Updating post from Reddit.
Finally! I have my property back.
I’m still shocked at the disgustingly long, drawn out process going through the courts in my area. The lack of help when calling the courts, lack of acknowledgment when you email or write to them.
I am never becoming a landlord again, this was enough to put me off forever.
And just to top it off they still owe me their final rent
I feel you! Coincidently today is the day, after nearly 2 years of long court proceedings and mind numbing paperwork, I have the eviction of my tenant scheduled for 7am! I know anything can happen between now and then but let’s hope it does go ahead.
This tenant was initially really great. Very friendly, kept the house very clean, and did almost all small repairs by himself free of charge.
Then covid came and along and he couldn’t pay some rent so we agreed a payment plan (the overdue rent would have taken 5+ years to clear off! He was £100 per month extra only for the repayments of missing few months rent)
Then 2022 he stopped paying all together.
2023 summer we started the court stuff. And my god it’s been absolutely appalling. Delays, wrong processes on the court websites, more delays. Now he stands at around £35k rental arrears, he has had 2 years rent free plus the covid rent free period, and the courts just took their sweet time to address it. Even after receiving everything in our favour we can’t do anything without more paperwork which jus takes more time and more cost for lawyers to chase up.
I think the whole thing will cost me maybe £5k in lawyer fees and court fees and enforcement officers etc.
Awful tenant in the end, and absolutely slow and painful support from the legal system.
What took yours so long out of interest?
Damn, I’m sorry!
Effectively the same stuff! The courts taking their sweet time. And them saying they didn’t receive some forms, so I would have to wait weeks for them to receive new ones. They would take 12 weeks to just email me an acknowledgment to say they have my new forms.. when I would call to chase anything I would be told conflicting information. It’s a complete joke for the landlord, yet the media would claim we have all the power, we are only at the beck and call of the courts
How did it go?
What happens to the tenant after eviction, do they just go and pull the same thing on another rental or do the courts enforce something so they can't avoid rent in the future?
Two years is insane.
Laws desperately need to change. If someone breaks a contract, that should be it. Both ways.
If I went to work and didn't work, I'd have my job taken. Likewise if I rent a car and don't give it back, I'd probably be arrested.
The problem is not with the law. It is the huge backlog in the (underfunded) court system.
Yep, this, it’s the underfunded and understaffed court system. And the Landlord gets stuck in the middle of the whole process, while being vilified in the media. Apparently we are all millionaires trying to overcharge our tenants
It is not the laws that are a problem, it is its implementation.
And this would be blamed on budget cuts obviously.
I'm sorry that you've had to endure this.
A friend of mine is currently renting and has always paid their rent on time, set up via a monthly standing order. They take great care of the property as if it were their own. Before signing the tenancy agreement, they specifically asked about the landlord's long-term intentions and were reassured that the landlord had moved abroad and had no plans to sell.
Out of the blue, the estate agent attempted to unlawfully raise the rent, despite rent reviews being scheduled for August annually, and proposed an increase in March instead. When my friend challenged this, the estate agent backtracked, apologised, and agreed the rent would rise in August 2025. However, just two weeks later, my friend was served with a Section 21 eviction notice. They were told it wasn’t a retaliatory eviction and that the landlord now intended to sell the property.
The trust between landlords, tenants, and estate agents has completely eroded. I’m truly sorry for what you’ve gone through. Now more than ever, tenants are incredibly vulnerable and face significant risks of homelessness due to the whims of landlords and estate agents. It’s a disheartening situation.
Really sorry to hear this, I have the complete opposite (as landlord), had a very good relationship with them throughout last 4 years until the last 4 months. We had to start the eviction process once we learnt that the tenant wasn't going to leave after S21 a week before the due date...we had informed the tenant many months in advance that we were going to sell the property after the tenancy agreement expires (Feb 2025), we had the property up for sale with viewings throughout Nov and Dec so the tenant knew this was going to happen... Tenant has so far refused to communicate with our EA who manages the property and all the while we've been chasing and updating, rent arrears piling up...been told by EA that they're looking to the council to claim homelessness and everyone knows what the council has done so far... The least I expected from the tenant is to be a bit more transparent on their side so that we can try to resolve the matter as quickly as possible...
