Bit OT but looking for some advice.

I’m currently renting my house to a single lady who signed a 12 month tenancy agreement (short assured tenancy) back in May. I had been living and working in Houston TX so an agency have and still are managing the lease. Anyway, I’m now looking to move back early – my wife gave birth to our first child who’s health isn’t great and I’ve gotten a new job back in the UK. Reading through the tenancy agreement it looks to me as if I can take back possession of the house by giving 2 months notice on the grounds that it’s our primary residence and we want to move back into our home.

I instructed our agent to serve notice to the tenant but was told that whilst he could do this, that we couldn’t take possession until the end of the 12 month agreement. I feel really bad for the tenant as she’s been really good (much better than the last lot!). I even said to the agent to let her know that if she found somewhere sooner we could waive the rent for that period etc etc. But at the end of the day, it’s my house and I need it back to live in.

Are the management agency telling me porkies as they know they’re about to lose their monthly fee or am I really homeless for the next 6 months?

Thanks in advance. Oli.

Or do the right thing and rent somewhere else for 6 months?

sounds fishy to me but I’m not a landlord, I’ve had to move out of two flats because of landlords moving back, nothing to feel bad about, its part of the deal.

Okay – I already feel bad about potentially having to turf someone out. But, it’s my house I pay the mortgage on it (which is actually more than I receive in rent) and I have a wife and newborn child and we all need to be housed. I’m trying to be accommodating by being a bit more flexible as I know it’s shitty for the tenant.

I’m a Scottish Landlord and I believe I can get the keys back after a 2 month notice period. Your letting agents on the other hand might not want to lose their 10% fee.

gov.uk is a good source of info
https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-agreements-a-guide-for-landlords-scotland/ending-a-tenancy
Indicates that you can submit forms and give 2 months notice. Though normally the point of the 12 month part is that it is fixed for both parties. If the situation was different and 3 months in they had changed their mind what would you expect as compensation.

However some general pointers

But at the end of the day, it’s my house and I need it back to live in.

No you agreed to rent your house to somebody who has paid for the privilege, incurred fees and costs and has probably made some plans around having at least 12 months of stability.
Need or Want, if you want to move back to the UK then move back rent a house until the end of the 12 months then move back in.

I even said to the agent to let her know that if she found somewhere sooner we could waive the rent for that period etc etc.

Try actually sweetening the deal, refund of any application fee’s instant return of deposit, help with moving costs etc.

Kick the prole out, I doubt she has made plans more than a few weeks in advanced and would welcome the expense of moving again.

How does a person with two properties become homeless?

IFirstly – it’s not a buy to let. It’s my house. I was on a temporary assignment in the USA that was supposed to last until next summer. It’s been cut short and we’re now in a position where we have to come back (we were living in company owned property in Texas so it’s not available anymore). Yes, I agree about the 12 month fixed term – hence why I feel bad about the situation.

However, there does appear to be lots of stuff in the tenancy about section 33 of the housing act that seems to suggest that there are several grounds for terminating a lease. One of which is if the owner requires possession of a primary residence in order for them or there spouse to live in. The management agency suggested that there is no way out of the 12 month term and my original question was whether this section 33 can in fact be used to regain possession and if the agency are pulling a fast one….

Thanks for the flaming though….we’re not rich – can’t afford to rent somewhere (since the rent paid by the tenant doesn’t in fact cover the mortgage – not her problem but still a factor). We don’t have two properties. It’s not an investment. It’s our home and there has been a genuine change of circumstances that mean I’d like it back early to live in.

Probably an easy way is to get advice from a Scottish solicitor, one who is on the ESPC or similar, who deals (buys and sells), with rented properties, but is not an agent managing them.

Where in Scotland is it, then you may get some recommendations of people to talk to.

I’ve just been in a very similar position myself.

I lived in a cheap rented bedsit, and my partner moved into her sisters spare room. We did this for 9 months, and it was crap.

But we did it because we had made an agreement with the tenants, and we didn’t want to make them suffer for something that wasn’t their fault.

We probably could have got them out sooner if we had exercised our legal rights, but to be honest we didn’t even look into it.

Can you not rent somewhere smaller and cheaper as a short term measure ?

Difficult one – as both a tenant and a landlady I sympathise.

Speak with the tenant, explain the situation, sweeten the deal e.g offer to help her with moving costs, give her as much notice as you can. She might hate the neighbours and want to move out for all you know.

