Here is a question to the blog clinic from Paul (not his real name) on behalf of his neighbours:
My neighbours have been given a section 21 giving them 2 months to leave.
- Last September the landlord stated that if they redecorated the house they could stay. They did at a cost of nearly £1000 and now 9 months later he is evicting them.
- He did not place their deposit in a Govt Deposit Scheme and the agency to whom they gave the money absconded and he denies liability.
- There has only been one Gas Safety Inspection in 5yrs, the electric wiring in the attic has been taped together and is very unsafe with no yearly inspections and they never received an EPC.
- The tenant does not read or write and the landlord had increased the rent by £30 a few years ago without telling her and the AST lapsed into a Periodic Tenancy.
Could you tell me if she has grounds to appeal this eviction? Thank You.
Answer:
Well thats one hell of a bad landlord for you!
A quick whip through the things that you mention:
1. Redecoration after being told that they could stay
It depends on how long the landlord said the tenants could stay for. However this could be an ‘estoppel’ situation. This (broadly speaking) is where a person allows someone to act in a way which is ‘to their detriment’ and then takes unfair advantage of it.
I write about this >> here. Had the tenant in that scenario not been so stupid, she probably would have been able to challenge the eviction on the basis of estoppel.
2. No deposit protection
If the deposit was not placed in a scheme then the landlord will be in breach and the section 21 notice will be invalid. The landlord will not be able to serve a valid section 21 notice until he refunds the money to the tenant.
The fact that his agents made off with it does not affect the tenants rights here. The landlord should have been more careful in his choice of agents.
3. No gas or electricity certificates
The failure to provide a gas certificate will render the landlord liable to prosecution but will not provide a defence to the section 21 eviction.
Likewise poor wiring will not allow him to challenge the eviction but he may have a claim against the landlord for breach of his statutory repairing obligations.
4. Rent increase
The rent increase will probably be invalid and the tenant (depending on the circumstances) may be able to claim a refund or maybe offset the overpayment against future rent. There is nothing wrong however in the property continuing as a periodic.
I hope that helps!
Interestingly several of the other matters you raise will become defences to a section 21 if the new retaliatory eviction bill becomes law which is pretty likely.
I would suggest that your neighbours report their landlord to the council and ask them to inspect the property under the HHSRS
Agree with Tessa’s advice but with a query about the issue of the rent increase, although this maybe because of the question was written.
It says that the “rent was increased without telling the tenant”. That begs the question that, if she did not know, how was it increased; has she paid it; or is the landlord claiming that there are arrears? I will not speculate an opinion but suggest that the facts need to be clarified before advice can be given.