Must be a relief, What took so long?
The courts, when sending forms off, they would take so long to get back to me, they told me they had a backlog. And then once it got to the stage of a bailiff order it took a long time to get an appointment assigned.
the legal system sees the landlord as wealthy and punishable yet the non paying tenant is the poor one who should be given leniency. its insane… should the tenant not pay the government something its completely different
Exactly this, this tenant wanted a council house. But the council wouldn’t help them with a property until they were deemed homeless, hence the eviction. Which took the 2 years. So meanwhile the tenant is getting cheap rent, I’m effectively paying to house them as my mortgage spiked like everyone else’s in the UK. And I have to wait on the court system. The council don’t want to spend a penny helping until they’re homeless, and apparently all landlords are millionaire so can shoulder the cost
that’s why i never allowed council tenants. the council will be all smiles offering to take your property on, then same day telling another tenant to not pay rent and stay until courts have acted and bailiffs come knocking… its insane. all designed to save the council money at the cost of innocent landlords. ps, always go for the CCJ, its your duty to warn everyone else and teach that tenant a lesson
The council called me a few hours after the tenants were evicted by the bailiffs. I assume it’s because the tenants went to the council office directly to state they’re now homeless and needed assistance.. the council office who called me asked if they had any arrears. I said yes, they owe their final rent which is over 2 weeks late. He didn’t seem to care as it was not a month late..
Also I had already given a reference months ago, as the council asked them to get me to fill in a reference form to “help them” get a property. So the reference they have shows they are all good.
I didn’t really have any preconceived notions about these tenants when I agreed to take them on, a couple, 2 kids. They migrated here from abroad, and I thought it was nice to help a family, my house was a relatively new build property. They seem to think they’re going to get given a property like mine, I didn’t tell them that’s delusional thinking, they’ve pretty much been living a luxury life in comparison to what they will be put in.
Oh well, I guess I helped them as much as I could but in the end it cost me my sanity lol
if you lost a months rent i think you are laughing, i have seen many landlords lose 6-8months of rent and the tenants trash the place on the last day out of spite.
Yeah I completely agree, it annoys me as it’s my first experience, but I know for sure I’m really lucky
you really are, i assume the drawn out 2yr process were caused by issues because you wernt fully compliant with jumping through the necessary hoops required? if that is the case its probably been a learning curve despite also being a mega stress
As a Landlord you have to really realistic about eviction and removing tenants. It can take a very long time.
Sadly, the huge spikes in mortgage interest rates impacted me which was the main factor in me wanting to sell, but along with that the tenant wanted to apply for a council house.. to do that they needed to be deemed as “homeless” and that can only happen once they’re evicted. So both me and the tenant were stuck with waiting on the court system
This is one of the reasons I sold all my rental properties. I will never be a landlord again.
The thing that kills me the most is, I went against my gut feeling all those years ago, which was telling me “don’t put it on rent, just sell!”, and it literally became the biggest misery of my life.
I had 19 properties. 17 of the families are still in crappy council temporary accommodation. But I feel no guilt. I am free of the lies, hassle and threats.
This sounds so painful. It's sad the laws don't support house owners. We are in the same position it has taken us a year to get a possession order of our flat in London from Bromley Court. We are waiting for the Bailiff's to get the tenant out. Tenant owes us 25 thousand pounds in rent, God knows how we will get that back.
😫 I really hope you get your money back. These stories need to be highlighted more in the media. All landlords are not evil millionaires, 25k is life changing/make or break money for a lot of people. if a bank was owed a fraction of that in mortgage arrears I bet it wouldn’t take them long to repossess the house? It needs to be highlighted how landlords can be at the mercy of the tenant and the court system.
Are estate agents "guaranteed rent" schemes any good to avoid these issues? Then the estate agent is the one losing money if the tenant doesn't pay?
But they take a bigger cut no?