UK Landlord Forum / Life

I am reaching out in the hope that you might be able to provide some guidance on a deeply distressing situation I am currently facing.

I moved overseas for work and, in the process, rented out my only property via estate agent – a three-bedroom house in Kingsbury, London. However, since December 2023, I have not received any rent payments (a sum of around £23k in total). I have recently received a possession order, but I've been told that it will take up to six more months before a bailiff can take action following the application for a warrant of possession.

In the meantime, my tenant is living in the property without paying rent. Although she is not employed, her partner – a manager at a building materials company – is staying at the property as well. Curiously, he disappears whenever the estate agent comes for inspections.

I am facing severe financial strain, as I rely on the rent to make my mortgage payments. Despite my repeated attempts to obtain partial rent assistance through Universal Credit, my applications have been denied. The tenant claims Universal Credit, and the council has advised her to remain in the property until a bailiff's appointment is confirmed.

I have reached out to DWP, local ministers, community.gov.uk and also Brent Council for assistance, but to no avail. I feel utterly defeated, and the mounting debt and looming fear of potential repossession are taking an enormous toll. My mortgage commitments are becoming increasingly difficult to meet, and I have accrued significant debt in an attempt to keep up with payments.

When I contact Willesden County Court, the wait time is often over an hour, and they provide only general advice, with no concrete support and mention wait times of over 6 months.

If anyone has any advice or suggestions for how I can resolve this matter as swiftly as possible, I would be truly grateful. I am desperate for a solution that would allow me to regain control of my property and financial situation.

Thank you very much for your time and any assistance you may be able to offer.

You can try and escalate the matter to the High Court for enforcement. That's more expensive, but there are more High Court Enforcement officers that county court bailiffs and their lead times are likely to be shorter.
The companies can often help you with the paperwork (for a fee).

Given the size of the debt I would also begin legal action to recover the money owed. It is unlikely that the tenant will be able to pay any of it, but it might allow you to make them bankrupt. The threat of that might move it towards a resolution.

Was the claim based on a section 21 or section 8 notice?

Is the tenant receiving housing benefit? If so, is this not benefit fraud if she is pocketing the money?

It's not benefit fraud. It might be unethical, and I would be personally disapproving, but it's not actually a fraud (or a benefit fraud).

Most of the Country has moved to Universal Credit but there are some benefits claimants moving this year, I seem to remember the target is to move all Housing Benefit to the DWP this year, but the order they are doing it is those who are claiming PIP in addition to Universal Credit, at least that is what I was told when chasing this for a client.

So before you would go to the Council give them evidence that the Rent has not been paid for six weeks and you could get the Housing Benefit paid direct, this is capped at the LHA rate. These days you can go to Job Centre plus or use this link https://directpayment.universal-credit.service.gov.uk/

I would not bother with the rent arrears, they deduct a paltry amount, if you used S8 you can use the same HCO's or if you used S21 you can file a normal claim in the County Court, you can use a Solicitor because at £23k it will be  above the small claims track limit of £10k. You can claim interest at 8% or at whatever rate is in your Tenancy Agreement.  You will be asking for that Claim to be enforced by the High Court.

Some Landlords prefer to not instruct the HCO for 3 to 6 months, you have 6 years to bring a claim and 6 years from the date of the CCJ.  So by asking a normal debt collection company first you can find the Tenant as the moment they apply for Broadband, Energy or a Mobile phone they will be on the Credit Reference Database. If nobody shows up now then with some debt collectors you can have them put alerts on the individuals with the likes of Experion.   

If they have no income then you may see it as a wasted cost, but people's circumstances change, also be aware that they can get a Debt Relief Order if they are really broke, they will get protection for a year and if the insolvency practitioner finds they have no assets, no car worth more than £1500 that they need for work then after that year the debt is written off forever.

If the possession order was Section 21 then I would write to them a pre-action letter and negotiate to say you will give them time to pay if the partner agrees to guarantee the debt, some will do this, others not.

If you suspect that chap is living there you can always call the Local Council, tell them you are the Landlord for the address and you believe he has been living there for X years.  They won't discuss with you because of GDPR but they will investigate and back bill.

Also inform the Council of the Arrears, this will dash their hopes of getting on Housing Register and even if they are vulnerable they will have to show contributions to the old debt, although the enforcement of this varies by Council.

It is ALWAYS better to put a request in your Application for possession for the escalation to the High Court and give reasons why, e.g. £23k of debt.  It is not as simple as the £90 odd it costs for civil debt, but it is 100% the way to go, when it is an eviction they don't even give notice, the Court papers are deemed as notice, they get an hour to pack up urgent meds, id and clothes for a few days and have to arrange with you to come back for the rest.  You are obliged to look after their goods but you can move to storage unit and bill them for the cost of that if they don't collect promptly.


https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/possession_and_eviction/eviction_warrants_and_writs/enforcement_of_possession_orders_by_writs_of_possession_in_the_high_court#application-for-transfer-of-enforcement-to-high-court

Quote from: Jag on January 11, 2025, 05:02:36 AMI am reaching out in the hope that you might be able to provide some guidance on a deeply distressing situation I am currently facing.

I moved overseas for work and, in the process, rented out my only property via estate agent – a three-bedroom house in Kingsbury, London. However, since December 2023, I have not received any rent payments (a sum of around £23k in total). I have recently received a possession order, but I've been told that it will take up to six more months before a bailiff can take action following the application for a warrant of possession.

In the meantime, my tenant is living in the property without paying rent. Although she is not employed, her partner – a manager at a building materials company – is staying at the property as well. Curiously, he disappears whenever the estate agent comes for inspections.

I am facing severe financial strain, as I rely on the rent to make my mortgage payments. Despite my repeated attempts to obtain partial rent assistance through Universal Credit, my applications have been denied. The tenant claims Universal Credit, and the council has advised her to remain in the property until a bailiff's appointment is confirmed.

I have reached out to DWP, local ministers, community.gov.uk and also Brent Council for assistance, but to no avail. I feel utterly defeated, and the mounting debt and looming fear of potential repossession are taking an enormous toll. My mortgage commitments are becoming increasingly difficult to meet, and I have accrued significant debt in an attempt to keep up with payments.

When I contact Willesden County Court, the wait time is often over an hour, and they provide only general advice, with no concrete support and mention wait times of over 6 months.

If anyone has any advice or suggestions for how I can resolve this matter as swiftly as possible, I would be truly grateful. I am desperate for a solution that would allow me to regain control of my property and financial situation.

Thank you very much for your time and any assistance you may be able to offer.