My tenants are making themselves intentionally homeless – and it’s not my fault.
When they called me last month, I thought it was to thank me for the new boiler I’d arranged to have fitted. Imagine my surprise therefore when they swerved my question about the new boiler and smacked me straight with: “We need to ask you something important,” and cleared their throat, noisily.
“OK...” I replied, feeling a little hesitant.
“We need you to serve us with a Section 21 notice.”
“Excuse me”, I said, “you need me to do what?”
“I’m sorry”, was the reply, “we’re very happy here, but we can’t afford another penny more and we need to have another bedroom for our child. They’re growing up and we can’t stay here or afford to move elsewhere.”
Momentarily stunned, I hesitated. The tenants, a husband and wife with a young child, had been model tenants for three years. I knew their living arrangements were less than ideal in a one-bedroom flat, but with the cost of renting in London soaring, I knew their situation was one borne of necessity.
What had flummoxed me, however, was given they were good tenants (keeping the place clean and tidy and paying the rent on time), I had kept their rent increases to a minimum. An equivalent one bed in this desirable area lets for around £400 more per month than I was charging.
Perhaps I am naïve. Given the flat is spacious with a separate kitchen/diner, I had allowed them to reconfigure the living room as a bedroom as something that needed to be done to suit their needs. I decided it was just furniture and that I would raise this subject next year when the child was older, and perhaps the living arrangements were no longer suitable.
“I’m sorry,” I said, “I’m trying to understand this. Are you asking me to evict you?”
“Yes,” came the immediate response.
“You do understand there is a housing crisis? You do understand how difficult it is to find accommodation?”
“Yes, we have no choice, that is why we’re asking you, please. We know you’re a good landlord and you will understand. We cannot afford a two-bedroom – we must apply for a council house.”
“A council house!” I spluttered. “There are over a million people waiting to be housed, what makes you think you will get a council house?”
“I’m sorry,” came the answer, “we have no other choice, please will you serve us notice.”
The dejection and defeat in my tenant’s tone of voice ripped my heart out. I wanted to argue more, but I knew it would fall on deaf ears so I switched tack.
“Section 21 notices are legal documents. They cost money to prepare and once executed you will have to go to court and bailiffs could also be involved. There will be many expenses and a lot of stress. Your family may be out on the street with nowhere to live.”
“How much money do you need?” Came the reply.
I sat there dumbstruck. “Can you at least think about this,” I pleaded. “There is absolutely no guarantee you will get a council house, in fact, you and your family may end up in a hostel with no cooking facilities and it may be miles away from here. How will your child get to school? How will you get to work? This is a huge risk and I really am against you thinking like this.”
We agreed we’d talk later in the week when my tenant had done some more research. I urged them to speak with their friends and family hoping someone may convince them to drop this madness. Surely someone would make my tenants fully aware of the risks and the consequences.
It made me sad when we spoke later that week to find them still adamant – they wanted me to serve the Section 21. Serving an eviction notice is never something I take lightly, and being asked to serve one made my heart feel even heavier.
But if I didn’t serve it, my tenants could cause me a whole world of pain. They could stop paying the rent, they could cause malicious damage to the property, they could refuse to cooperate with the simplest of requests – and I could end up being liable.
And that is the madness of the world we live in. I, as the landlord, do not agree with my tenant’s request. But they see they have no choice. They feel they are backed into a corner with no way to escape their current housing situation without me serving a Section 21. They in turn have backed me into a corner, where I feel I have no way to escape either.
I can hear charities like Shelter jumping up and down, but I felt I had no choice so I served the Section 21 as requested.
Now I wait for the notice to expire and the court shenanigans to begin. I won’t deny I’m angry with my tenant for putting me in this situation, but I’m angrier with the system. I provided good, safe, below-market-rent housing, but still, I’ll be seen as the one to blame.
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