UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi everyone, I would really appreciate some advice on the following problem please:

Around seven years ago my mum started renting out the basement of her house to a friend of mine and his boyfriend. As they were friends of the family the arrangement was fairly informal: a basic tenancy agreement was created, signed by my mum and my friend (on behalf of him and his boyfriend), stating that if either party wished to end the tenancy they had to give one month's notice. There was no deposit. Last Christmas the couple split up and my friend moved out, leaving his ex in my mum's basement. In March I decided that I wanted I wanted to move in there along with another friend of mine; an idea which my mum was delighted about. She left the tenant a friendly note (their usual form of communication) asking if he could please move out by the end of June (it had been discussed when he and his boyfriend first moved in that I would probably want to move in myself one day). He replied saying that that was fine as he was buying a flat anyway. However, June came and he asked for another month as the purchase of his flat was taking longer than expected. My mum agreed but now it is July and the tenant still doesn't know when he is going to move into his new flat and is refusing to leave my mum's house. We have tried to come to some kind of compromise like offering to store his things but he says the tenancy agreement his ex had with my mum is not binding and she will have to serve him a Section 21 if she wants him to leave. This is incredibly inconvenient obviously for me and especially for my friend who wants to move in with me and she may have to look for an alternative, leaving me in the lurch. What can we do? Is the tenant correct that my mum has to give him a Section 21, and consequently two months' notice, to force him to go? Unfortunately, we don't have proof that we originally asked him to leave in March beyond messages I exchanged with various friends about it. Overall, it's an upsetting situation since the tenant was essentially living in my mum's house as a friend and paying very little rent for many years but now has turned against her and refuses to settle things amicably.

A Section 21 with at least 2 months notice is a fine way of evicting someone... although that does not mean they will leave then. After a Section 21 expires and the Tenant refuses to leave it just gives the Landlord the option of going to Court to seek a possession order.

The alternative to doing things by the book (which you guys don't seem that bothered about anyway, right?) would be illegal eviction. This is an offence which can result in major fines and imprisonment, so it is not recommended.

Actually, another alternative is financial inducement - some might refer to it as a bribe, but it's just a quid pro quo, really - you make it worth the Tenant's while to move out earlier / amicably to suit your desires.

I would bide my time. If the Tenant really is buying a property then they will go eventually... purchases can be stretched-out and it could be no fault of theirs.

Thank you for your reply. We would never dream of trying to illegally evict the tenant. We want to avoid having to do so legally at all costs too as we do totally understand that the over-running of the flat purchase is not his fault. Hence why my mum was trying to come to some kind of compromise; e.g. she suggested that we could store his stuff if he would just go and stay somewhere else for a few weeks until he can move into his new place, but he refused to negotiate. The financial inducement is a good idea but my parents are pensioners and I am a student so there is no way any of us could afford to pay him to leave. He has already paid the deposit on the flat he is buying so we assume that he will be leaving within the next couple of months. The issue is that if he doesn't go before the end of the month (as he agreed) then this will make things extremely awkward for the person who is supposed to be moving in and she may well be forced to drop out, leaving my mum short of income she badly needs. I was just wondering whether the tenancy agreement she has, which specifies a month's notice period on either side, has any validity or whether we need to serve a Section 21, as the tenant said (which would probably be pointless as he is likely to have gone within two months anyway). 

The point is...

The Tenant refuses to leave. You think you have an agreement that can compel him to leave with a month. He disagrees... so what are you going to do? Manhandle him and his belongings out? Somewhat unlikely. I suspect you have to let him leave of his own accord because I fail to see how you aren't impotent in your desire to get him out in a month - unless you take matters into your own hands and change the locks when he is out and refuse him re-entry... potentially opening yourselves up to an accusation of illegal eviction (certainly you will have made him homeless if he just popped out for some shopping).

Backup to all this would be a Section 21.

P.S. - in short, the part of the agreement that states 1 month notice from Landlord to Tenant will be unenforceable.