UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi,

My tenant's contract is coming to an end at the end of April.  A year ago I told her that we were planning to do the house up and in a years time we would need the house back.  Two months ago, I serve her with her 2 months notice.  She is now telling me tha she cant find a place to move to and has requested help from the council.  She is on Housing benefit but works.  The Council has advise her not to move from the house and let me take her to court.
I have a team of builders, ready to star work in the property at the end of April, ( when is is meant to leave the house) and I have already signed a new contract with new tenants that will be moving in in August. 
The house is a real mess and recently had a leak, that was temporarily fixed.  I have said to my tenant that it is not safe to live at the house as it is and she needs to leave as her contract will come to an end in a months time.What are my rights as a landlord?  Thank you

You must follow the correct procedure. The Council will always advise a Tenant to stay until people turn up to physically remove them... that is the end point of your long and drawn-out process... once the Section 21 expires you will need to go to Court to seek a Possession Order... which, if everything has been done correctly, you will obtain, then you can expect the Tenant to remain in situ beyond that... then you can apply to have her forcibly evicted. Prepare yourself for many weeks of delay and various costs.

What you cannot do is turf the Tenant out yourself - you do not want to be done for illegal eviction.

You must never organise the follow-on things you have organised before your Tenant has left - it is asking for trouble, I'm afraid.

As a Landlord, I need to be organised.  The tenant always said it was Ok to move out as she had been given plenty of notice.
If I dont book builders in advance, noone will do the job that needs doing ( 2 /3 months of work) at short notice.  All good builders are booked.

I dont think I am asking for trouble by organising my property.  The tenants rights are incomprehensible.  The Council advise is terrible and absolutely  unfair and unnecessary for a Landlord.

I know some of the eviction procedure but I certainly dont agree with it.  By given the tenants more time, they become lazy in trying to find a property and the Landlord has to pay about £1000 in legal cost. It is a waste of money and also an unnecessary stress.

Yes. You can moan about it and rail against it, or understand it and act accordingly. What you can't do is turf them out... illegal eviction is a big no-no.

Or think laterally, possibly? It's never wrong to 'incentivise' a Tenant to move on at a time that suits you more... it all depends on the downside to you, I guess. It still doesn't make their task of finding a place any easier... but it might mean they can widen their net.

The council's attitude is counter-productive as it just means more landlords refusing to take Housing Benefit tenants in the first place. However, it is predictable, and we must deal with things as they are, not as they should be. I understand your point about the builders, but what was the rationale behind signing a contract with new tenants at this stage? Are prospective tenants so rare in your neck of the woods that you have to grab them when you can, rather than waiting until you've got a freshly-renovated property to show them?

Hippogriff's right. The equivalent of a month or two's rent and a good reference might be enough to persuade your tenant to leave, and may end up being the cheapest option.