LL wants to move back.

Renting2018

Many thanks, much appreciated.

ross2010

Firstly if you have a lease then he cannot give notice during the term of the lease. LL has to wait until lease expires. So if your lease not up until summer and as you say you are 18 months in the property then you have until lease expires (spring/summer 2019) until he can serve notice. At which point you will be 2 yrs in the property so will be entitled to 8 weeks written notice. I would recommend you contact your landlord and tell them your concerns and you may come to an amicable arrangement. Regardless he cannot serve notice until the end of your fixed term lease...so assuming you signed a lease you should check dates and know that the earliest is 8 weeks thereafter assuming its 2 yrs at that point.

Just to add, on reading your post it seems its rumours you have heard. Perhaps they are untrue. And it may just be that. So saying the LL is being really unfair at this point, when you have 6 months left on your lease, and LL hasn't done anything yet is perhaps you being unfair. I would say communicate with your LL and try to get clarity on the situation going forward so that you can move forward.

Renting2018

ross2010 wrote: »

Firstly if you have a lease then he cannot give notice during the term of the lease. LL has to wait until lease expires. So if your lease not up until summer and as you say you are 18 months in the property then you have until lease expires (spring/summer 2019) until he can serve notice. At which point you will be 2 yrs in the property so will be entitled to 8 weeks written notice. I would recommend you contact your landlord and tell them your concerns and you may come to an amicable arrangement. Regardless he cannot serve notice until the end of your fixed term lease...so assuming you signed a lease you should check dates and know that the earliest is 8 weeks thereafter assuming its 2 yrs at that point.

Thank you, I wasn’t aware of that. I think we signed a lease for 2years, I can’t remember though, it could have been one year then moved to a part 4 tenancy I believe? I’ll have to check.

Fian

I'm sorry to hear you are in such a stressful situation, especially in the run up to christmas. However you seem to suggest you have a lease until the summer. If your landlord does decide he wants to move back into the house he has rentde to you there is plenty of time to give you notice between now and then surely? He/She may not have fully decided to move back into the house and in any case you have plenty of time to make arrangements between now and summer. A landlord can give notice under a part IV tenancy if they require a property for their own use, but this does not allow them to break a lease early.

Why don't you write to your landlord and ask if the rumours you have heard are true? If they are ask the landlord whether they are willing to allow you to break the lease early if you find alternative accomodation. They would be foolish not to in order to avoid a risk that you illegally overhold when notice is served on you.

You can in any case effecively walk away from the lease if you find someone willing to have the lease assigned to them for the remainder of your lease. so if you find alternative accomodation it should be reasonably possible for you to avoid double rent payments. Particularly if your current lease is below market rent as you suggest.

good luck.

edit: I took a call halfway through responding to this. Seems the same advice already given, but anyway I will leave it here.

Pelvis

There is literally zero point in even thinking about a scenario that hasn't happened yet and which you don't actually know will happen.

Walter Bishop

'He who forsees disaster suffers it twice over' - why don't you try to put this aside and wait until and if you hear from the landlord?

ross2010

Renting2018 wrote: »

Thank you, I wasn’t aware of that. I think we signed a lease for 2years, I can’t remember though, it could have been one year then moved to a part 4 tenancy I believe? I’ll have to check.

Thats important. Because if you haven't a current signed lease then the LL can give notice at any point in time. If you have a signed fixed term they have to wait until the end of the fixed term which gives you wiggle room to find somewhere. And most likely you could negotiate an early exit from it if it coincides with your landlords plans. But I will say again, talk to your LL as they may have no intention of moving back to the house and it might just be local talk.

Fol20

I would check your contract and see what lengthnyour contract is. Tbh. It looks like you answered your own question.

You can’t ask your ll as you would break your friends trust in good conscience.

You can’t give notice early as you will looose your deposit(unless your only under part 4 now and out of fixed term lease) even under a fixed term lease. Your ll is meant to mitigate losses and refund you the balance.

Your ll won’t tell you as he wants as much as possible.

I don’t think the ll is being unfair here and you already know why he hasn’t told you yet. It also sounds like it might be a legit eviction with honest intentions.

Personally given what you have provided and lack of suitable accommodation, I would potentially start looking ASAP if your gut tells you you will be getting your notice. You might loose your deposit but it’s better than being homeless.

Renting2018

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Car99

Walter Bishop wrote: »

'He who forsees disaster suffers it twice over' - why don't you try to put this aside and wait until and if you hear from the landlord?

What about preparation mitigates to some extent the effects of the disaster.

Renting2018

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ross2010

Renting2018 wrote: »

Yes unfortunately it was only a 12 month lease so we are on a part 4 now.

What we heard came from a reliable source so we’re pretty confident it’s happening, we just don’t want the source taking the flack as it’s not common knowledge and would be traced back to them.
We can’t really approach the LL and say what we’ve heard as a result, but we have gone through the agent to enquire about extending our tenancy past summer but they haven’t heard back from the LL either.
We believe we are getting the run around because LL doesn’t want to lose rent if we have to leave early. Which is lousy really, if he had any decency he’d give us a heads up
We may have to just ask straight out after Christmas if he’s not forthcoming with information and just rely on his honesty then that he’s telling us the truth.