Presuming the tenant is paying the going rate, I’d look for somewhere else until her tenancy expires, with her rent paying yours.
It’s got to be cheaper than paying a load of legal bills, fees and incentives to get her to move and has the potential to be a lot cheaper.

IFirstly – it’s not a buy to let. It’s my house. I was on a temporary assignment in the USA that was supposed to last until next summer.

Just because you are renting out your house doesn’t mean you are not a landlord, MTFU on that respect. You entered into a business agreement with somebody, check out the legals but don’t expect to be able to break it if you can’t. If you enter into becoming a landlord for whatever reason you should take that responsibility and act professionally and fairly. The house is currently somebody elses home.

You chose to return to the UK knowing that your house was lat until May – the fact that it’s someone else’s home for a year was something you should have borne in mind.

You need a solicitor, and you should be generous to the present tenant if you are breaking the contract with her.

I just has a read of one of my old Scottish tenancy agreements.

It says that as it is short assured tenancy the landlord has the right to notice to repossess the house at the end of the tenancy agreement if he provides two months notice.

Essentially, you made a legally binding agreement with someone for 12 months. Your property is their home for this period of time. To try and kick them out because it’s no longer to your liking is scumbaggery of the highest order. It’s their home FFS. The fact you couldn’t charge enough to cover the mortgage and your domestic circumstances are irrelevant.

Edit: My understanding is that if they have a 12 month short assured tenancy you have to give them notice 2 months before the end in order to get the property back at the end of the year.

I think he’s suggesting that he is NOT breaking the contract, the contract allows for him to regain possession. I’d still be pissed if I were the tenant but talking to her should be the first step. It may be solvable in that she may not particularly wish to stay (as mentioned above).

cb – I think the guy has misread what is meant by a short assured tenancy in Scotland, it’s written in legal speak. All it allows is for the landlord to regain possession at the end of a fixed term – the tenant has no right to remain past the end date unless mutually agreed. What a f***** up country it would be if landlords could just tuft people out on a whim. “Ah I see rents have gone up in the last two months and BMW have a new model out, lets oust the proles and get some more money”.

From the gov.uk website:

How do I get my property back?
There are 2 main routes private landlords can take to regain possession of their property under the Housing Act 1988:

Section 21 gives a landlord an automatic right of possession without having to give any grounds (reasons) once the fixed term has expired
Section 8 allows a landlord to seek possession using grounds 2, 8, 10 to 15 or 17 listed in Schedule 2 to the Act
These include rent arrears and anti-social behaviour.

In all cases you must give your tenant written notice, usually at least 2 months, of your intention to regain possession.
_________________________________________

You can seek possession at any time under Section 8 but if you are seeking possession during the fixed term, you can only use Section 8 if the tenancy makes provision for the tenancy to be ended on the ground for which you are seeking possession.
__________________________________________

Seeking possession under section 8
How much notice must I give my tenant?
The notice you must give if you are using Section 8 varies from 2 weeks to 2 months depending on the ground you are using.

Do I need to use a special form to give notice to my tenant?
If you are using Section 8 the notice you give must be on a special form entitled ‘Notice seeking possession of a property let on an Assured Tenancy or an Assured Agricultural Occupancy’. This can be found in the guide to assured tenancy forms.

What do I do if my tenant refuses to leave on the date specified in the notice?
You will need to apply to the courts for a ‘possession order’.
__________________________________________

SCHEDULE 2
Grounds for Possession of Dwelling-houses let on Assured Tenancies

Part I
Grounds on which Court must order possession

Ground 1

Not later than the beginning of the tenancy the landlord gave notice in writing to the tenant that possession might be recovered on this ground or the court is of the opinion that it is just and equitable to dispense with the requirement of notice and (in either case)—

(a)at some time before the beginning of the tenancy, the landlord who is seeking possession or, in the case of joint landlords seeking possession, at least one of them occupied the dwelling-house as his only or principal home; or
(b)the landlord who is seeking possession or, in the case of joint landlords seeking possession, at least one of them requires the dwelling-house as [F1his, his spouse’s or his civil partner’s]F1 only or principal home and neither the landlord (or, in the case of joint landlords, any one of them) nor any other person who, as landlord, derived title under the landlord who gave the notice mentioned above acquired the reversion on the tenancy for money or money’s worth.

To me….that reads like as long as you mention this in the tenancy agreement you can end within the term on the grounds that you want to reposess your house for use as a primary residence.

My management agency seem to think otherwise and I just want to know if anyone has first hand experience of dealing with this? If I had the money I would probably just rent some other place – but I don’t.

