What will happen to my friend? (Housing)
Posted by ClockworkSkyy@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 20 comments
I have a friend who's privately renting through an agent however a few months ago they lost their job and for the last three months haven't paid rent. Legal action has been threatened but the council have advised her to remain in the property until baliff eviction. (She has a kid). Her partner is contemplating boarding the doors/windows up to stop the inevitable eviction. Realistically what will happen to them other than eviction? They're penniless currently and have zero assets worth anything.
Other than eventual court eviction what else is likely to happen? They're riding on the back of the councils advice to remain and the partner has took it as a message to board up the house with only upstairs window ladder access. They're in full belief that nothing will happen and if they board up the house really well then that will prevent eviction.
The partner has recently gone down this 'adverse possession' rabbit hole and I'm convinced this has a part to play in their choices.
mralistair@reddit
The council wants them to stay as being evicted is a reason to be rehomed, "leaving willingly" is not.
Boarding up you house is just stupid. All they will end up doing is getting arrested. When the bailiffs come. Be nice and they'll let you pack your bags.
Anxious-Molasses9456@reddit
watch can't pay we'll take it away. The time scale will be different but the process is the same, you'll have people show up that will eventually have you evicted
ClockworkSkyy@reddit (OP)
Watched this show a lot, always struck me as staged? Will they literally pry the boards off to evict? The partner has hinted at bricking up any point of access lol couldn't tell if he was serious
Anxious-Molasses9456@reddit
If it's a repossession they will have forcibly entry, at that point they're no longer tenants but illegal squatters
I don't think it was staged, cherry picked rather for the most dramatic cases but it seemed like an accurate view of what happens during the various scenarios, and where both tenants or landlords are at fault
ClockworkSkyy@reddit (OP)
Thank you. Hypothetically if they did brick up points of access would the bailiffs actually go through all the trouble of getting in?
HELMET_OF_CECH@reddit
Are they not claiming Universal Credits housing element?
Sensitive_Ad_9195@reddit
Boarding up the house and leaving only ladder access from upstairs sounds incredibly dangerous! What if there’s a fire??
The council advising not to leave before the bailiffs come to enforce the eviction doesn’t mean barricade yourself in and refuse to leave even when the bailiffs come.
The reasoning behind not leaving is to give council (and tenants) more time to get themselves sorted and to ensure you’re not “making” yourself homeless by voluntary leaving.
It’s not the 1980s anymore!!
_pankates_@reddit
That would definitely be my worry - that cannot be safe for the child, I wouldn't be surprised if neighbours report this to the child safety team at the council. They really need to get those boards down and restore safe, normal access.
ProfessorYaffle1@reddit
The reason that the council has told them to remain until they are evicted is that if they don't, they will be classed as having'voluntarily made themselves homesless' so the council will not have a ny obligation to house them or help out.
Boarding up the doors itseld won't help, it just means that they may end up being laible for most costs of removing any barricades. IF the bailiffs need to return to forcebly break in they will, it will be traumatic for them and more so for any children.
They would do better to focus on trying to find work and in the mean time, applying for benefits to enable them to pay at least part rent.
Once they are evicted, they will need to go back to the council with proof of the eviction and the council should be able to offer temporary, emergency housing (most likely a room in shared accommodation or in a hostel or hotel)
The should be registering for council / social jhhousing but obviously in most places there are shortages and long waiting lists - being homelss and having a child are, I think, both things which put them in a higher bad but epending on their local area that may still mean a long wait.
If legal proceedings have not yet started then focus on both looking for work with a view to trying to pay the rent in full or part ASAP should be their top priority - iif they are able to restart payments, even if they have some arrears, the landlord may be more willing to give them time to clear the arrers - if they are out of work, are they claiming UC?
Your teltive should contact Shelter and /or the local CAB for advice.
If they are evicted and have rent arrears then it';s likely that the landlord will also ask the court to make aan order fo the rent arrers to be paid - that is a CCJ which will affect their credit rating and , as most landlords and letting agencies carry out credit checks , is likely to make it much harder for them to get a new tenancy anywhere at least for the next 6 years .
cgknight1@reddit
Yeah - that's bonkers because this has nothing to do with adverse possession.
It will not; the landlord might come after them for additional costs.
psvrgamer1@reddit
It will likely end up with a section 8 eviction process that typically can take upto 8 months to execute to completion.
They are served notice with a date to leave but if they don't it will end up in court with the court granting eviction order possibly with a CCJ for the rent arrears attached. If they ignore the court order then the LL will apply for eviction by the bailiffs to execute the order of the court and this will be the day they actually will have to leave.