One of the risks of renting is that you will be asked to leave. If you believe this is a certainty then sadly it seems to be the case, and at the moment as you have no signed lease you are on a month to month basis and therefore by your length of tenancy it does seem like 6 weeks notice. Does your source indicate when they believe the owner will want to move back? If you have contact details for the landlord I would contact them directly to request a renewal of lease and see where it goes from there, also state that security for family is key for you and kids in school in area so would appreciate the assurance of a fixed term lease. The letting agent prob isn't chasing things up. The landlord may not want to show their cards but if they do intend moving back in the summer they could at least grant you the assurance of that.

Renting2018

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Pelvis

Renting2018 wrote: »

Exactly. We can’t afford to sit around and wait for them to give us the legal 6 weeks notice as we will never find a suitable property in that time.

Unless you plan on finding a place and moving before any notice is given, then you don't really have any choice in the matter.

The_Conductor

If you're on Part IV- you effectively can go and seek alternate accommodation yourself- and give your landlord your requisite notice.
It would be nice to formally have notice of the landlord's intent- however, July is a long time away- you effectively have 7 months in which to find somewhere.......?

Renting2018

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Renting2018

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Mrs OBumble

Renting2018 wrote: »

I need to win the lotto, I can’t keep up the uncertainty of renting, it’s mentally exhausting, the threat of eviction hanging over us all the time.

Are you on the council housing list? If not - get on it ASAP. If you are low income, then its the solution to your issue. (Granted its not working so well ... but it is the official solution).

Or if you're earning too much for that, focus on getting an even better job so you can think about buying.

tretorn

You are renting which means you have to fit in with the landlords plans for his or her family.

And, No, there is no way you can stay in the property once you are given the required notice to move.

I have a house rented that I will need back for a family member. I rang the RTB about the lease which is up soon and was advised not to sign another lease. I understood that if a property is required by a landlord for a family member then you can require the tenant to vacate the property given proper notice. I didnt realise a tenant could stay in the house until the lease was up even if a family member needed the house.

I am not going to enter into another lease agreement and I will tell the tenant(if he asks) that the house will be required back within the next four or five months, ie another house will be put up for sale and once that goes through the house the tenant is in will be lived in byy a family member.

I feel a certain sympathy for the tenant but my priority is my own family and once the house sale goes through we will advise the tenant to look for somewhere else.

The landlord, ie me isnt required to be forthcoming about plans, I am obliged to give the tenant 42 days notice so thats what I will do. The tenant isnt going to give a rats ass about me once he decides to move on so why should I be guilted into caring about his circumstances. I want to see the rent going into the bank account as long as possible so I wont be advising him he will most likely have to go property hunting again in six months.

Browney7

tretorn wrote: »

You are renting which means you have to fit in with the landlords plans for his or her family.

And, No, there is no way you can stay in the property once you are given the required notice to move.

I have a house rented that I will need back for a family member. I rang the RTB about the lease which is up soon and was advised not to sign another lease. I understood that if a property is required by a landlord for a family member then you can require the tenant to vacate the property given proper notice. I didnt realise a tenant could stay in the house until the lease was up even if a family member needed the house.

I am not going to enter into another lease agreement and I will tell the tenant(if he asks) that the house will be required back within the next four or five months, ie another house will be put up for sale and once that goes through the house the tenant is in will be lived in byy a family member.

I feel a certain sympathy for the tenant but my priority is my own family and once the house sale goes through we will advise the tenant to look for somewhere else.

The landlord, ie me isnt required to be forthcoming about plans, I am obliged to give the tenant 42 days notice so thats what I will do. The tenant isnt going to give a rats ass about me once he decides to move on so why should I be guilted into caring about his circumstances. I want to see the rent going into the bank account as long as possible so I wont be advising him he will most likely have to go property hunting again in six months.

And when your tenant hasn't found somewhere by day 42 he'll have read up on his rights and would be a fool to make himself homeless. Could be a winning strategy for you or a penny wise pound foolish one

Renting2018

Browney7 wrote: »

And when your tenant hasn't found somewhere by day 42 he'll have read up on his rights and would be a fool to make himself homeless. Could be a winning strategy for you or a penny wise pound foolish one

Can you expand on those rights Browney? As we could be in the same situation. We can’t vacate our home if we have nowhere to go. What are our rights in that case??

tretorn

But what rights has he to read up on.

The RTB official told me its not necessary to have a lease at all, tenant has been in the property for less than a year so we need to give him 42 days notice. If he stays on after twelve months without a new lease then its still only forty two days notice.

Once the family member has sold their house they need the rented house back, they will have inherited this house so have the legal right to vacant possession. It seems pretty clear to me and I am hoping the tenant will vacate the house once he gets the required legal notice, surely he cant stay in the house once the owner wants possession for their own use.

Renting2018

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Are you on the council housing list? If not - get on it ASAP. If you are low income, then its the solution to your issue. (Granted its not working so well ... but it is the official solution).

