Tenancy has come to an end have been given notice where do i stand?
ok so i have a bit of a problem, i have 3 children and my tenancy has come to end and my landlord has served me notice. throughout my tenancy i have always paid my rent, the only reason she is evicting me is because i told her i cannot afford to pay the rent and i need to claim housing benefit, which she was originally fine with but isnt now. this is because its takin to long to claim in her opinion (its been 4 weeks since i told her) but i have constantly been askin her for an address for herself which she has been very reluctant to give me. she eventual a couple of days ago gave me an address in spain, which is her partners address and not my landlord, t. the address thats on my old tenancy is in london which i also know she is not at she is in manchester but i dont know where. my children opened one of her letters the other day which is court summons, which states that they have been tryin to contact her as the 2 addresses that she has given and is unreachable. the other point is ive not had a tenancy agreement since 9th feb, so how am i supposed to claim housing benefit with a false address and no tenancy agreement.
id also like to know where i stand with regards to the notice for possession. its served under section 21. now normally i know this is a normal practice but i recently learned of a friend that my landlord had had to put my deposit in a government safety deposit scheme, i assumed that mine was in one as when i signed my tenancy she was talkin about a stakeholders savings account, and to be honest i didnt know that much about the different accounts. i questioned my landord about this in november to which she replied that they dont use the schemes they cant be bothered dealing with the hassle of it at the end of tenancy, and that there shouldnt be a problem and theyve never given me reason not to trust them (although now after the address thing and other stuf ill explain i really dont trust her) despite the fact i showed he a link to a site which stated it was a legal requirement.
i also never recieved my gas certificate when i moved in which i also questioned her about when i asked her about my deposit. she told me she only had the old one and that she will send someone round to renew the gas certificate and i can have a copy if i want. durin the period when i had no certificate she had to replace the boiler after i complained of smells, only to find out it was deemed as dangerous due to the gas leak from it.
i have no instructions for the new boiler or the dyson washer machine or any other electrical item in the property and she gets a bit ratty with me when repairs need doin. she now refuses to do the repairs and theres a few of them such as the boiler is broke again, its the timer bit which puts the boiler on of or on a timer, i have to wedge a screw in there to keep it turned on constantly, theres been slate/pot fallin of the roof, the heater temperature things that u turn are stuck and cannot turn my heaters up or down, the stairs have like wood posts going up to hold the banister and these have come loose so theres now massive gaps that my children like to stick there head thru and worry the life out of me.
when my tenancy ran out i explained about how i was stuggling to meet the 650 rent upfront as i was no longer working but i could still pay 150 a week upfront, to which the reply was that it was unacceptable and that they refuse to resign the tenancy until i can pay 650 upfront and if dont start paying it the will serve me notice at the end of feb (but then the decided that they wouldnt as i mentioned about housing benefit).
i will be goin to the citizens advice but its not open til friday morning, but was wondering if n e one knew where i stand with regards to all this mainly my notice, or if any one has any advice
i appreciate this but she has said she will renew my tenancy and will accept dss but wont renew til dss or i pay the full monthly rent. and as for kickin me out i thought she couldnt serve me notice under section 21 as my deposit isnt where its legally ment to be and she can only serve me notice if i break the rules of my tenancy, firstly i dont have a tenancy, and secondly under the periodical tenancy that i believe automaticaly carries on as an assured shorthold tenancy i havent broken any rules of the tenancy agreement! so please now can you give me some proper advice and read what i had to say correctly in the first place
Ooh, a long post, but if you’re in England or Wales, here goes.
She can serve you with a section 21 - BUT - if you don’t leave, she won’t be able to do anything about it. Just protecting the deposit won’t be enough, she’ll have to issue a new s21 and wait a further 2 months. Don’t tell her about this problem - as by doing so she will be able to put it right more quickly.
When the s21 expires (even if correctly issued) you do not have to leave until she gets a court order - this will add about another 2 months to your ‘occupation’. If you still don’t go when the judge tells you you have to - she will have to get court bailiffs involved - another 2 to 3 weeks. They will phone and tell you when they are coming in advance. If you are removed by any other methid, it is illegal eviction and you should report the matter immediately to the police, who will in the majority of cases, get you back in the property straight away. Illegal eviction is a criminal offence with fines of up to £5k or 6 months prison.
You do have a tenancy - and are protected by all the previous tenancy agreements terms and usual tenancy laws. It is called a "Statutory Periodic Tenancy".
You are only likely to be removed by section 8 (Housing Act 1988) - and you would need to be 2 months behind on rent to do that. HOWEVER, if you don’t have an address in England/Wales for the landlord or agent then no rent is payable until that is provided (s48 Landlord and Tenant Act 1987). It still adds up, but you don’t have to hand it over and it is a watertight defence against s8 until the address is given.
The boiler needs repairing and she is obliged to do so under s11 of the 1985 Landlord & tenant Act.
This link will tell you what to do about gas safety: http://www.hse.gov.uk/GAS/domestic/faqtenant.htm
The Housing benefits people will accept your old tenancy agreement for your claim. They must process your claim within 14 days of you giving them all the info they need - if they don’t, they have to give you an advance on your benefit.
See if your council have a ‘Housing Officer’ they will be able to advise you what support is available in your area.
Instructions for most modern appliances are available free of charge on the web - you shouldn’t have to do that but it will be better than nothing.
No landlord is ever required to extend your lease when it expires and they do not have to have a reason not to. No landlord is ever required to accept housing either. She has every right not to take the housing and ask you to move. If she wants you to move at the end of the lease then you have no choice.
Any previous problems with her or the house have nothing to do with this.
Wildcat is correct. The property is not yours and you have no legal right to stay there now that you have been provided a legal notice to vacate.
Your landlord does not sound very good nor the house. I would be looking to find a better place. Visit your local council offices and ask then for a list of private landlords who let to people on benefits. The houses should have been checked out, so they will have the proper gas & elec cert. and goods in working order. If not the council will help you to get the landlord to fix the stuff. I wouldn’t stay where you are, if the house is repossessed, you could be asked to leave and not get much time to find a place.