UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi i have a tenant in my property and i gave him notice to leave(in middle of tenancy agreement) about 5 months ago as i needed property for my family, initially he said ok he will look for a new property then he said  he changed his mind and looking to buy a property, and now his tenancy agreement is also ending in few weeks and after serving notice to vacate after the end of tenancy he still making excuses and asking for more time.
My question is what are my options here,
I need property for my family friends. His tenancy agreement is ending and he had already received 2 notices to vacate the property.

Regards

What sort of notices? Section 21?

Next step is to start legal proceedings.

Quote from: Riptide on April 10, 2024, 10:50:10 PMWhat sort of notices? Section 21?

Next step is to start legal proceedings.

Hi first one i gave him the notice to vacate through WhatsApp, and the second one by email (end of tenancy to vacate the property) None of them are section 21 notices as the tenancy agreement is ending at the end of this month.
Thanks

Quote from: Janu on April 11, 2024, 03:18:08 AMNone of them are section 21 notices as the tenancy agreement is ending at the end of this month

You are under the mistaken belief that, at the end of the fixed term (for example 12 months) in an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) agreement, the tenant is obliged to vacate the property.

They do not have to leave.

If they stay, whether it is with your agreement or not, then the tenancy will automatically become a Statutory Period Tenancy (SPT), which will continue from month to month until:

1. the tenant gives notice to quit, or
2. you give the tenant notice and the tenant agrees to go, or
3. you give the tenant notice to quit and then take court action to evict them

You need to learn about or take professional advice on the serving of a Section 21 notice.

For a Section 21 notice to be valid, you need to have complied with the legal requirements regarding the protection of the tenant's deposit and giving the tenant various documents at the start of the tenancy and when they became due for renewal during the tenancy.

If you go here https://nearlylegal.co.uk/section-21-flowchart/ you will find a flowchart that will tell you if your Section 21 will be valid or not.

The process of serving a Section 21 notice and then taking court action to evict takes a long time. Instead, you might want to try working with the tenant to help them find a new place and/or to offer them a large financial inducement to help them move.

Quote from: Janu on April 11, 2024, 03:18:08 AM...first one i gave him the notice to vacate through WhatsApp

It was at this moment Janu knew, they had screwed-up.

Quote from: Hippogriff on April 11, 2024, 02:20:21 PM

Quote from: Janu on April 11, 2024, 03:18:08 AM...first one i gave him the notice to vacate through WhatsApp

It was at this moment Janu knew, they had screwed-up.

What does that mean?

You need to issue a section 21 ASAP. It expires after two months, then you can apply for legal proceedings.

You haven't given legal notice to the tenant yet so they are within their rights to stay.

Have you done everything that was required at the start of the tenancy so that your section 21 is valid?

Quote from: Janu on April 11, 2024, 04:27:59 PM

QuoteIt was at this moment Janu knew, they had screwed-up.

What does that mean?

The point that is being made is that you appear to have not learned about the process of serving notice and ending a tenancy before you started out as a landlord.

This is demonstrated by the fact that you believed that a tenancy ends at the end of the fixed term and that the tenant is required to vacate. This is a big mistake to make, especially if you need your property back.

Not learning about this at the outset, may also indicate that there are other aspects of being a landlord that you may have overlooked, especially in terms of being able to demonstrate that you provided certain documents to the tenant at the start of their tenancy. This is why we are suggesting you establish whether a Section 21 notice would be valid or not.

Some omissions can be rectified by providing the relevant documents now, but others cannot be rectified if you did not do the right thing initially.

How you get your tenant to leave and the time this will take depends on whether you can use Section 21 or not. So please go through the flowchart carefully and let us know whether you have any documentation deficiencies.

Next steps will depend on the answer to this.

Quote from: HandyMan on April 11, 2024, 09:27:58 PM

Quote from: Janu on April 11, 2024, 04:27:59 PM

QuoteIt was at this moment Janu knew, they had screwed-up.

What does that mean?

The point that is being made is that you appear to have not learned about the process of serving notice and ending a tenancy before you started out as a landlord.

This is demonstrated by the fact that you believed that a tenancy ends at the end of the fixed term and that the tenant is required to vacate. This is a big mistake to make, especially if you need your property back.

Not learning about this at the outset, may also indicate that there are other aspects of being a landlord that you may have overlooked, especially in terms of being able to demonstrate that you provided certain documents to the tenant at the start of their tenancy. This is why we are suggesting you establish whether a Section 21 notice would be valid or not.

Some omissions can be rectified by providing the relevant documents now, but others cannot be rectified if you did not do the right thing initially.

How you get your tenant to leave and the time this will take depends on whether you can use Section 21 or not. So please go through the flowchart carefully and let us know whether you have any documentation deficiencies.

Next steps will depend on the answer to this.

