Claiming possession via Section 21 with Section 8 ongoing
Discussion
Hi
In a nutshell I have some tenants who were persistently paying late and then not at all following claims of the property being damp. Two independent reports have concluded it is condensation.
I served a section 8 when rent arrears were in excess of 2 months. They paid down the arrears to within 2 months the day before the hearing and issued a counterclaim against me claiming the property was in poor repair. The section 8 case is therefore ongoing. They receive legal aid so are not motivated to close the case quickly and continue to live in the property and not pay any rent. Arrears are approx £5k at the moment.
Can I issue section 21 proceedings and get them out of the property while the section 8 is ongoing ?
I have sought opinion from two legal experts, one barrister says no problem, a solicitor from Landlord Action says it would be regarded as an abuse of process but hasn't yet supported the assertion.
Can anyone offer anything constructive ?
In a nutshell I have some tenants who were persistently paying late and then not at all following claims of the property being damp. Two independent reports have concluded it is condensation.
I served a section 8 when rent arrears were in excess of 2 months. They paid down the arrears to within 2 months the day before the hearing and issued a counterclaim against me claiming the property was in poor repair. The section 8 case is therefore ongoing. They receive legal aid so are not motivated to close the case quickly and continue to live in the property and not pay any rent. Arrears are approx £5k at the moment.
Can I issue section 21 proceedings and get them out of the property while the section 8 is ongoing ?
I have sought opinion from two legal experts, one barrister says no problem, a solicitor from Landlord Action says it would be regarded as an abuse of process but hasn't yet supported the assertion.
Can anyone offer anything constructive ?
k off... you don't want to here it but maybe £1k to leave asap... or you could wait until they don't pay another several months rent whilst you go for eviction.If there is a Deposit, and the same has been protected under the government’s Tenancy Deposit Scheme, then a Section 21 Notice can still be served.
However serving a Section 21 Notice after a tenant has raised repair issues, may be deemed to be a “revenged Notice” by the courts, thereby repossession proceedings being thrown out by the courts. The same however will only apply if the tenancy agreement started after 1st. October 2015, and the local council's environmental office have served a repair notice on the landlord.
If the tenancy agreement started after the above date, then the landlord can either negotiated a financial settlement with the tenant/s, or inform the courts the reason for serving a Section 21 Notice, is that the OP/landlord intends to sale the property.
However serving a Section 21 Notice after a tenant has raised repair issues, may be deemed to be a “revenged Notice” by the courts, thereby repossession proceedings being thrown out by the courts. The same however will only apply if the tenancy agreement started after 1st. October 2015, and the local council's environmental office have served a repair notice on the landlord.
If the tenancy agreement started after the above date, then the landlord can either negotiated a financial settlement with the tenant/s, or inform the courts the reason for serving a Section 21 Notice, is that the OP/landlord intends to sale the property.
I assume that you've got a list of "faults" from the tenant, arrange to go along to inspect the faults, as you do, check that all the air bricks/vents have not been blocked, if they have, take photo's of this (this is the main thing that causes condensation) and remove the blockage. If they've not been blocked, then I suggest that you install more vents in the affected rooms, maybe window vents or similar. Take photographs of all the faults, any that are your duty to fix, you must do so.
Either
1) Pay their deposit and month 1 rent for another property, it will stick in your throat but is the quickest cheapest way to get them out
2) Get a chartered surveyor round to assess the state of the property, having instructed him to pay attention to whatever is the tenants issue. If you are going to go down S21 gather all the evidence you can, also did you get references from previous landlord, check their veracity now. If you can prove that your tenant is unreliable and lies it will help show this isn't a revenge eviction.
For some reason many tenants don't understand that windows are designed to open, they live in a horrible damp fug often assisted by drying laundry in the house and then blame the landlord when the place is damp and mouldy. If you have access to the previous tenant ask them if they ever had a problem
1) Pay their deposit and month 1 rent for another property, it will stick in your throat but is the quickest cheapest way to get them out
2) Get a chartered surveyor round to assess the state of the property, having instructed him to pay attention to whatever is the tenants issue. If you are going to go down S21 gather all the evidence you can, also did you get references from previous landlord, check their veracity now. If you can prove that your tenant is unreliable and lies it will help show this isn't a revenge eviction.
For some reason many tenants don't understand that windows are designed to open, they live in a horrible damp fug often assisted by drying laundry in the house and then blame the landlord when the place is damp and mouldy. If you have access to the previous tenant ask them if they ever had a problem
[quote=Rangeroverover
For some reason many tenants don't understand that windows are designed to open, they live in a horrible damp fug often assisted by drying laundry in the house and then blame the landlord when the place is damp and mouldy.[/quote
^^^^agree, modern living, turn on central heating, washing machine, shower, cooker, then off to work all day, with windows, doors closed. Last winter now ex tenant contacted local council's environmental office over above same problem, with the same agreeing that the problem was due to condensation, not controlling temperature and the lack of ventilation.
If the OP's tenants living conditions are that bad, then why don't they up and move on, there is no excuse for just stopping paying the rent, and possibly the court will agree with the OP's Section 8 repossession proceedings.
For some reason many tenants don't understand that windows are designed to open, they live in a horrible damp fug often assisted by drying laundry in the house and then blame the landlord when the place is damp and mouldy.[/quote
^^^^agree, modern living, turn on central heating, washing machine, shower, cooker, then off to work all day, with windows, doors closed. Last winter now ex tenant contacted local council's environmental office over above same problem, with the same agreeing that the problem was due to condensation, not controlling temperature and the lack of ventilation.
If the OP's tenants living conditions are that bad, then why don't they up and move on, there is no excuse for just stopping paying the rent, and possibly the court will agree with the OP's Section 8 repossession proceedings.
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