How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought please

[Tigs]

I am a Landlord in the sense that I rent out my own home, which is some considerable distance away from where I work, whilst I rent property nearer to my work.

I now want to return to my own home but currently, there are tenants whose Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement expired last April 2013 and was never renewed. There is a close in the Agreement which reads as follows:-

"Should the Tenant remain in possession of the Property with the consent of the Landlord after the natural expiration of this Agreement, a new tenancy from month to month will be created between the Landlord and the Tenant which will be subject to all the terms and conditions of this Agreement but will be terminable upon the Landlord giving the Tenant the notice required under the Act".

I want to seek possession on the grounds that I require the house for my own use, but I don't know how to go about this. Can someone advise me please?

I thank you all in advance.

[Tools]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

I post the following and ask that you be as understanding of your tenants needs as you are of your own. Explain to them why, even though you do not have to, you wish to seek possession.

Once the fixed term of the tenancy ends, unless a new fixed term is agreed upon a tenancy automatically becomes what is called a statutory periodic tenancy which rolls from week to week or month to month depending on how often rent is paid.

The procedure for serving notice under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 is slightly different in the case of statutory periodic tenancies.
Section 21(4)(a) of the Housing Act 1988 applies to assured shorthold tenancies that have become periodic and states:
"Without prejudice to any such right as is referred to in subsection (1) above, a court shall make an order for possession of a dwelling house let on an assured shorthold tenancy which is a periodic tenancy if the court is satisfied-
(a) that the landlord or, in the case of joint landlords, at least one of them has given to the tenant a notice stating that, after a date specified in the notice, being the last day of a period of the tenancy and not earlier than two months after the date the notice was given, possession of the dwelling-house is required by virtue of this section; and
(b) that the date specified in the notice under paragraph (a) above is not earlier than the earliest day on which, ........, the tenancy could be brought to an end by a notice to quit given by the landlord on the same date as the notice under paragraph (a) above "
A Section 21 notice complying with the above section should only be given to a tenant whose tenancy has become a periodic tenancy as a result of the fixed term ending. In these cases, a minimum of two months' notice is required and the day on which the notice expires must be the last day of a period of the tenancy.
The period of a tenancy depends on how often the rent is paid. If rent is paid monthly the period of the tenancy is one month, if the rent is paid weekly the period of tenancy is one week and so forth. The periodic tenancy begins immediately after the fixed term expires, so if the fixed term expires on the 10th then the period of the tenancy begins on the 11th, so provided rent was paid monthly the last day of each period of tenancy would be the10th of each month. Therefore the Section 21 notice would have to expire on the 10th of a month and be served a minimum of two months before the tenth of that month.
If the tenant does not leave by the expiry date on the notice the landlord will need to apply to the court for a possession order. Provided the correct procedure has been followed by the landlord issuing the Section 21 notice, the court will have no choice but to grant the possession order.
After the court has issued the tenant with the notice to leave, if they have still not left within the required period, then a landlord can ask county court bailiffs to evict the tenant.

Read more: http://www.tenancyagreementservice.c...#ixzz2gQ49Ww00

[PlanB]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

I am a Landlord in the sense that I rent out my own home, which is some considerable distance away from where I work, whilst I rent property nearer to my work.

I now want to return to my own home but currently, there are tenants whose Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement expired last April 2013 and was never renewed. There is a close in the Agreement which reads as follows:-

"Should the Tenant remain in possession of the Property with the consent of the Landlord after the natural expiration of this Agreement, a new tenancy from month to month will be created between the Landlord and the Tenant which will be subject to all the terms and conditions of this Agreement but will be terminable upon the Landlord giving the Tenant the notice required under the Act".

I want to seek possession on the grounds that I require the house for my own use, but I don't know how to go about this. Can someone advise me please?

I've received your PM

Did you place your tenants' deposit in a Government backed scheme and comply with all the associated red tape at the start of the original AST? If not then a section 21 Notice may not be valid.

It's explained here:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_ad..._not_protected

[Tigs]

Tenant refuses to pay rent within a S21 Notice period...hints / tips please.

A tenant is refusing to pay rent within a Section 21 period, saying that I've breached tenancy Agreement. He is refusing to say what the alleged breaches are, and this is all in writing. He has also indicated that he'll stay beyond the expiry of the S21 Notice. I've already filed a claim through MCOL for last month's rent, and it is more than likely that the tenant will not pay rent for the next month if he, as he states, over stays the S21 Notice.

Has anyone got any hints and tips as regards my options for redress please?

Please let me know of any queries or areas of clarification to enable you to help me.

[wales01man]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

Be careful the only action to take is through the courts

[CleverClogs]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

Be careful the only lawful action to take is through the courts

I've fixed your post for you.

