Evictions on the grounds that its my only place to live .

[Luke]

I recently read of these forums that you can get a AST form with a clause that you can evict a tenant if you want your property back because its your only place to live .
What was that clause and how does it work ?
I just have one property and I am considering letting it out to tenants and living off the income , but it puts me in a precarious situation that if I get rogue tenants who don't pay the rent , I would be homeless with no income and needing to carry out an eviction .
Would it be a quick and simple process to carry out an eviction because I need to live in my property , I would only need to do this if the tenants stopped paying rent .

[Berlingogirl]

You need to use Section 8 ground 1 (you can google this) but it's basically this bit below. You can expect to wait a long time for an evictin to go through. This happened to me and the council wouldn't house me because I already had a house - even though I couldn;'t live in it!

Ground 1

The landlord requires the property in order to use it as their main residence. This ground can only be used if the landlord used the property as their main residence prior to the tenancy beginning.

[jpkeates]

There's not really a quick way to evict tenants, and if they're not paying rent, it's likely to be quicker to use that as a ground.

However, the notice you need to give is in Annexe 2 of the government's model tenancy agreement.

Note that if you use that ground the court may ask for evidence that you really intend to live there, rather than be trying to use the ground simply to secure a quick eviction.

[AlexR]

I just have one property and I am considering letting it out to tenants and living off the income , but it puts me in a precarious situation that if I get rogue tenants who don't pay the rent , I would be homeless with no income and needing to carry out an eviction .

Your use of the word 'precarious' leads me to think that any financial shortfall from the rent will be financially harmful to you - and as such this would be too risky.

There are always costs when you are letting a property and you really should have an adequate reserve. The repairs or boiler replacements etc need to be done immediately whether the tenants are paying or not!. Also bear in mind that the courts have backlogs and any action of this type may take months.

[ash72]

Would recommend to get a lodger rather than a T, if it's your only place to live. It may not bring the income you wanted, but if your renting a place to live in yourself, the difference wouldn't be so great. Also your mortgage/ Insurance etc would need to be notified that it's no longer your primary residence.

[gnvqsos]

Take the rent paid and use that rent to pay for your own place.Get the tenant to pay rent directlt to prospective landlord to avoid taxation,legally.

[jpkeates]

Get the tenant to pay rent direct to prospective landlord to avoid taxation,legally.

You can't avoid tax on the income like that.
It's possible that HMRC wouldn't spot it, but it's not legal.

[gnvqsos]

That means it is tax evasion,not avoidance.However it may not be illegal if you have an unsed tax allowance.Are you a tax expert or an employee of HMRC?

[DoricPixie]

That means it is tax evasion,not avoidance.However it may not be illegal if you have an unsed tax allowance.Are you a tax expert or an employee of HMRC?

It is tax evasion if it is not declared to HMRC. The rental income from the tenants would be subject to income tax whether the OP takes the money directly or has the tenant pay the money directly to the OP’s landlord.

[jpkeates]

That means it is tax evasion,not avoidance.However it may not be illegal if you have an unsed tax allowance.Are you a tax expert or an employee of HMRC?

I am not an accountant or an employee of HMRC.
I am not qualified to give tax advice and charge for it.

Getting a tenant to pay rent to your own landlord to avoid paying tax on it would be evasion.

Not paying tax when no tax is due because the income falls within your tax free allowance is not tax avoidance or evasion.

[DPT57]

This doesn't sound to me like a good plan. The finances are just too precarious and the risks too great. I would suggest you re-consider your plans.

[Piffy]

Forty years ago I used a clause like that in a tenancy agreement.
I was to work away and I wanted to ensure that if when I returned, subject to giving suitable notice I could ask the tenant to leave and move back in.
In those days tenants had greater protection. I bought a lease and added a clause something like "The property is the home of the Landlord and it is rented out on the understanding that should the landlord want to occupy the premises again for his own use, subject to the 6 month notice the tenant will vacate so the landlord can re-occupy"
In hindsight I should have used a Letting Agent.
Obviously it all went wrong, after serving the notice to quit I returned to the UK and the tenant refused to move out.

Presumably things are better now as the Law is more clear cut. And you can (apparently) get Insurance to receive rent if the tenant has not paid as long as a notice to quit has been served.
Good luck.

[Flashback1966]

I just have one property and I am considering letting it out to tenants and living off the income

I have a feeling you will run into problems. You need to set aside enough of the rental income to put back into the property. Do you have a mortgage?

[DoricPixie]

Piffy,

The law is clear in England and Wales in that the tenancy can only be ended by the tenant or a court. As a landlord you could serve a Section 21 or Section 8 notice to the tenant but that does not end the tenancy. The notices are just notice that the landlord might go to court to get a possession order. If the tenant chose not to move out by the end of the notice period then Luke would end up in exactly the same position as you were in. I don't know to which days you are referring but that is how it has been since the introduction of Assured Shorthold Tenancies on 28th February 1997.

The bottom line is you can't have your cake and eat it. You can't have tenants and expect to be able to treat them like lodgers.