Serving a Section 21 notice to quit,

[Scania]

Friendships are soon tested once money comes into it, as you have found out it appears.

As an example, my old house was rented by me from a friend, even when I was in hospital with MRSA, she kept the rent totting up. She cut me no slack and why should she?

My deposit (along with me not being a ******!) kept me from wrecking the place - I got it all back.

Once I was better, I squared up with her & our friendship remains.

Incidentally, she gave me 5 mths notice to leave after my 5 year term was up.


Seems like you have not gone about this the right way at all, I would take some professional advice.

 

[shoes]

no deposit (stupid)

he pays the bills, however virgin media is in joint names so I'll probably get stuck with that bill as well... I tried to check the balance last night but they will not speak to me as I dont know the password or other account details...

both stupid things but as we were mates at one point I never drempt it would be an issue

looks like it might be a bit of a mare then buddy, sorry to hear that

 

[VoG]

a trashed house to sort out at the end of it....

thats what would worry me most, wether or not he turns vindictive, & leaves you with a trashed house as payback for daring to expect the rent actually gets paid in full & on time for once.

 

[ColdAsIce]

So what happens to all the money he owes from missing rent payment?

 

[Amnesia]

What if you intend to occupy the property yourself - after you've given him 2 months notice with the section 21 notice he's then a squatter surely and as a protected intended occupier you'd be able to simply get an oath and then evict them?

Squatter or tenant, you cannot remove them yourself.
You have to go through the courts and the court bailiffs will do the work...or in squatters cases the police can come and arrest them if they haven't moved out in the time given.

No you just changed the situation. we were discussing a tenant who had been given a 2 month eviction notice and you said he becomes a squatter. i was pointing out that if he had been living there legally that you could not come in and remove him by force and you would need a court order.

I've not changed anything - I was asking whether he becomes a squatter - it seems that he doesn't.

 

[FARGO]

Sell the house.

 

[dowie]

@Amnesia - notice the '?' symbol in my first post you quoted - this is there to indicate that I am asking a question - it is called a question mark...

Squatter or tenant, you cannot remove them yourself.

This isn't true as I've pointed out already in the case of a squatter there are situations where you can remove them yourself.

This doesn't apply here as the tennant doesn't become a squatter even if he stays past the notice being served/doesn't pay rent...

like I said before:

I've not changed anything - I was asking whether he becomes a squatter - it seems that he doesn't.

 

[dowie]

call me stupid but would you be able to sit outside the house and wait till the tenant/squatter goes out for shopping or something, then break in or get inside and get the locks changed?

Not in the case of a tenant but yes when it comes to squatters.

I have looked into this since getting a property myself and leaving it empty for a few weeks before I moved in (which I was happy to do as I'd have PIO status when I was due to move in) - if you live there and someone squats then you're a displaced residential occupier and can use reasonable force to access the premises and call the police if needed. If you are about to move in there and someone squats then you're a protected intended occupier and first need to get an oath from a solicitor but then can also used force to enter the premises and call the police for assistance if needed.

If you're neither of those and are dealing with squatters then you'll generally need to get a court order unless you can gain access to the property without using force. (Squatters know this so you'll be unlikely to have a situation where they happen to pop to the shops) It seems if you are able to gain access to the property peacefully (you can't force entry despite it being your own property) then you can re-occupy it but it could get dodgy - you'd be bound to have squatters present.

Tenants who don't pay rent/stay beyond the notice being served etc.. don't become squatters it seems - you need to get a court order/court bailifs to get rid..

 

[Amnesia]

@Amnesia - notice the '?' symbol in my first post you quoted - this is there to indicate that I am asking a question - it is called a question mark...

What if you intend to occupy the property yourself - after you've given him 2 months notice with the section 21 notice he's then a squatter surely and as a protected intended occupier you'd be able to simply get an oath and then evict them?

i read that as a statement, followed by a question

This isn't true as I've pointed out already in the case of a squatter there are situations where you can remove them yourself.

This doesn't apply here as the tennant doesn't become a squatter even if he stays past the notice being served/doesn't pay rent...

like I said before:

I am not the one who said it applies, i also am not the one who said he becomes a squatter, i didnt know if he got labelled a squatter or not, you said he did so i replied to that. i did know that if he had been living there as a tenant and if he stopped paying rent that you could not forcefully evict him, wether he got labelled as a squatter i had no idea but you said he did and thats why i replied 'squatter or tenant'

 

[dowie]

Its all one sentence and quite clearly framed as a question... Yes I was assuming he could be a squatter but didn't know whether he would be or not - thus I asked the question.

surely he is x therefore y will apply ?

Getting a reply from someone who had to go and Google the terms displaced residential occupier and protected intended occupier isn't exactly helpful...

 

[Amnesia]

Getting a reply from someone who had to go and Google the terms displaced residential occupier and protected intended occupier isn't exactly helpful...

Are you for real, i just pointed something out to the op as he was asking for advice so i posted this below.

If he decides not to leave then you must take him to court, you cannot physically remove him yourself. So do your best to convince him to leave.

Then you quoted me and asked me this

What if you intend to occupy the property yourself - after you've given him 2 months notice with the section 21 notice he's then a squatter surely and as a protected intended occupier you'd be able to simply get an oath and then evict them?

and i pointed out if someone has paid rent as a tenant then you must go through the courts to get them evicted wether you label them as a squatter or tenant.

now you are moaning that i googled for other stuff i didnt know about...oh no what a crime to find info on google and not spend hours in a library reading.

 

[JonJ678]

You really, really should have learned something about the responsibilities of landlords before becoming one.

No, you can't kick him out because he's ignoring a notice to quit. All the notice means, provided you've actually served a valid one (there are quite a few things to get right in order for the notice to be valid), is that you'd like him to move out. Doesn't mean he has to. That would be a notice seeking possession, which is granted by a court fairly readily if the landlord has acted competantly.

That's assuming that the original contract was valid, it's possible he's signed one that isn't, in which case I don't know what happens. If it was an assured shorthold, you'd need to keep the deposit with the DPS (or similar), but for some reason you haven't taken a deposit. Don't know what that means either.

I think you should seek out a solicitor if you want him gone. Take anything you got him to sign with you. If he's signed nothing, he probably still has rights.