UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hello All,

I'm an overseas landlord and fear my tenant has/or is just about to abandon my property. The rent is arrears by a couple of days and I fear they are moving countries. They previously asked me to reduce their term of tenancy but I refused. I'm helpless to do anything right now until the rent has been in arrears for a longer period of time.

I'm keen to find out about how to obtain an abandonment notice should I need one. I've read lots about them online however I cannot find out how much they cost and can they be done without a solicitor? Are they obtained through a court? As I'm overseas I'm keen to ask a friend to obtain one on my behalf if needed.

Any advice would be gladly appreciated.

Thank you

Just phone them up and offer them a Surrender of Tenancy.

No money no issues, just get them to surrender the tenancy, and dont pursue them.

When you friend goes round to get them to sign it he can pick up the keys.

This is better than having the hassle of trying to enforce a lease obligation you already think they are going to run away from.

Please be wary of advice from a blog (especially my own)
Always do your own research

JJF
It is important you take BobOff's advice ASAP.  An Abandonment Notice that you are seeking is meaningless in law.
DO NOT WAIT until they have (appear to have) abandoned the property otherwise ...[read on]

This is because legally if your  tenant MAY have abandoned the property, there’s only one guaranteed safe way to deal with this – get a court possession order before taking over the property. 

Technically the tenant will have breached the contract however, breach of contract is superseded by the protection afforded tenants under statutory rules – the Protection from Eviction Act 1977.  There is a famous case whereby a Landlord was ordered to pay damages for reletting a property even though the tenant was in jail (sounds unbelievable but Im sure you can google it).

Section 8 route I'm afraid (as it seems from your post you are within the fixed period of the new agreement no s21 possible??) and for Ground 8 you'll need the tenant to be 2 months in rent arrears at the time of the hearing. You should also try Ground 10 and less effectivley even Ground 12 if the tenant has left the property vacant but thats tough to prove.

Although having said all that you could risk it - the tenant might not come back - but see health warning above.

Other things you could do:
A. You could leave a clear notice (Abandonment Notice) on the door informing the tenant that the lock has been changed and they must contact you to obtain a replacement key within 14 days
B. Was this a council tenant? You could contact the local authority’s Tenant Relations Officer (if they have one)
C. Speak to the Rent Officer (Local Authority Housing Department) of your actions and confirm in writing so there is independent official verification of your actions.
...but none of the above is iron clad safe option and you are basically risking it - the steps are only marginally better than doing nothing at all. 
This is the point, the Abandonment Notice is meaningless in law and if the tenant comes back you are in deep sh!t.  Really really deep sh!t....I cannot stress this enough, so do check out the consequences if you decide to risk it e.g. if you see them gettiing on a plane with a one way ticket then probably all good

Talk to the tenant asap, figure out something but get them to serve a Notice to Quit or Surrender of Tenancy or anything that shows they are leaving the property.  Even if the notice isnt validly served i.e. in the fixed period (or even accepted by you) it will be very very useful indeed).

Best of luck