Hi Mr T,
I’m not sure about the CV19 measures, particularly since the lockdown has eased. I didn’t take much notice of them, although, I believe I read it was 3 months during this period. Also you could not submit one for 3 months from some date in March. Have a look on the government website, it will be fully detailed on there.
Regarding your question about the granting of an S21, yes it is usually a straight forward award for possession, obviously unless it is contested by the tenant. Most claims for eviction, I imagine, are based on unpaid rent, which is generally uncontestable, but in case of damage and misuse of the property, you would need to have sound evidence to prove your grounds. In this case, if the tenants are being awkward, you may be advised to expect the worst, possibly including the necessity of a baliff to effect the eviction. Unfortunately this all takes time, but if they are paying the rent, that is at least some consolation. The damage will always be there to sort out eventually, how ever long it takes to evict them. I would send them a letter demanding the list of repairs are attended to within a reasonable timescale, and that they will be liable for the costs of your contractors if they do not comply, which is what your tenancy agreement should say.
I have never had to evict anybody on those grounds, so couldn’t say how easy / difficult it would be. I would imagine with the clause in your TA, as noted above, you would be required to afford the tenant every opportunity to make reparations either physically or financially. However, if you have been subjected to their repeated misuse of the property, as you say you have sucked it up previously, and presumably made the repairs yourself without receiving payment from the tenant, this should go in your favour, as long as you have good records of the issues, i.e. correspondence, bills and demands to the tenant.
My only non-rent evictions were for antisocial and abusive behaviour, which may have some similarities, if she is being objectionable / belligerent.
Sadly, but also somewhat amusingly, I had one guy who would stand on the doorstep, screw up my hand delivered letters and throw them in my face whilst telling me to F-off. He was disturbing / scaring the other tenants in the block banging on their doors and claiming his girlfriend, which he didn’t have, was hiding in there… Sadly he had fried what few brain cells he had with methamphetamine abuse, and even came to believe he actually owned the flat, and made those claims to the baliff, and the police, who were called in and eventually had to physically drag him out and lock him up for half a day, so we could clear his stuff out without his interference. He returned in the evening, riffled through his belongings, took a bag from the pocket of a jacket, left the jacket and all his clothes and furniture behind. A hopeless and helpless case!
For those people thinking we are nasty landlords, we firstly gave him a huge chance being a benefits tenant, as he was well presented, articulate and showing no signs of his past problems, verified by his support workers, but not having a guarantor. He was fine for about 3 years, but then he became a nuisance. We contacted every agency we could to try to get him support with his drug problem and his relocation to a new home, but they wouldn’t help if he didn’t ask for it himself, wonderful system… We spent many hours talking to him, before he became abusive, trying to help him understand the situation and encouraging him to contact the agencies / doctor who had supported him previously, but since abandoned him to his own devices, sadly without success.
There’s no helping some people and, of course, we the landlords, were left alone to try to sort it out, along with a major refurbishment and all the associated cost. Then people wonder why we shy away from benefit tenants??
Being a soft touch, we have just taken on another one, who is so well cossetted by the housing department, they have paid the full rate rent (for an under 35 year old) and a cash bond in advance, usually unheard of, and her previous partners parents are standing guarantor and supporting her, thereby satisfying all our requirements, such that we couldn’t conscientiously refuse. I am far from confident we will not regret this decision, but at least we have a guarantor to fall back on, and everyone deserves a chance in life.
