First post but need a bit of advice.
I own a rental property and due to a change in circumstances I had to serve notice on the tenant and the agents as I have to move back in. I notified the agents in writing on August 12th to terminate the shorthold agreement with the tenant and to sever their contract as of October 18. I never received any confirmation in writing however I have spoken to them on the odd occasion and they confirmed verbally that everything was set for the tenant to vacate on the last day of his tenancy. The deposit is held by the agency.
I rang this morning to confirm everything was ok and I could collect the keys, inspect the property and ok the deposit going. To my utter shock I was told that ‘the tenant is going to have to remain in the property until October 30th as the agents were trying to find him an alternate place to live and couldn’t find anything sooner’
By sheer luck I do not have to be out of my current property until November 4th however this has caused me a huge spanner as I was planning on making home improvements ect and painting the property before I moved back in…nevermind the fact that this is overstaying the tenancy by 12 days which I would expect rent to be paid to me for.
I also do not want them to return the deposit until I have had a thorough inspection of the property either, the deposit is pre Protection scheme.
The other issue is that I am worried that something will happen and the tenant will have to stay on and I will essentially be homeless as of 04/11.
Is there any sort of legal recourse I can take against the utter incompetence of this shocking letting agency??? There is no written contract with them (all of this was set up by my now exwife but I am the sole owner of the property now)
I obviously need to write them a strongly worded letter of complaint but if I knew I had some legal ground to stand on I would like to include that.
I realise that if the tenant pays the agency rent then technically he is not squatting so I am not sure how I could go about getting a possession order for the property???
I own a rental property and due to a change in circumstances I had to serve notice on the tenant and the agents as I have to move back in. I notified the agents in writing on August 12th to terminate the shorthold agreement with the tenant and to sever their contract as of October 18. I never received any confirmation in writing however I have spoken to them on the odd occasion and they confirmed verbally that everything was set for the tenant to vacate on the last day of his tenancy. The deposit is held by the agency.
I rang this morning to confirm everything was ok and I could collect the keys, inspect the property and ok the deposit going. To my utter shock I was told that ‘the tenant is going to have to remain in the property until October 30th as the agents were trying to find him an alternate place to live and couldn’t find anything sooner’
By sheer luck I do not have to be out of my current property until November 4th however this has caused me a huge spanner as I was planning on making home improvements ect and painting the property before I moved back in…nevermind the fact that this is overstaying the tenancy by 12 days which I would expect rent to be paid to me for.
I also do not want them to return the deposit until I have had a thorough inspection of the property either, the deposit is pre Protection scheme.
The other issue is that I am worried that something will happen and the tenant will have to stay on and I will essentially be homeless as of 04/11.
Is there any sort of legal recourse I can take against the utter incompetence of this shocking letting agency??? There is no written contract with them (all of this was set up by my now exwife but I am the sole owner of the property now)
I obviously need to write them a strongly worded letter of complaint but if I knew I had some legal ground to stand on I would like to include that.
I realise that if the tenant pays the agency rent then technically he is not squatting so I am not sure how I could go about getting a possession order for the property???
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