days!) But thank you for the suggestion.
However, that’s the least of the problems. As you say, no self-respecting Council would want a pensioner homeless, but a Landlord’s situation doesn’t seem to be taken into account if a Tenant breaks all the rules and won’t pay rent. The area my house is in is a fairly poor/cheap area by UK standards. There’s a very high % of people claiming Universal Credit. The Council doesn’t have much housing available, even in normal times. So my own circumstances are weighed up against the needs of the local population and I come a long way down the list, since (wow!) I own a very old motorhome and I am not technically classed as homeless. I have a metal box to live in! I also own a house, therefore I have capital! (It doesn’t seem to matter that I can’t get back into my house because of this terrible Tenant.)
If you go along to the Council and say “I’m homeless”, they do tests to see if you qualify for help, and to work out how urgent they think your need is. You are expected to try to solve your own homelessness problems before they will help. You are expected to stay with ‘family and friends’ if you can. (I don’t have family, no kids.) Another older Landlady (scroll further back) had to sleep in her car till she got her house back.
I think I am unusual, in that I’m a Landlord but I only own one house. Most Landlords live in one house and rent out another house (or a portfolio of properties), don’t they. However, having moved out of my only house, I fall down a very cold hole if the rent’s not paid and I can’t get back in for a very long time (the time it’s taking to evict).
It’s impossible to survive in the UK without heat and fresh water. To get an electric supply + water supply I’m having to take available slots on bog-standard campsites at about £25 per night on average. Over the next 12 months that’s going to cost me about £9000, or £13 - £14k if it takes up to 18 months which the lawyer says it could, given the backlog of cases.
I could rent myself a flat in my area for about £4800 per annum (rents are cheap). So the long delay in eviction could lose me about £7000 which I wouldn’t have had to spend. Plus the loss of all the money I’m having to give Britannia to store all my belongings.
The 6 months’ notice time the government has given to all Tenants (including bad ones) is costing me very dear.
I’m furious and frightened, because at my age cash is very hard to come by, and you can’t just throw it away while waiting ages for a court case to be heard. I’ve saved hard throughout my life and I’m really being hurt.
Anyone got a drive I could park my motorhome on through the winter (electric cable through a window), while I’m waiting?? (I’m serious.) Or is there any Landlord among you who would offer me a (paid-for) flat or small house for the duration, given that I don’t have rental income to show (which is not my fault). I have a good credit score, no debts, no mortgage, no loans, I’m squeaky clean. But with the systems-that-be, I don’t tick the boxes when it comes to qualifying for a rented property. Suggestions please.
I know this is going off topic regarding getting your home back but you need to look at getting a seasonal pitch for your motorhome.
You could initially get a winter seasonal pitch for around £600 November to January.
The caravan club do all inclusive pitches from as little as £3.12 a night.
It is ludicrous that you have to be doing this but it might help you ride out this storm.
Rosie I sympathise with all you are going through. Please hang in there, and as everyone suggests, keep all records and continue down the legal route.
Usually a full reference check and credit check would red flag these individuals. They are unlikely to pass all points. Did you use the OpenRent reference check facility? I do. And have turned down a few because they failed on some aspect of it. I know this is of no help to you now.
Hi Jim, it’s not off-topic, it’s entirely relevant and a very good idea.
However I believe you had to apply for a seasonal pitch by mid-September because the club had a ballot to enable them to allocate pitches for 2021, and I’ve missed that date. I could be wrong - maybe you know different?
I had no expectation this would go on so long. I had no idea the courts were so far behind with their cases, and nobody expected the new 6-month notice period to be applied, did they.
Initially, to conserve funds, I ‘busked’ and camped discreetly in lay-bys, washing in the sea (I’m resourceful!), and having to pay high prices for bottled water every day. I’ve been forced to book and pay for club sites from last month because it’s getting much colder now. However my partner is injured + disabled, and living in a motorhome throughout the winter is going to do him a lot of harm, so some other solution is going to have to be found. Maybe a Landlord, who fully knows my predicament, would help me in this instance.
