Hello, I have a flat in Kent which is currently tenanted. The original contract is long since expired leaving us on a month to month rolling contract. The tenant over the last six months is now £4000 in arrears. She wont answer calls or emails and she says Im harassing her if I knock on the door. I served notice due to non-payment which she did aclknowledge on text which I have copies of. I have served her an email notice and a hard copy. Six weeks notice in all.
Assuming she doesnt move out on the day in question. What section do I use, 21 or 8?
With this in mind, my paperwork isnt up to scratch. I have no gas safety cert and because she only gave me half a deposit I didnt put it into a DPS.
You use section 8 to evict a tenant for breach of contract. By not protecting the deposit you have breached the contract first. If the tenant only had half the deposit you could have rejected it but you chose to accept it which means you still have to protect it. By not protecting the deposit you wouldn’t have been able to serve the prescribed info regarding the deposit. I wonder what other laws you have breached. In my opinion you haven’t got a leg to stand on. The same would apply to serving a Section 21. The tenancy needs to be legal before you can pursue a legal eviction. You are already owed 6 months rent. I would consider offering the tenant money to leave and start afresh or even sell.
As above, you can use s8 grounds 8, 10 & 11, but be aware that the court may reduce the arrears by a 3x deposit penalty which may take it under the 2 month threshold. You can use s21 if you fix your errors and if there was a gas cert in place when the tenancy began.
I’m amazed that such LL still exist. Protecting deposit is for your safety, not for the T. As well as any other obligatory paperwork and checks/updates. If you don’t do it, you can’t evict them. Your case will be thrown out of court. The only thing you can do now is agree with the T/pay them to leave because they don’t have to leave without court order and you can’t evict them.
Thanks for this, its kind of what I knew and confirms Im screwed. The other issue is she is paid benefits which Im not receiving. So ive reported her for benefit fraud. Which is where she is wrong so Im hoping she just leaves before she has her bens stopped which could be a long running issue for her. Like you say I cant evict legally as the tenancy isnt legal.
Yes they exist! Im not organised, its not news to anyone I know. But, I am where I am, the problem I have is she literally cannot leave as no one will take her on given her past. I gave her the flat as it was covid and i was beyond desperate. Bankruptcy was looming large on my business. So, it wasnt done properly and here we are. Now Im on the straight and everythings good but she not paying rent when she receives benefits for her rent.
Its not benefit fraud. If the tenant has to pay rent they are entitled to receive the local housing allowance, but theyre under no legal obligation to pay it to the landlord. Sorry if that cuts off another avenue.
You’re a kind person. Just the type that “beyond desperate” TT take advantage of. Usually there is a good reason why they get to this desperate place, but they will never tell you the whole truth about it )))
I’m really sorry you’re between a rock and a hard place. It’s horrible.