If it's done under a section 8 with cause then the council will have no obligation to re-home as it will be deemed that the occupant has made themselves voluntarily homeless. This might not be how the council acts as their is a child involved but no guarantee.
Alternatively the LL might choose to evict under a section 21 and that's without cause attached which would run in a similar fashion through the courts but the council will have a legal responsibility to re-home at the end of the process.
The BF will inflame the LL further by damaging their property by boarding up windows etc and the LL might be more likely to evict with cause via a section 8 citing both rent arrears and damage to the property.
PetersMapProject@reddit
Boarding up the house will not prevent an eviction. Once the landlord obtains a possession order from the court (which he will get, for anything over 2 months of rent arrears) then bailiffs can force entry and change the locks.
https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/eviction/eviction_for_rent_arrears
https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/eviction/what_happens_when_bailiffs_evict_tenants
The council will advise them to stay put as long as possible so they can delay their own homelessness.
It is of paramount importance that they don't give the council any excuse to declare them "intentionally homeless" as they will get far less help if that happens.
https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/homelessness_applications/intentional_homelessness
Under no circumstances are they going to be awarded adverse possession (aka squatters rights).
bee-sting@reddit
Have they had the actual eviction notice yet? That will tell you how long you've got, it's usually a while
The partner needs to put his ridiculous toxic masculinity away, no one is going to evict them forcefully
ClockworkSkyy@reddit (OP)
Not yet, they've had threats from the agent, though, so it won't be long now I'm guessing. So, other than eviction nothing will happen to them? The partner is convinced he will be forcefully evicted and carried off in cuffs lol
bee-sting@reddit
When I got evicted I had 3 months.
I advise your friend and her partner to read up on what actually happens
https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/eviction
IllustratorNo8708@reddit
An eviction is an expensive and long-drawn out process. It is a CIVIL matter for the Court Bailiff - NOT police.
A council will deem her intentionally homeless if she is not dragged out the house (either figuratively on the appointed day by coercion or literally).
She will legally by default be liable for all the landlords costs in this, which will be big hundreds if not thousands, and may have a CCJ lodged for the debt.
Basically the landlord goes through the court to gain a possession order. He cannot harass or try and evict the tenant (e.g. by changing the locks), then the tenant can sue the landlord and also use this as grounds to stay the process.
The tenant can delay the proceedings by getting a breathing space, or even an MH breathing space. That is usually what happens. Then an actual hearing where a ruling is made takes place and at a certain date the tenant will have to leave, per the court order, and vacate the possession to the landlord. This date is ignored per the instruction of the council (they all say this), so the tenant is in breach of court order. The landlord CANNOT remove the tenant, nor can the police: the tenant has to apply to court for a Court Bailiff to remove her from the property. This takes a long time and is very expensive. The tenant will get notice of the date the Bailiff will evict them, usually people leave quietly the night before (ignoring if they shit on the carpets). If not, they are walked out with the Bailiff and if they refuse, physically and often violently dragged out (read: "reasonable force for a Court Bailiff to exercise an ignored court order).
The tenant has to go through this whole process as leaving at any point before, they would have been deemed to be voluntarily homeless and they voluntarily left the property. Only very few, and I mean very few exceptional circumstances allow the tenant to leave early and still not be deemed voluntarily homeless by most councils It's a disgusting system.
This process will likely rack up thousands of additional costs by the landlord they can and do sue the tenant for, resulting in a CCJ.
This will likely stop the council from helping with housing as explained, but long into the process some tenants and landlords agree mutually enough is enough and if the tenant leaves by a certain date (legally abandons their tenancy) and the house isn't a dump, then the tenant will not seek the rent debt and perhaps the court fees and legal fees to date.
Speak to Shelter.
IpromithiusI@reddit
They can force entry with a court order. Adverse posession is irrelevant, they have a contract in place with the landlord, it's clearly not abandoned land they can attempt a claim over.
The council will house them once evicted, likely in temporary accommodation at first. Their efforts would be better focused on finding new jobs.
ginbandit@reddit
Eventually your friend will be asked to leave but that might be several months. Councils always advise to stay in the property because once someone is homeless with children the Council are obligated to find them somewhere to stay. These are usually hotels until a council property is available. Naturally, councils do not have enough houses for people to stay in.
It is a long drawn out process, but one that can be made easier by engaging with all parties.
ExiledBastion@reddit
Once evicted, they will need to go down to the council offices. Should be put into emergency accommodation if they have a young child and will be assessed from there.
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