UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi hope someone can give a bit of advice my tenant was trouble at the start and so I issued a section21 giving three months notice and to end on the 5th December. However the tenant hasn't  found a new property,
I have two questions
1) If I let them stay for another month after the 5th does that invalidate the section21? I know I would have to get a court order to get them out; I don't really want to do that just before Christmas.
2) They also want to pay weekly from now, (The AST is stated as monthly upfront) they say they have to save up for the next property's rent and appliances???  They are on full benefits from the council.
As you can tell I am a newbie at this so any advice would be welcome
Slightly worried Ron.

Always be wary of advice received from a blog (especially my own)
Do your own research

1. Letting them stay won't invalidate the notice (you don't need to anything)

2. Assuming they pay weekly and it's the same rent pro rata then am not sure how that helps to save up for anything?!?
They can pay weekly but at the end of each month they/you need to make sure they have paid what they agreed for a month.  You will need to track carefully as the mid week end of month will mean you are either over or under rent payment each month.

I would suggest rent book/other documentation - especially if this goes (which it might) to "can we pay in cash?"
You have given them ample time per the section21 notice so changing the frequency of payment won't negate the notice

Personally I would just let them pay as they can (give them a receipt for cash), tally up at the end and be prepared to recover unpaid rent form the deposit.

Do not let this situation go on for too long....my experience is that once a tenant gets into difficulties they usually do not recover from them, especially council tenants.

Best of luck

It is also worth considering now what to do if they don't leave.

Check with your local County Court to see what the current delays are with their bailiffs (some are 3 months).

If it is over a month you may want to consider using an HCEO. Most HCEOs should be able to carry out an eviction within a week or so.

However to use an HCEO you will need leave of the County Court via an application under Section 42 of the County Court Act 1984. This application can be made at the same time as you apply for an Order for Possession.

Given this it is worth doing your research on HCEOs before the time comes.

You can download our own eBook here - http://thesheriffsoffice.com/services/repossession/repossession_of_residential_property

Hopefully it won't come to this, but it is better to be prepared should it happen.

Best of luck.