Tenant has been in the property for the last 2 years, 1st year through an agent and last year direct with landlord.
When we started the tenancy gas/ electric certificates were issued and deposit was transferred to me by estate agent which sits in my bank account and i am ready to pay him back unfortunately i didnt know about this deposit protection stuff otherwise i could have made those arrangements as well.
So in short section 21 stuff isn't complete 

Quote from: Janu on April 12, 2024, 05:29:40 AMand deposit was transferred to me by estate agent which sits in my bank account and i am ready to pay him back unfortunately i didnt know about this deposit protection stuff otherwise i could have made those arrangements as well.

Be aware that your tenant now has the legal right under S213-214 of the Housing Act 2004 to make a claim against you for non-compliance with the Tenancy Deposit Scheme.

They can claim back the deposit plus a penalty of between 1 and 3 times the amount of the deposit plus any costs they have to pay.

If you return the deposit, and they don't know about the above, then you might avoid them making a claim - but be aware that they have up to six years to start court action from the date their deposit should have been protected by you, i.e. from when the agent transferred the deposit to you.

If they make a claim, you will have no defence against it as you have broken the law.

Quote from: Janu on April 12, 2024, 05:29:40 AMSo in short section 21 stuff isn't complete

Correct.

In your position, I would try to be as helpful as possible to the tenant in finding a new place and financially easing the transition for them.

I would send the deposit back to the tenant and hope that you can remain on sufficiently decent terms with them so that they don't sue you for a penalty for not protecting the deposit (or get a legal firm to make the claim on their behalf).

"This deposit protection stuff" is quite important and is only one of a lot of things that need to be done properly.

I don't really know how to express this without sounding rude, but it's obvious that you don't really know what you're doing and aren't well equipped to get this property back. I would find a specialist in evictions who will manage the whole process for you, unless you can do a deal with the tenant and, basically, pay them to move out.

An eviction process will take months, probably 6-8 at a minimum, longer if you're in a big southern city.

If your plan is to rent this property to family friends, I would also suggest that the experience of most landlords that I have met is that letting to friends will simply end the friendship over time. And, frankly, you don't seem to know the first thing about being a landlord and are the last person who should be letting property to anyone.

Most people start off this way, but it needs to be addressed with learning or training.

Quote from: jpkeates on April 12, 2024, 07:44:24 AMI would send the deposit back to the tenant and hope that you can remain on sufficiently decent terms with them so that they don't sue you for a penalty for not protecting the deposit (or get a legal firm to make the claim on their behalf).

I agree.

And I'd return it quickly because as you said in your first post "his tenancy agreement is also ending in few weeks".

When the AST's initial term ends and the tenancy automatically becomes an SPT, that will count as a new tenancy, even though there is no new agreement signed.

If the tenant takes court action against you, then they will be able to claim a penalty of 1 to 3 times the deposit for every tenancy for which the deposit was not protected or prescribed information not served.

So that will be 1-3 times the deposit for the initial term and 1-3 times for the SPT.

Jesus Mary  and Joseph and all the Seven Dwarfs. Your tenant will know much more than you do, so prepare yourself for a battle. Pay back the deposit,  and seek help from an eviction specialist.  Under no circumstances should you let to friends and family. They will run rings round you.  When you get the house back,  sell up.

Apologies for paraphrasing a meme, but I could not write seriously or longly (sic) as I was chuckling too much and I have a broken rib - not a good combination at all.

Starting from your initial assumptions that you've been serving notice - you really haven't, you have just been sending a person messages using WhatsApp and email - these aren't the kind of notice (or any kind of Notice) you think they are. Now, there's a chance the Tenant might be genuine and may actually just need some more time... but we are rather cynical here and we suspect this Tenant is laughing at you right now, because you appear to have little knowledge about how any of this work and if they've done the absolute minimum of research (which you've attempted by coming here) they will know they could have you over a barrel.

Then, the other assumption that a tenancy ends (at the end of a fixed term)... that's wrong also, the Tenant can just stay there and their tenancy legally continues as a periodic tenancy - they have no obligation to depart at this juncture.

So, there will be conflicting advice and you need to weigh-up the probability of what will work best for your situation.

On one hand, folk will say go full-on formal, serve the Notice you need, when you've sorted out the Deposit angle, look at what other documents you've missed (GSC seems a dodgy one from what you've written)... and if you need help, get it - not from some local Solicitor who'll likely not have a clue, but a specialist eviction firm who will certainly help you get back on-track but will cost you money. Going this route takes time and also risks the Tenant feeling badly towards you - and lo-and-behold - you'll soon end up on the end of a Deposit non-protection claim which - for the avoidance of any doubt - you will lose (and have to pay up).

On the other hand, there is the less formal route of... well, it's a kind of bribery, I suppose. But it's oiling the wheels in a pragmatic way. You need to recognise that you are going to pay to go the formal route - and it will also take ages and be complex, this is not easy for the Landlord... so, would your Tenant be interested in a few hundred or a few thousand Pounds to help them on their way... to help with a Deposit for a new rented place, to help with their deposit if they're buying, to help with their removal costs? Basically... to save you time, effort and money and to go quietly (and, hopefully, much more amiably).

Lady's choice.

And one can follow the other... I don't think they're mutually-exclusive.