Hobson’s choice , Brian.
Nobody in CarerLand is spared the indiginity of swallowing one’s pride.
For far too many , there is NO safety net.
( Section 21 procedures … posted on page 1 of this thread … direct from the Shelter website. )
There’s lots on the Shelter website, I’ve just looked.
Also, be sure to contact the council’s Housing Officer.
Thanks for the replies. I’ll contact Shelter tomorrow, although I think I know what they will say (“you’re stuffed, go begging to the council”). Yes, there’s lots of information on the Shelter site, but it basically just says if you get a section 21 you can’t really fight it and it’s only a matter of time before they evict you. No mitigating circumstances by the look of it. Good tenants, or bad tenants; old, or young; in good health or very bad. All are the same under Section 21.
Your welcome , Brian.
Let us know how you get on.
The last two months have been a total nightmare thanks to Section 21. In the end I was pressured by my letting agency into taking an expensive bungalow before the eviction process started. My ‘landlord’ wouldn’t give us any extra time to find somewhere more suitable and I ended up paying a year’s rent up front for a property I would never have wanted if I’d had more time to look. My mum being 89 and very ill, cut no ice with him. He obviously has no conscience or empathy. The stress my mum went through is indescribable. On the evening of the move it all got too much for her, and she collapsed in an unresponsive state, with me rushing her to hospital, where she stayed for the next 8 days. She regained consciousness while in A&E, but her COPD symptoms had intensified and she had developed atrial fibrillation and other problems. I was now left with sorting out the move, while spending most of the day at the hospital for the next 8 days. She now has her previous conditions of COPD, chronic Lyme (both now worse), poor hearing/vision etc, etc, as well as side effects from all the new drugs they are making her take. She hates the new house: everything takes a lot of walking to get to and she can’t get used to it. The road the house is on is extremely busy and full of traffic. Yesterday the vet phoned to tell me my cat had been run over and taken there. This morning I was informed he had died in the night. Before we moved here I knew he would be in danger, but I had no choice unless I felt like risking actual eviction. So even my cat is another victim of Section 21. My mum and I will really miss him. We are both distraught.
I have to say I feel a lot of hatred for my previous landlord doing this to us and the government for letting him have the power to do it.
Thanks for returning to the forum , Brian.
No enforced residential move is acceptable … even more so in the aftermath that followed.
A recent posting in the main HOUSING thread will come as no great surprise to many :
**Short-notice evictions face axe in tenant rights victory.
Housing campaigners hail government plans to scrap " No-fault " removals.**
Housing campaigners have hailed a groundbreaking shift for tenants’ rights after the government announced plans to scrap “no-fault evictions”, which it described as the biggest overhaul for renters in a generation.
The government will consult on abolishing section 21 evictions in England, meaning private landlords would no longer be able to evict tenants from their homes at short notice and without good reason.
Currently landlords have the right to get rid of tenants with as little as eight weeks notice after a fixed-term contract has ended. The government said that section 21, which is notoriously hard to challenge, had become one of the leading causes of family homelessness.
Announcing the plans, Theresa May said tenants had the rights to feel secure in their home, settled in their community and able to plan for the future with confidence. “Millions of responsible tenants could still be uprooted by their landlord with little notice, and often little justification,” she said.
“This is wrong – and today we’re acting by preventing these unfair evictions. This important step will not only protect tenants from unethical behaviour, but also give them the long-term certainty and the peace of mind they deserve.”
The changes, which Shelter called “an outstanding victory” for renters, will in effect create open-ended tenancies and give tenants more reassurance that they will not face snap evictions if they complain about the poor quality of their accommodation.
Ever feel that the whole world is against you , Brian ???
More like pouring oil over burning waters ???
On behalf of us all on the forum , you have our sympathy in what has occured.
Thanks, I hope it goes through so that others are spared the misery of Section 21.
Hi Brian,
Thanks for the update. Very sorry to hear about your poor cat.
Are you going to stay put or plan to move in a year?
I hope your horrid landlord doesn’t get the price he hoped for on his house, after all the stress he caused you both.
