Do you have another property you could move her to temporarily, during repairs, then start a new tenancy agreement?
Hi Declan, You say you own other BTL’s.
Isn’t the easiest option to wait till one is vacant, then offer your tenant the opportunity to move into that nicely refurbed property, perhaps with an inducement payment as well. Not necessarily too large, say 1k.
Then everyone ends up with a happy ending.
I may be possible to serve a section 8 notice under grounds 6, (property requires refurbishment) and 9 (suitable alternative accommodation is available), but as far as I know these grounds are uncommon and I have no knowledge about likely success.
Thanks for all the continued replies which are very much appreciated. I have indeed other properties but they are all 3/4/5 bed homes and this particular one is a 1 bed flat. So none of my other properties would suit at all. Additionally they are all full anyhow. I am going to tread carefully here. I completely take on board all the advice regarding not involving the council. However I will call the council today to have a generalised chat with them and broach the subject with them. I will bring the conversation around to how they would suggest I move forward for the benefit of the tenant. I will also try and get their take on the possibility of them issuing an emergency prohibition order…or at least get them to talk me through the process and how they believe they would act if they did inspect the property. I additionally think that Covid could actually work in my favour - as it would not be the best option to try and have major works ongoing in the flat if it was still occupied. Also the section 8 idea is one I can look into, however this is still subject to a 6 month Covid delay. My biggest issue is that I do not want the tenant living in an inhabitable property for another 6 months.
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Good luck and please let us know how it goes. With luck you will get a positive response from them.
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Your a very brave man !! Rather you than me, it sounds like an absolutely nightmare situation.
There is currently a ban on tenant evictions and even if there wasn’t the lack of paperwork would prohibit the issue of any effective section 21 paperwork to the tenant.
If your wanting to do extensive work on the property without the current tenant being there you may be liable to provide alternative accommodation.
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Personally I would find another property for them put the deposit down in your name to help them move easily. However if they moved on their own there would be no need for this but a very good backstop
My advice would be to NOT complete the property transaction until you are absolutely confident that the property is vacant. If you try to do that after the fact, you will leave yourselves wide open for long legal issues and expenses.
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