Or if you're earning too much for that, focus on getting an even better job so you can think about buying.

And where would you suggest we live in the meantime? While waiting for a non existent council house or applying for non existent higher paying jobs and saving to buy a house?!
If you can find a solution to that in the next 6mths then you’re a miracle worker.

Browney7

tretorn wrote: »

But what rights has he to read up on.

The RTB official told me its not necessary to have a lease at all, tenant has been in the property for less than a year so we need to give him 42 days notice. If he stays on after twelve months without a new lease then its still only forty two days notice.

Once the family member has sold their house they need the rented house back, they will have inherited this house so have the legal right to vacant possession. It seems pretty clear to me and I am hoping the tenant will vacate the house once he gets the required legal notice, surely he cant stay in the house once the owner wants possession for their own use.

You just refuse to leave and dispute the validity of the notice and get a few months until an RTB adjudication hearing. Not that Ive ever done this nor am I advocating it but if a tenant refuses to leave after a valid termination notice it can be a pain to remove them - plenty LLs on here wax lyrical about similar situations.

Tenant of course ruins references and has an RTB hearing against them but it sure beats the street

tretorn

You are very foolish to get attached to a rented house, you will never have the right to live there unless you buy it off the owner.

You have been told unofficially what the landlords plans are so its up to you now to find sommewhere else to live.

I certainly dont want my tenants thinking they can stay in my house because they cant find somewhere else to live, I will give them the required notice and after that my responsibility ends.

I told the family solicitor I was renting the house and he said " how will you get them Out". We have had a family bereavement and the last thing we need now is tenants over holding so I am hoping they will go without stressing us too much.

I will print off statutory forms off the RTB website and make sure that the termination of the tenancy is watertight legal.

If tenant overstays the notice then they are illegally occupying the property and I will refuse to give them a reference.

Pelvis

Renting2018 wrote: »

And where would you suggest we live in the meantime? While waiting for a non existent council house or applying for non existent higher paying jobs and saving to buy a house?!
If you can find a solution to that in the next 6mths then you’re a miracle worker.

Did you consider any of this when kid number 1 turned up? How about kid number 2? Kid number 3??

Maybe stop having kids.

Renting2018

tretorn wrote: »

You are very foolish to get attached to a rented house, you will never have the right to live there unless you buy it off the owner.

You have been told unofficially what the landlords plans are so its up to you now to find sommewhere else to live.

I certainly dont want my tenants thinking they can stay in my house because they cant find somewhere else to live, I will give them the required notice and after that my responsibility ends.

I told the family solicitor I was renting the house and he said " how will you get them Out". We have had a family bereavement and the last thing we need now is tenants over holding so I am hoping they will go without stressing us too much.

Well I suppose the decent thing to do then is give them as much notice as you can, taking into consideration the dire straits of the rental market and the difficulty in finding rental properties.

No they may have no right to stay in your property, but they also don’t deserve to be homeless all because the law only requires 42 day’s notice.

Renting2018

Pelvis wrote: »

Did you consider any of this when kid number 1 turned up? How about kid number 2? Kid number 3??

Maybe stop having kids.

How is that relevant to the original post? Or helpful to the context of the post?

tretorn

What do you mean by pets, does the landlord know you have animals in his house.

We agreed to let the house to tenants even though we knew they had an old dog. We were told the dog would be confined to the kitchen and back garden. I drove by the house recently and the dog was up on the sofa looking out the living room window. The sofa wasnt that old but who wants to sit on a sofa someone elses dog has been on.

Renting2018

tretorn wrote: »

What do you mean by pets, does the landlord know you have animals in his house.

We agreed to let the house to tenants even though we knew they had an old dog. We were told the dog would be confined to the kitchen and back garden. I drove by the house recently and the dog was up on the sofa looking out the living room window. The sofa wasnt that old but who wants to sit on a sofa someone elses dog has been on.

That’s unfortunate for you.

I’m not sure the terms of my tenancy are relevant to you actually, but all above board. As I said previously, we’ve been perfect tenants, in every property we’ve rented and have the references to prove it.
Perhaps there should be a requirement for LLs to provide references too these days, to prove they’re decent people.

Fol20

Renting2018 wrote: »

Can you expand on those rights Browney? As we could be in the same situation. We can’t vacate our home if we have nowhere to go. What are our rights in that case??

This guy is talking about overstaying which is illegal and can’t be discussed on boards. You may also struggle to get a reference if you do this. Your name might be linked to RTB if a dispute is lodged and is viewable to the public(this is a handy tool for vetting against new tenants) - do not get to a situation where your doing this.

Your not stuck in limbo at the moment. You have 2 options as I see it.

Break your code of silence with your friend to confirm if the ll is moving back, the ll could still deny until he needs to officially notify you as it’s none of your business at the moment.

Be proactive and don’t mess around and start looking for a new place. Yes you might need to pay more but surely you can find somewhere else within 8months.

No point putting your head in the sand and running away from the hard answer. Go with your gut and stick with it. Everything will work out ok.