On the other hand, there is the Hoogstraten method - link - involving a hand grenade.

[Tigs]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

Thank you CleverClogs

[Tigs]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

Comments gratefully acknowedged Wales01man!:santa_smiley:

[PlanB]

Re: Tenant refuses to pay rent within a S21 Notice period...hints / tips please.

A tenant is refusing to pay rent within a Section 21 period, saying that I've breached tenancy Agreement. He is refusing to say what the alleged breaches are, and this is all in writing. He has also indicated that he'll stay beyond the expiry of the S21 Notice. I've already filed a claim through MCOL for last month's rent, and it is more than likely that the tenant will not pay rent for the next month if he, as he states, over stays the S21 Notice

Please can you clarify whether you have placed your tenant's deposit in a Government backed scheme and provided the tenant with all the legal stuff relating to the deposit because if you haven't then your section 21 Notice is not valid (see my earlier post on this thread) there's loads of Supreme Court legal precedents on this (I'll post up these in due course).

The only legal way you can remove your tenant is to seek a possession order through the county court which you can't do/start until the fixed term tenancy agreement has expired. I will pop back to explain the process after the bank holiday but once you make an application the whole court process takes between 3 to 5 months. First you have to get a possession order which will give the tenants an 'out date' . Then you have to apply to the court (if your tenants don't move out on the 'out date') to get an Eviction Warrant (bailiffs). You can claim any rent arrears under Section 8 Notice as part of these court proceedings. I don't think your MCOL claim will succeed.

[CleverClogs]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

Another point I'd like to raise is to ask how much rent is currently owed and, if rent is withheld for a further period, how much will the total debt be?

[PlanB]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

Another point I'd like to raise is to ask how much rent is currently owed and, if rent is withheld for a further period, how much will the total debt be?

The amount of rent owed is not relevant. You can only get a tenant to move out of a property for one of two legal reasons. Either under section 21 because the tenancy agreement has expired (a no fault process) or under section 8 because there are rent arrears before the tenancy agreement has expired. The quantum is not the issue. In both cases the Landlord can apply to the court for a money judgment together with a possession order.

In my vast experience most Landlords forget to apply for the rent arrears (under section 8) so they get possession but not a court judgment for the money owed.

[Tigs]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

Thank you PlanB and CleverClogs for taking the trouble to comment.

I can confirm that the T's deposit is in a deposit scheme. I'm gobsmacked that you think the MCOL claim might fail!

The S21 Notice expires this month and the T has not paid December rent, and has stated in writing that he won't pay - he says I breached the tenancy Agreement. I've asked for specifics so I can remedy the issues, but he won't say - except write long rumbling e-mails using offensive language (I will cite these as examples of his demeanour in court).

Plan B - could you please give me some indication as to why you feel the MCOL claim is a non starter? What can I do in order to stand a chance? I appreciate your steer.

The current arrears are just over £600 and this will double if the T does not leave the property.

[CleverClogs]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

he says I breached the tenancy Agreement. I've asked for specifics so I can remedy the issues, but he won't say - except write long rumbling e-mails using offensive language

Is he deranged?

[Tigs]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

I get that impression - both husband and wife!

The wife is grand-daughter to my neighbour of some 14-years. When I lost my job and had to relocate nearer to my current place of work, I let my house through an Estate Agent. When that term expired, the neighbour approached me asking if their grand daughter who is a 17, and a teenage mum could please move in to the 3-bedroom house so that they could help her to look after the baby. The neighbour said they will help look after the house and the garden etc. I gave them a reduced rent (15%) in the knowledge that my house was going to be looked after and that would give me peace of mind.

When the grand daughter turned 18, the neighbour said that the grand daughter wanted to move out now that she was of age and could sign her own contract. They asked if I would agree to a straight swop with their other grand daughter who has a young family. Things were OK for some time, until about July when the tenant asked me to reduce the rent (already below market price) in return to them using their benefits status to have cavity wall installation installed - I said NO! The house already benefited from cavity wall insulation and besides, I would want to pay for it myself - that's when the trouble started. I expected my neighbours to mediate but they just flipped and turned against me - sending me ridiculous and offensive e-mails which I have kept. The situation escalated following the service of a S21...things got worse culminating in the tenants saying they were not going to pay rent.

I'm genuinely sorry for the long narrative...

[wales01man]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

Sorry to say, looks like a fight through the courts.

Should you win the MCOL case and obtain judgement have they the money to pay you? as they are on benefits the order to pay may be for a very small amount.

Normally we hear of bad landlords yours is unusual that this is about bad tenants seems the only way to solve the problem is legal and drawn out.