Dear Obaid, thank you for your sympathy and support, it’s appreciated.
You’re right that a reference check and credit check is essential when assessing the suitability of a new Tenant. I was careful, and I asked a lot of questions and I followed up information, but yes I could have done more. I’d like to encourage other new Landlords to do more than I did.
The trouble with some people is that their public profile is very clean, and what you can actually see of their life and their finances looks perfectly OK. And the company they are working for is highly respected in the local area, too. But you can’t see behind the scenes - an involvement with drugs, for instance. You don’t find out until after you’ve handed over your key.
Hi Rosie,
Suppose you have asked the question but if your partner is vulnerable are you not entitled to emergency accommodation?
Hi Ms T.
As this situation continues, I am approaching all sorts of people & authorities to try and see what help I can get. I’ll talk to you about your suggestion a little bit later.
However today I’m having to handle something horrible.
The Council is helping me to write the wording for the Section 8 Notice, free of charge. However this means the Tenant is being made aware of some of the Grounds. And today he has retaliated and he has told the Police I’ve stolen £200 from him. The Police have to follow this up through their systems (even when it’s malicious) because it’s an accusation of crime.
I’ve been around a long time, but this kind of behaviour is out of my experience, and it’s very frightening.
I bought my little house for my retirement. My partner & I are older people, and not very well. This Tenant is doing everything he can to harm me, and it’s having a really bad effect on our well-being and our health.
How do you deal with people who are prepared to tell huge lies to Police? What can you do?
Hi Rosie,
It’s all designed to wear us down and take the focus off them. Can only hope the Police have enough information to know what he is like. But still another hurdle for you to leap over.
Hi Ms T, yes it’s yet another hurdle to jump, and this is getting very, very tiring and wearing for me.
The Police established that the Tenant left the door open - therefore ANYBODY could have come in… If the door was left open through the night it breaches the Contract and it also nullifies my insurance, so there’s another black mark against him.
I don’t even believe there was any £200. And anyway - if he had £200, then why can’t he pay any rent??
But I was horrified he’d resort to calling Police and accusing me of stealing. It makes you feel physically sick.
Hi Rosie,
It is so sickening and it is frightening not knowing where they are going to stop and to what lengths they will go to.
How on earth can the law be so unbalanced.
Hi Ms T.
The law seems to be in our favour in the long run - but it takes SO long to assist, and that’s the real problem. You need a short quick effective system to deal with crime and abuse. But while it’s not there, Tenants can do practically anything they choose. And these bad Tenants seem to feel powerful, don’t they, and they shoot at you.
I’m being told all sorts of (true) stories about other Tenants. One female Tenant used her rental property for drug dealing then set fire to it; it got boarded up, and it took the Landlady ages to get it back. Just imagine the fear and the harm.
Dear Everyone
The Council has now taken a look at this case.
I understand from the Council that the Tenant’s drug-use, vandalism, violent breaking of the back door, malicious accusations etc are No Grounds At All to evict him. Isn’t that wonderful!!
And because he’s refused point-blank to acknowledge receipt of some information and refuses to sign for it, it places me, a non-local Landlord, in a terrible position because I can’t 100% prove he’s received information, because he refuses to confirm. Or answer the door. He won’t accept emails or texts, it has to be “through-the-door”. So you can never put anything in his hand. Clever Tenant!
The Council has offered to try to negotiate with him and give him another house to live in. He doesn’t have to accept it, though.
Have you ever come across a Tenant who surrendered a Tenancy and took a Council property? Please let me know if so.
Hi Rosie,
Thanks for the update. It’s so shocking.
If you sent the letters by first class post and got a certificate of posting it would be deemed to have arrived by a court.
(gov.uk on how to send Eviction Notices so surely would apply to other communications)
To be doubly sure you could send two letters with certificates of posting from two different post offices.
Or from the same post office but on two different dates. It would be accepted that he would have received at least one of them.
