Tenancy eviction (without contract)

djspecialist

A friend of mine has been renting a house without a contract, and has recently been served notice to leave.  What are her rights, in terms of how long she has to find somewhere else to live?

My friend is a single mother, with a primary school-age child.  She has been renting this property for 13 years - originally living there with her (now separated and left) partner, and more recently just with her daughter.  During the entire tenancy, the rent has been paid regularly.

5 weeks ago, she was given 2 months' notice that her tenancy would be terminated.  Since then she has been looking for somewhere new but hasn't found anywhere suitable*.  She is now getting extremely anxious about becoming homeless, in particular because of the potential impact on her daughter.

(*) One reason she has struggled to find somewhere to rent is that she has a cat, which many landlords are unwilling to allow.  Aside from that, my friend is a fine tenancy prospect: employed, no criminal record, etc.

If push comes to shove, we will put them up in our house.  But until we reach that point, what leverage does my friend have to persuade her landlord to extend their current tenancy?

ThorpyFX

This happened to me. I was initially on a  fixed tenancy and then the landlady cancelled the agreement with the people managing the property on her behalf as it enabled her to get more money per month (saving her managing fees) Unfortunately for her, she didn't get the contract rewritten and it lapsed. So she was happy for another two years of us paying rent until it wasn't convenient to her and she decided to give us 2 months notice.

The long and short of it was that i told her my house i was buying wouldn't complete for another 8 months  and she can a) take me to court or b) wait patiently until i moved.

The arguments ensued until I told her that having zero tenancy agreement left her wide open and more than likely a court would side with me because of personal circumstance... however to find that out she would have to lay down huge swathes of cash and take me to court.

She opted to be patient. For me this was the final straw as since the management company was out of the scene she had been nothing but a pain in the ass for us. My patience had run out and i had little sympathy in playing hardball with her.

Your friend needs to play hardball with the landlord a little/ lean on their sympathetic side.

Drew_TNBD

No leverage at all.

Sacrifice the cat to do the right thing and get the child a home.

WezV

yeah, a tenancy agreement protects the tenant and the landlord.   Without it, the landlord has just as much reason to worry about this situation. especially if there are no rent arrears or anti social behaviour concerns.  clearly she cannot breach an agreement that doesn't exist


best she finds somewhere else ASAP, she needs to get out sooner or later - but she should feel free to dictate the timeline and not feel pressured.  

djspecialist

@ThorpyFX thanks for taking the time to reply.  It's reassuring to hear that a similar situation ended up playing out OK for you (or at least didn't go really bad - I have no doubt it was very stressful for you at the time).

My friend understands that the hardball option is on the table, but she is worried about (a) potential legal costs, should the decision not go her way, and (b) losing the opportunity to get a reference from her current landlord, to use for the next tenancy.

The main thing however is that she feels very vulnerable, due to the fact that she is a single adult trying to guarantee a roof over her daughter's head.  As a result, she is reluctant to take any risks and is looking for some strands of hope.  (Of course, staying so long without a contract was a big risk, but ... hindsight is 20/20 and all that).

Given that she has already received the statutory minimum of 2 months' notice, is there any way she can stave off being taken to court, aside from appealing to her landlord's good nature?

digitalscream

Drew_TNBD said:

No leverage at all.

Sacrifice the cat to do the right thing and get the child a home.

Not actually true - the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 prevents the landlord from evicting the tenant without a possession order being granted by a court. The whole thing is here:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1977/43

Obviously I'm not a lawyer, but I do know of people who've used this - and their landlord's unwillingness to go to court - in order to stretch their tenancy until they'd found a new place to live.

@djspecialist - the most important thing is for your friend to a) have nowhere else to go, and b) continue paying rent. The court will do their best to avoid making somebody homeless without absolute necessity. It's also worth noting that, being a single parent, if the landlord was granted a possession order then she'd most likely go straight to the front of the queue for council properties; the local authority would put her up in temporary accommodation (probably a hotel or B&B) until a suitable flat or house could be found.

All that said, she probably needs to get herself to the CAB as soon as possible to figure out her options; if it came to court with the landlord seeking a possession order, they'd help to advocate for her.

djspecialist

WezV said:

she needs to get out sooner or later - but she should feel free to dictate the timeline and not feel pressured.  

The question is - exactly what protection does the law offer her to do that?  In other words, if the landlord refuses to budge, what is the next step once the 2 months runs out?

digitalscream

djspecialist said:

WezV said:

she needs to get out sooner or later - but she should feel free to dictate the timeline and not feel pressured.  

The question is - exactly what protection does the law offer her to do that?  In other words, if the landlord refuses to budge, what is the next step once the 2 months runs out?

See above, re: possession orders.

robgilmo

Get signed up here,  http://www.thetenantsvoice.co.uk/

Firstly, is it a legal section 21? when was it issued? was it issued by hand? Witnesses? this is very important, she may not have to leave until a legal section 21 has been issued properly., Secondly, just because a section 21 has been issued does not mean she has to leave, she can stay, the land lord will start court proceedings, it will take weeks and weeks. Thirdly, tell her to get down to the CIB, they will explain everything to her. Can she say its a revenge eviction? Were any repairs to the property due to be carried out but the land lord decided to evict instead?
The good news is she has rights, she is protected by law and the law will side with her, but she will get evicted eventually, If the section 21 isn't binding or has not been witnessed etc she can get a list of repair work that needs doing and send it registered , email, by hand witnessed to the land lord, the land lord then cannot evict her until the work has been done (or from memory 6 months) this might buy her more time.  She will be under a rolling contract if her original TA has ran out.