Melly1
Thanks, what made it worse is I could have gone to the vets to see my cat while it was still alive, but my mum is really bad now and I couldn’t leave her alone. She had a breathing attack similar to an asthma attack when she heard he had been hit by a car. I will feel guilty about that for a long time.
Brian, you have nothing to feel guilty about.
Melly1
Thanks. I know that it was my previous landlord’s fault, but I still said sorry to the poor little thing when I went to collect his body at the vets.
Sorry to hear this but get hold of your tenancy agreement and take this with you to citizens advice.
Try to drop in and see someone at your local citizens advice. There website is Citizens Advice Tower Hamlets – Citizens Advice East End
Also may be of use looking up some info on their website too under housing
Contact AGE UK also https://www.ageuk.org.uk/
Is not easy not to panic about things but you do have rights that come in to play in situations like these.
Try and find your tenancy agreement and take this with you to citizens advice.
Always keep this safe as is your agreement with landlord. It will also tell you about what your obligations are as a tenant and what the landlords obligations are.
8wks is about right . I live in private rented accommodation and is all our landlord would give us if it came about.
Also contact your local council about your situation. Keep a folder with relevant paperwork in it to do with your situation so you have everything at hand. Try to keep a notebook of times and dates you hear from landlord/phone calls/visits
Donot withold rent otherwise you are breaking your tenancy agreement.
Keep a notes on citizens advice visit/council visit/age uk visit or call so you know where you are upto with different people. Not possible to hold it all in one’s head gets overwhelming and information is forgotten/lost.
If you have home computer set up a document or spreadsheet and update it with who/where/when/etc;
The journey ahead is a tough one but there is help available is about accessing it. Good luck!
Brian’s problem was unsatisfactory resolved back in April.
The thread will make almost a blueprint for anyone in a similar situation … especially if receiving an infamous Section
21 notice !
Most of the information is also available in the main HOUSING thread :
Slightly easier to find in this one … given the ever increasing length of said main thread.
On Thursday evening my mum passed away, after suffering congestive heart failure and atrial fibrillation that started on the day we moved house. Her suffering was unbelievable. She also developed an overactive thyroid, pulmonary oedema and leg oedema. The combination of heart drugs she was taking made her eyes so bad she could no longer read and her ears so bad she couldn’t listen to the radio. She suffered from severe insomnia and most nights didn’t sleep for a single minute. She went almost insane with the night time boredom considering she couldn’t read or watch TV. I shared most of her sleepless nights because I heard her get up, or saw the light go on through the crack in the door, and always went to see if she was OK. She went from having a bearable, and even sometimes happy life in the previous house, to a living hell in the new one. I shared some of that hell. Another kind of hell was her last 12 days in hospital, where the care was shockingly bad, and I often felt that I couldn’t leave her as I didn’t trust the nurses or doctors to look out for her or treat her with respect. One time I stayed with her for 30 hours continuously, mostly holding her hand and trying to communicate how much I loved and cared about her. The last few hours were truly awful and I felt like I was going mad with the helplessness and depression. My life now is completely empty. All the things I used to do were to cheer her up or try to improve her health or stress levels. Now I feel like I have nothing to live for. I now think Section 21 is a licence to destroy or end lives as well as tenancies. All I can say is f*** Section 21 and my landlord for what they have done to me and my dear mum, who didn’t deserve the misery and suffering foisted on her because someone wanted to make some quick money.
On behalf of us on the forum , you have our condolences , Brian.
Stay in touch ?
Hi Brian - I’m just online at the moment and seen your thread. So sorry to see what you’ve been through. You have been amazingly strong and an incredible support for your mum.
Thanks, I might come back, but I seem to have no enthusiasm for anything any more
Thanks. I feel a bit numb, except from an actual pain I feel in my chest. I’m not sure how I can convince myself that life is worth living any more
Hi Brian
Sorry to hear your news. Busy time ahead for you. You obviously have been a most wonderful son. Look after yourself. The numbness will subside, and you will feel all sorts of emotions.
Please stay on the forum. We are here for you.
Thanks