He might jump at the chance of a council property. He’d have it for life wouldn’t he?
Photo the letter and envelope or video yourself putting it into the post box.
Hi Ms T, these are all good ideas
I haven’t been able to get certificates of posting over the summer because it would mean queuing in a Post Office, and I can’t do that because I’m vulnerable and so is my partner. I can’t be expected to put myself at risk of virus.
I have always deliberately had somebody with me when posting a letter, either in a box or through the house’s door. My neighbour has video’d herself posting material through the door, on my behalf. We have tried, believe me!
The eviction lawyer seems to think you don’t even need recorded delivery, just “1st class post”, even for a Section 8 etc. I know Courts send out their letters (and even their judgments) by ordinary mail, no frills, nothing extra.
You would think the Tenant would jump at a Council property, yes! - however this man GAVE UP a Council property at the end of 2019 to move in with his partner (or so he says). But that relationship didn’t last, and so he came to me to ask for a private rental.
But I’m not sure what to believe any more, because so much of it has been lies. But he did have a Council property because he showed me his Council Tax bill with the address on alongside his name.
Why do you think he gave it up? I’ve been wondering about this for weeks.
Hi Rosie,
The gov.uk site does say all that is required is first class post. (When I sent out our notices I did get proof and sent two copies and tenant did say they didn’t receive anything - as expected - so did find it useful to have receipts)
Not sure why he would have given up a Council house. Can only guess people like him don’t think responsibly or of consequences. He just did what he wanted to do at the time.
Another question; How on earth did he get a partner?!
First class post, good. Thanks a lot for looking and confirming, it’s very helpful.
So your Tenant, too, said they didn’t receive anything, even though you’d posted 2 copies? It’s normal practice, then? Forgive my ignorance, I’m not used how bad Tenants behave! This is an education to me, a terrible one, and I’m so sorry for long-term Landlords who have to put up with this all the time.
A partner, yes. He’s not 40 yet and he has 2 grown-up kids and 4 grandchildren.
It really does make you wonder.
I’ll report back on what the Council is able to do, next week. The Housing Officer in charge is experienced and steady, and maybe she has a shrewd plan, I hope to God she does. xx
Hi Rosie,
Thank goodness you have a bit of help now.
From what I have heard denying receiving what they don’t want to receive is the normal! Ours was demanding copies and proof of posting etc.
I did consult a solicitor and he said I didn’t have to supply or prove anything to her, as long as the papers were correct. (For the purposes of the court you self certify it was sent on an N215 form. Thankfully I never needed to as they went.)
But being able to provide proof of posting did shut her up to a degree but then she started again with the Council who were falling over themselves to help her.
It’s frightening that tenant of yours has bred.
If I were you follow the law but also you’re entitled to report anti social behaviour to the council even though your the landlord if all else fails, you can also try offering 1 months rent Cash for keys to leave with a reference- it might work and save you more money & hassle, Specially with the crap Covid rules in favour of tenants not landlords
Hi Suzy1, it’s good to hear from you.
I have reported the antisocial behaviour to the Council [and to the Police, on 3 or 4 occasions], and they are both aware, but it doesn’t seem to be making any difference.
Last week I sent the Housing Officer a long list of what the Tenant has done recently. e.g. hit a pedestrian, drove his car into a wall (Police took the car away)… it’s horrendous.
But the Council seems much more interested in whether or not I (the Landlord) gave the Tenant the How to Rent booklet, it’s hilarious!! Not.
I don’t have much spare money and so this legal process is very scary, because it’s so expensive to a good Landlord, which doesn’t seem fair.
If I offered this Tenant money, he’d then demand money off me for life, he’s a drugged-up liar in private (and a perfect employee, by day).
Sounds like you may have been in a similar situation yourself? Can you make me aware of any other ‘tricks’ that Tenants try, to cause trouble - e.g. refusing to acknowledge receipt of anything, accusing the Landlord of theft… what else do they do? I want to be prepared!