I have to ask my tenant to vacate as unfortunately I’ve been diagnosed with incurable cancer and I wish to move into the property.
I bought the property with the tenant in place in 2014 and it’s in the area I had lived in for 40 years+. I moved from the area in 2021, but I know very few people where I now live. I would like to move into the rental property as I was well established in the area and I would have a much better support network if I was to move back.
I have never actually lived in the property myself. The tenant is in receipt of housing benefit, so I’m assuming I’ll have to go the whole way with the eviction process, to the point where the bailiffs will be knocking on the door.
I’m registered with the LL Guild and manage the property myself (I ran my own plumbing business and have good contacts with other tradesmen in the area, my property is administered, tenancy agreements, deposit holding scheme, etc) by a LL who has over 50 properties and is an old customer/friend of mine.
I will be contacting the LL Guild in the coming weeks, but I’m interested to hear the thoughts of those here regarding whether I should serve an S21, Grounds 8(1A IIRC) or both.
I’ve read different things about the validity of grounds 8 depending on whether I had ever lived in the property or not.
I should also mention I intend to keep my current home as a second home as I love the area where I now live and it would be a nice bolthole during the much needed refurbishment, as the tenants property is in poor condition due to her lifestyle.
I am so sorry to hear about your diagnosis and completely understand why you’d want to move back to your support network. You definitely need to stick to a Section 21 notice, because Section 8 Ground 1 (moving into the property) strictly cannot be used if you bought the place for money with the tenant already in situ. Since she’s on housing benefit, the council will absolutely tell her to stay put until the bailiffs show up, so your S21 paperwork needs to be flawlessly compliant (deposit, EPC, Gas Safety, How to Rent) to avoid getting thrown out of court. Wishing you the absolute best of luck with the eviction process and your treatment!
Yes, that’s what I thought. I’m pretty sure all is OK paperwork wise. I issued a shorthold tenancy agreement in 2017 and got her signature on a required documents checklist at that time. The only issue is that the deposit wasn’t put into the DHS within the required timescale, but I’ve refunded her in full and have a signature from her to that effect. I’m putting it all in the hands of my solicitor and she’s confident all is in order.
Good shout on refunding that deposit first! Returning it in full before serving the S21 is exactly how you fix the late protection issue legally, so you completely dodged a bullet there. Handing it all over to a solicitor is definitely the smartest move-let them deal with the eviction headaches and council delays so you can just focus your energy on your health right now. Wishing you a super smooth process and all the best moving forward!
S8 ground 13 under RRA might also be worth considering “You will be able to try and evict your tenant if they have allowed the condition of the property to get worse.”
but depends what evidence you have…
Remember that even if you serve a valid s21 before 1 may, possession proceedings must be initiated by 31 July or it will still fail as it will fall outside RRA transition arrangements
Not necessarily. They are on housing benefit, so can find another private rental and transfer their housing benefit to their new property.
You could consider offering unofficially a financial incentive to your tenant to move out promptly. This might be cheaper than going through the eviction process, and would save them having an eviction on their record, which might make finding an another private rental more difficult.
You can use s21 if everything is in order, but there is probably a spike in these notices at the moment due to the RRA and it could take you up to a year to evict her through the courts and be very stressful. This is clearly a consideration if you have a terminal diagnosis.
You are correct that it fixes the problem for s21 purposes, but its worth stressing that the tenant can still claim a penalty against the landlord as that breach can’t be fixed.
Yes, I’m assuming a timeframe of a year or so, my main reason for putting it in the hands of my solicitor at this point (I should mention I served a S21 on her earlier in the year, but had to shelve it due to poor health whilst undergoing chemo) is to avoid the stress of the situation as much as possible.
I’m very fortunate that I don’t have to work, nor do I need the funds from the sale for day to day living, so I can afford to be relaxed and have a wait and see attitude. Avoiding stress is the most important thing for me right now, I’m doing this for my beneficiaries rather than myself from a financial POV.
The tenant has assured me that she won’t fight the notice, but I’ve been around the block enough times to know that could change.
I did consider this, but my solicitor advised me against it. She said she thought the judge may take a dim view of it IIRC.
I’d also be very surprised if she could find a private tenant to take her on due to affordability, she’s paying around £200 PCM under market rate ATM.
It’s crazy, I contacted her offering to put the property on the market in the (very unlikely) hope that someone would buy (at an attractive price for expedience). I asked 3 estate agents to liaise with her regarding visiting for a valuation. One contacted me to say she was very obstructive regarding making an appointment, the other two can’t even get her to reply to their attempts to contact her (probably because she doesn’t want to make any effort to tidy the place up IMO). All documented through text messages and emails from the agents.
I’m planning to visit the property in the next couple of weeks to carry out an inspection. I’ll be taking plenty of photos and I still have the original estate agents photos for comparison.
I don’t know if a judge would be swayed by it, but I can also provide testimonials from tradesmen who’ve worked in the property over the years ( my electrician refused to carry out the EICR until the place was cleaned up).
I’ll certainly mention S8 Ground 13 to my solicitor.
If you are unfamiliar get someone who is familiar to get it done. The smallest error can knock it out
No reason you cant serve both.
This can take s long time if tenant goes to council and they come out swinging on the tenants behalf.
Councils wont care about your condition, they are an uncaring lot. If they ask a lot of questions best to ignore, they are fishing. The council are not your friend in these matters
I suspect the tenant is receiving advice from Shelter, Citizens Advice, or a solicitor, and on that basis I think there is a real possibility that any Section 21 route will be defended or delayed with a range of allegations and procedural points. Given that, it may be sensible to consider the alternative possession grounds available once the new regime takes effect on 1 May 2026, particularly the ground based on the landlord or a close family member intending to occupy the property. My understanding is that this route requires 4 months’ notice, and it may prove to be the cleaner route in due course, depending on the facts and evidence available.
Tough situation, really sorry to hear about your diagnosis, moving back for support makes total sense. If your paperwork is compliant S21 is often the clearest route but expect delays and council involvement and do discuss S8 Ground 13 with your solicitor if you have dated photos and tradesmen statements showing deterioration, in my experience good documentation and witness notes definately make the difference so get everything dated and let your solicitor run the court stuff to minimise stress, you could also consider a small incentive to encourage a voluntary move though they’ll probably advise against it.
I am currently doing s21 with my tenant using a landlord solicitor. To cut a long story short due to compliance risks, I returned back full deposit bank transfer, printed out all the right to rent docs differnt versions, epc, eicr there is no gas there and hand delivered to tenant he didn’t open door so I video him taking from under the door and took loads of photos to show evidence I was there etc my solicitors sent same to tenant recorded delivery etc. I would do this option now before may and use a solicitor. My school friend did s8 and apparently there can be alot of legal costs involved if tenant challenges it thats why I went s21 route. Even s21 depending on where your property is can take 1 year to get them out! Use mcol for rent arrears. To repeat, use a solicitor company to serve and check your paperwork and do it ASAP not nearing may deadline
Its not the Right ro Rent documents that are part of the prescribed information for s21, its the Government’s How to Rent booklet. If you didnt serve that at the start of the tenancy, it has to be served before the s21 notice. For safety you would need to serve the version contemporary with the start of the tenancy and the version that applies now if this is different.