We have a long term tenant (15 years) who informed us she is moving out to live with her boyfriend. However she has two children (who are now adults (18 & 24)) living with her. Our tenant asked us if we would transfer the tenancy to her children of which we have declined as neither of them have ever been added to the tenancy.
The reason is that one of us has staff accommodation that comes with the job and we have been advised that this is being revoked and we have to move out, we will become homeless and we will have to sell our property.
Does anyone know where we stand legally?? any advice would be appreciated.
You can decline to transfer the tenancy to the children. If the tenants serve a valid notice, the children must leave too. If they remain they will be trespassers. I think that as they have never been tenants you may be able to evict them without a court order, but you should check that with a specialist housing solicitor such as Anthony Gold or JMW.
Our tenant is a family member and therefore we didnāt need to have a buy-to-let mortgage, the bank are aware.
We also havenāt let our house to make a profit (it was never a business) and we didnāt put the deposit into a deposit scheme but did have a Short Term Tenancy Agreement that we put a clause in stating that either party can end the tenancy. We did it as a favour as our tenant was in a domestic abusive relationship.
Our tenant is now stating that she will need a Section 21 to take to the housing the the Local Housing if we want her our tenant to leave.
If you have complied with all the prescribed requirements then you can serve a s21. Otherwise you will need to try section 8 ground 1, the ground for when you have previously lived in the property and/or want to move in now. If you hadnt made the tenant aware in writing prior to the start that you might use this ground, then it will be up to the judges discretion. The Council will advise the tenant to stay put till the bailiffs arrive.
I arranged an appointment with the tenant and advised that I would be in attendance for an electrician to attend the property for the Electrical Certificate.
On arriving I found the tenant wasnāt there and the adult son didnāt even know anything about the above. The son however gave me permission to enter the property and left me his key (tenant had also changed the lock) and went to work.
I was fuming at the state of the property and it looks like the tenant has been subletting the lounge (due to the locks on the door and the electrician confirmed as heād seen this before) the lounge was completely empty now though.
The master bedroom was empty (just a mattress on the floor) and non of the tenants clothes were in the built in wardrobe.
I asked the neighbour if they had seen the tenant and they replied no, only her adult children as she has left to live with her boyfriend. They are buying a campervan and touring the UK and Europe ( both are on benefits).
Where does this leave as the tenant has abandoned the property and her children which i believe they are staying there illegally now. She has now changed to Universal Credit whereby I donāt believe she will pay the rent. The tenancy agreement ends on 31st October 2024 anyway and the tenant was aware that we were not going to renew the tenancy.
I suggest you appoint an eviction specialist. Your two messages state - Yes notice servedā¦ but the next asking for Section 21 templateā¦ so it sounds like you have not served āvalidā notice, and therefore your tenant does NOT need to be vacated by 31st October as you suggest.
If you do not fully understand the eviction process, and the obligations that you as Landlord must have fulfilled before serving a valid notice etc, you need expert advice.
Incidentally - Section 21 & Section 8 rules & guidance are easily Googled, so if you want to do yourself, Iād start there.
Hi Karl,
We served our tenant a notice that we would not be renewing the tenancy agreement that ends 31st October 2024.
Our tenant has known for over two years that we were going to sell the property and marketed with a sitting tenant in situ first, we have then offered the tenant to purchase the property from us.
The tenant has moved out last month and left the adult children at the property.
We now have to issue a Section 21 as we have given plenty of notice of our intention.
This is the only property we have and it was rented to a friend of the families daughter, we have never charged extortionate rent either.
But thereās actually no way to begin to end a tenancy without a Section 21 notice. Your AST will go periodic on the 31st of Oct. irrespective of the ānoticeā you think youāve served.
IMO itās precisely because youāve āgiven plenty of noticeā of your intention that the T has now swanned off. Iāts actually because a) theyāre a friend of the family and b) you have never charged extortionate rent that they conisider you to be a pushover. Iād be very surprised if the tenancy was empty for you on the 31st Octā¦ but you might want to chance your luck.
The S21 needs to be served asap if you want them to leave. All other informal notification you have sent to them are worthless.
Serve the S21, and then hope they leave, and if not, youāll need to take them to court for repossession proceedings.
Before servicing the S21, make sure you have served all other documents in accordance with the relevant legislation - ie Right to Rent Guide, Gas safe cert, prescribed information etc. If you do not know what this all means, consult an expert.
Good luck. It can take upto a year to evict a tenant if they do not comply with the Section 21 notice.