& for the record….I drive an ex-RAC ’06 Mercedes Vito. Not looking to make money or re-rent etc etc just need somewhere to live.

Does that answer your question of just asking us if it does.

As a quick skim read you need to go to court to get them evicted?

Don’t be a dick, you changed your mind deal with it.

edit

.I drive an ex-RAC ’06 Mercedes Vito. Not looking to make money or re-rent etc etc just need somewhere to live.

That is your problem, how would you feel if it was being done to you? Would you just roll over and go OK them why not.

Suggest she could stay rent free as a live-in maid?

Oli – the bit about repossessing for use as a main residence is under the “assured tenancy” section. I’d be very surprised if it is an assured tenancy, most likely short assured. Just call up your letting agent and ask them to explain their position.

to make money or re-rent etc etc just need somewhere to live.

This is pure Singletrack self-entitled irony gold.

If you’re going to kick someone out of their home, at least go and get some professional advice. If you’re bothering her about this, you’re probably in breach of the tenancy yourself. The section where it sates your responsibilities, such as not to harass the tenant in their home. Maybe she’s more switched on than you and is keeping a log of your interactions so she can sue you.

Nope – not spoken to the tenant. That’s why we have a management company. I just suspect that in this instance they’re not doing a very good job.

You may be able to exercise your legal right to kick them out. Possibly.

But they might exercise their right to tell you to **** off. I would. It would probably take you about 12 months to kick me out by doing a court eviction. And I’d stop paying you rent out of spite. I doubt I’d be looking after the place that well either.

You took on a responsibility, man up to it.

I have a 12 month contract on my flat, it’s 2 months notice for the landlord and 1 month notice for me.

I guess that’s pretty standard, but I wouldn’t rely on my uneducated thoughts! 😆

I suggest you never rent out another house, you clearly fail to understand the concept.

Personally I think your first point of call should be your employers to cover any costs incurred, since you seem to have acted to your detriment on the basis of them moving you to the usa and putting you up

though your story seems a bit inconsistent in that you’re saying in one post that the temporary assignment has been cut short, and in another that you’ve taken another job, in which case you really should have though about that first shouldn’t you

Regardless, you entered into a 12 month agreement – your only way out of it realistically is to buy her out of it, as she’s undoubtebly taken on considerable expense in moving, phone contracts and all sorts based upon the agreement you made.

Ask the letting agents for a copy of the tenancy agreement. Unless it has specific clause about seeking repossession as a primary residence then you’re stuck. The only other option would be to try to come to an arrangement with the tenant. She may be willing to move early if you cover her costs, whatever she deems those to be.

Stop worrying about what gov.uk or whatever says and check the actually tenancy agreement.

Edit: I’d echo the points above that you’re tenant could drag this out for donkeys, with little of no consequence. If you serve two months notice, they could just refuse to leave. You’d then have to start court proceeding from there. It would take ages. You’re not in a good position.

Shame you didn’t get just a couple of weeks more notice of this, you might have been able to throw her out in time for Christmas!

As a landlord who has had good tenants and bad, I’d not sleep well at night slinging someone out on a technicality. If the tenant wanted to fight it, or just refused to budge, you could still end up not getting in for months, and if she is liable to be chucked out anyway, might stop paying rent and looking after the place to your satisfaction.

OP, feel free to ignore, but my recommendations would be…

I would suggest reading this: Shelter Scotland – Eviction before the end of your tenancy

And this: Shelter Scotland – Grounds for eviction for assured and short assured tenants

Basically, you’re legally entitled to evict your tenant before the end of their lease using ground #1 “Landlord wants property to be own home or the property was previously their own home“. To do this you must go through the proper legal process, as outlined in the first Shelter link I gave. Your tenant also has the legal right to defend themselves against eviction in court.

So I believe your agents are correct; they can serve notice to quit at the end of the tenancy, but you would have to wait. If you want in sooner, you need to serve an eviction notice.

I would think the best thing to do is contact the tenant directly and have a good chat with her. Going through your agent can result in mixed/wrong messages, even with best intentions. Explain your situation and the route you might have to go down, and whether she would be likely to comply or fight. Give her time to think about it and get back to you. If she’s adamant that she will fight it in court, you may decide it’s not worth the hassle. But unless she is deemed vulnerable, I would think that you have reasonable grounds for repossession if it went that far.

Anyway, you should contact either Shelter (0808 800 4444) or Landlord Accreditation Scotland (0131 553 2211). Both will give you much better advice than here.