CabbageCat

I know a couple of landlords who have had to wait months (or years for my colleague) to get tenants out of their house. The landlord will know that the law is generally on the side of the tenant and will be very keen to avoid confrontation. A firm but polite request for an extra month would probably reap rewards.

WezV

djspecialist said:

WezV said:

she needs to get out sooner or later - but she should feel free to dictate the timeline and not feel pressured.  

The question is - exactly what protection does the law offer her to do that?  In other words, if the landlord refuses to budge, what is the next step once the 2 months runs out?

the law offers her a lot more protection because of the lack of a tenancy agreement. the landlord is in a much weaker position without it.

They cannot turn up after 2 months to turf her out.  If they wanted to they would need to go to court first

ThorpyFX

robgilmo said:

Get signed up here,  http://www.thetenantsvoice.co.uk/

Firstly, is it a legal section 21? when was it issued? was it issued by hand? Witnesses? this is very important, she may not have to leave until a legal section 21 has been issued properly., 

This is absolutely vital and one of the things we used to our advantage, my landlady thought a voicemail would suffice. I didn't inform her of the section 21 requirement knowing that once it was issued the notice period would restart....

BTW it is vital she keeps paying her rent regardless, any payment shenanigans will lose her sympathy in court.

robgilmo

CabbageCat said:

I know a couple of landlords who have had to wait months (or years for my colleague) to get tenants out of their house. The landlord will know that the law is generally on the side of the tenant and will be very keen to avoid confrontation. A firm but polite request for an extra month would probably reap rewards.

Not with my previous land lord it wouldn't, evicted Christmas with two young kids, one of which was 6 months old, no legal section 21 (it took him 3 attempts to get this one right) , revenge eviction due to 6 years of property maintenance neglect and didn't want to do the work but promised it for last 2 years of tenancy, deposit not in scheme. We ended up finding a place and we incredibly lucky to do so but it was the most stressful thing I've ever gone through. A real fucking dodgy Land Lord money grabbing arse hole 

digitalscream

It's also worth acknowledging that if there was no tenancy contract, the landlord can't hold back any of the deposit when the tenancy is finally over (at least, I'm pretty sure of that - worth looking into).

ThorpyFX

digitalscream said:

It's also worth acknowledging that if there was no tenancy contract, the landlord can't hold back any of the deposit when the tenancy is finally over (at least, I'm pretty sure of that - worth looking into).

correct!

Nitefly

Got to get to the CAB toot sweet.

holnrew

As well as the cab, get an appointment with a housing officer at the council. As well as housing association they often have private landlords who let through the council, and they can act as a liaison with the current landlord

CabbageCat

Nitefly said:

Got to get to the CAB toot sweet.

Don't expect too much from them. I went to the CAB for a landlord dispute and all that happened was that they Googled my question for me. Or they tried but the old dear was a bit scared of computers so I pretty much Googled it for myself.

gubble

This sounds a bit of a minefield.

Firstly as far as I'm aware a Section 21 can only be issued where an Assured Short hold Tenancy is in place.

An AST can be agreed verbally rather than in writing. I think it would be safe to assume that upon moving in terms were agreed verbally such as date of rent, rent value etc and over the last 13 years rent reviews will probably have occurred, maybe even property inspections that would support the case that an AST is in existence.

The 13 year thing is a little tricky. In most cases an AST has a fixed term that expires and either moves on to a periodic tenancy or a new AST is agreed. If however the tenancy is going to last for over 3 years usually a different agreement is made. This changes again at 7 years and then 21 years.

However in theory I'd suspect that this would be seen as a verbally agreed AST which has then rolled in a Periodic with no fixed term, thus serving section 21 notice would be considered the most appropriate course of action for a landlord if they want the tenants to vacate.

If this is correct then this isn't good news for your friend @djspecialist. Out of interest do you know his reasons for eviction as that could either help or hinder her case?

CAB will tell your friend that if she cannot find alternative housing then she should not leave otherwise she will be making herself voluntarily homeless and wont' be entitled to various things. They'll advise her to wait for the possession order to be granted and until the bailiffs turn up to evict her.  This could take weeks or months depending on the local courts and their workload.

Has she discussed with the landlord or writing to him/her asking for an extension on the notice due to being unable to find somewhere to live?

djspecialist

gubble said:

If this is correct then this isn't good news for your friend @djspecialist. ;

Sorry, I didn't follow the argument - which part is not good news?  The fact that the implicit AST has changed to a Periodic?  The fact that serving section 21 would be considered the most appropriate course of action?  Or something else?

Out of interest do you know his reasons for eviction as that could either help or hinder her case?

AFAIK the landlord wishes to sell the property.

CAB will tell your friend that if she cannot find alternative housing then she should not leave otherwise she will be making herself voluntarily homeless and wont' be entitled to various things.

This is useful to know.  As I said, we have offered temporary accommodation in case my friend is unable to find anywhere else in time.  But your comment suggests that this may be counter-productive.  I have advised my friend to contact CAB; until she does so, can you elaborate on which entitlements could be lost by becoming voluntarily homeless?

NPP

if you are prepared to go as far as putting her up temporarily, why not offer to take the cat temporarily if that helps her and her daughter to find a place to live that doesn't allow pets?