Does this constitute notice?

[KTC]

Just keep a record of your decision making process signed and dated. E.g. There are arrears, the tenant failed to sign changes to monthly as agreed with council, prefer s21 to s8 g10 & g11 due to its mandatory nature.

Assuming you are evicting due to e.g. arrears and not disability....

[Silmaril]

Hi,

Reasons to want to evict are;

1. The arrears are small, £117.80 - the council may even clear these on her behalf they have said via their 'Homeless fund' which has provisions for cases like this.
2. The damage is extensive and continued flooding from her inability to use the bathroom facilities as they were designed/intended - she needs a wet room. Is it discrimination to want to evict because she is causing damage, when she has no other means to get clean but to cause damage? (except maybe to use significantly less water). While we know she is liable for the cost of that damage we do not want to contribute to her problems by passing on these costs, she struggles to understand simple things sometimes and we would undoubtedly be causing her more stress by passing on these costs
3. A significant reason is her desire to not live there. She has expressed that the house is unsuitable for her needs repeatedly, she has asked us to serve her notice verbally and she has shown intent in writing now with this latest update. We feel that serving notice would be beneficial to her in getting a property more suited to her needs, but there is of course the risk that it doesn't achieve this and she ends up in another similar situation.
4. Another reason is the stress that this is causing for my partner, she has always suffered with anxiety but never felt it necessary to medicate until a couple of months ago and links this back to the problems with the damage in the house that we can't even get in to repair because the tenant keeps cancelling last minute.
5. Some of the damage is so bad it could not be repaired while she lives there, we need to remove the bath to access the sub floor and replace it and this will take some time. The floor is chipboard and the walls are built on top of the floor, so we would aim to remove sections and replace this but it may become necessary to remove the walls if the water ingress continues.

Tenancy breaches, based on terms, are;

• She is not cleaning the windows regularly (she would claim she cannot do this herself easily due to arthritis)
• She is not making good the damage that she causes (she is passing to the council who force us to enact repairs)
• She is not reporting damage to us (she is reporting to the council)
• She is not maintaining the garden, it has become overgrown (she would claim she cannot do this herself easily due to arthritis)
• The tenancy states she should have insurance to cover accidental damage to the building, it is unlikely that she has taken this out but we cannot know for sure

We know that if she had a wet room this would help with the more serious problems, this was suggested as an option by the council who advised we can get a grant. We discussed and I convinced my partner that we should look further in to this (she took some convincing as she has an emotional connection as we used to live in the property, I don't tie emotions in to business) and we advised the council that we would like more information - they have yet to come back to us. Separately I did my own research and it is unlikely that the grant would be approved unless the tenant can show they wish to stay for 5+ years and can afford to stay for that time, we already have history here that suggests she does not want to stay and so it would likely not be approved.

The shortest way to describe all of this is;

While we very much want to protect our asset against further damage we also want to do anything that we can to help this tenant into a property that she wants to live in and can live with a comfortable quality of life.


Thanks,
D

[Silmaril]

Q1 – Where is the rented property located (England / Wales / Scotland / N Ireland)?
England

Q2 – What type of Tenancy Agreement (TA) is this e.g. sole tenant / multiple tenant / room only?
Sole Tenant

Q3 – What date did current TA start dd/mm/yy?
29.03.19

Q4 – How long was initial fixed term (6/12/24 months / other)?
6

Q5 – Does the TA state that rent is due weekly? / 4-weekly? / per calendar month (if so, on what same date each month)?
TA states 6 monthly, but this has since changed to pcm on 29th

Q6 – Did the TA require a tenant damage deposit to be paid? If so, on what date was this paid (dd/mm/yy)?
Deposit was secured within a week or so, do not have the date to hand sorry - partner has access to that system not me.
Other conditions (gas, how to rent etc) also met.

Q7 – If your query relates to a notice for repossession from the landlord (a Section 8 or Section 21 notice) or a tenants's notice to quit to the landlord, please provide the exact date the notice was sent/received (dd/mm/yy).
No notice issued in either direction as yet.

Q8 – Does the landlord live in the same property as the tenant?
No

[jpkeates]

Just serve notice under s21 and repossess.
I'd use a specialist service, personally, because who needs more stress.

You don't have to give any reason for the repossession and shouldn't.

[Silmaril]

Just serve notice under s21 and repossess.
I'd use a specialist service, personally, because who needs more stress.

You don't have to give any reason for the repossession and shouldn't.

We've engaged with specialist services who have said they wont touch it due to the council involvement, though there's no improvement order here so I'm not sure what they are concerned about exactly!!

[Silmaril]

I've just read how we shouldn't be asking for recommendations, in that thread it was clearly a scam - but there are indeed a lot of 'specialist' companies out there so its entirely possible that I've just picked some bad choices here

[jpkeates]

Part of the problem is the 6 month periods, which isn't very s21 friendly.
But using s8 means that you have to specify the grounds and they will be discussed at the hearing, and while I don't think you're discriminating, it's hard not to come across as if you are.

Use a solicitor (the more complex the situation is more income for a solicitor not just more work)?

[Silmaril]

Part of the problem is the 6 month periods, which isn't very s21 friendly.
But using s8 means that you have to specify the grounds and they will be discussed at the hearing, and while I don't think you're discriminating, it's hard not to come across as if you are.

Use a solicitor (the more complex the situation is more income for a solicitor not just more work)?

We feel so sorry for her, shes painted this picture that the council moves her from one inappropriate private let to the next. I understand that there probably aren't many bungalows available (when my parents needed one due to advanced Multiple sclerosis it took two years). If we could afford to convert the property to suit her and remove much of her trouble then we would, hence being open to the grant to convert to a wet room.

We genuinely feel that serving notice is in her best interests, she's asking us to after all, but I know precisely what you mean - she's not that bad as far as tenants go, I'm sure people have been far less fortunate then our situation. We know the damage is because she struggles physically - but it's still damage and it's still costing us and we still cant even get in to repair it

Solicitor estimated best part of £500 before even coming up with a course of action from our initial emails/calls - I've no idea how much this could amount to in the long term or if we could find enough to cover it, we're far from loaded. If we had more funds we feel they would be better spent installing a wet room for her than fighting her.

[mariner]

If you o not have the funds for an eviction I suggest you review your role as a LL.