Hey everyone

Im posting this because im at my wits end and i am trying to somehow collect my thoughts and get out of this mess.

A few months ago me and my partner took out a short term tenancy agreement with a private landlord, we set up the dss payments efficiently and made sure our rent was payed on time or even ahead of time.

We have payed our bills, kept our noise to a minimum and in general just tried to be good neighbours (wouldn't do us any good being a nuisance given our situation).

My partner is due to give birth 17th of june and our contract ends less than a month after, which as stated in a letter from our landlord is also the end of our tenancy...meaning we will not get a chance to renew.

The apparant reason for this is making too much noise and disturbing the neighbours upstairs. Believe you me if you saw my speakers on this computer you would probably crease over in laughter. The only other noise we can possibly make is walking around the house. The neighbours next door said he can only ever hear the woman upstairs and has been able to for the past few years now....he has even took it upon himself to fight for our cause, which i thanked him a great deal for.

Both upstairs and the landlord are aware we are expecting a child, so heaven knows how either would cope with a baby crying in the same house. To make matters far worse my partner has now entered into labour and it could be a week, maybe in the next day or so when we have our little girl with us.

The thing that confuses me most is the severity of the letter in question. There was no apparant investigation into this, no ability to right the situation just flat out straight to the point......your no longer welcome, get the hell out.

Im no expert but im sure that a few verbal or written warnings would be the norm. It's quite upsetting because we came from a house where we suffered nuisance noise and we wouldn't dream of doing that to a family with kids. If someone had come to us and told us what the problem was...ok we would be a bit miffed, but would do the right thing and calm it down.

Now the spectre of homelessness is looming and be it through work, dss, council, private it's a brick wall and all i want to do is get a roof over my families head.

Been to first point and they said nothing they can do, maybe a month before being kicked out we could apply on homeless but no guarantees...im sorry but i cant see my partner and our child on the streets.....not in a million years.

A job, a home....there has got to be somewhere if i put the effort in (and believe me ill fight tooth and nail) that will give us a break.

Can anyone help me figure out where i go next?....are private homes accepting dss really that rare?.....can i push the council to accept us as unintentionally homeless?

Thanks for letting me rant here.....ill continue to browse for homes

I think you have answered your own question, short term tenancy. Sounds like landlord has got someone else lined up for the house. Maybe new one is to pay more rent ??
Go to the council or the many housing associations, one of them will help you. You will not be judged as being intentionally homeless.

if you end up intentionally homeless the council have been paying people to stay in a hotel for a short while and soon finding them a house. may i ask what area you live in and what areas you will be prepared to live in as i may have a few contacts for you

Our true preference is the hillsbrough area, as we have family and friends here. There really would be no place we would not consider......i mean a roof is a roof so it matters not....but a nicer landlord wouldn't go amiss.

Thankyou for the replies.

Our true preference is the hillsbrough area, as we have family and friends here. There really would be no place we would not consider......i mean a roof is a roof so it matters not....but a nicer landlord wouldn't go amiss.

Thankyou for the replies.

It does sound harsh - perhaps the neighbours were thinking about the noise they would have, as they have probably realised that your partner is pregnant! Many private landlords do not want children in their property either - It's harsh, and they might have let you know a bit sooner, but you are better off looking for a new flat quickly and moving out asap...

Our true preference is the hillsbrough area, as we have family and friends here. There really would be no place we would not consider......i mean a roof is a roof so it matters not....but a nicer landlord wouldn't go amiss.

Thankyou for the replies.leave it with me i'll ring round the mates i know who do properties in your area:thumbsup:

Our true preference is the hillsbrough area, as we have family and friends here. There really would be no place we would not consider......i mean a roof is a roof so it matters not....but a nicer landlord wouldn't go amiss.

Thankyou for the replies.you could try paul on 07976818647 and ask if he has any properties available:thumbsup:

thankyou.......in response to the landlord knowing...she was made fully aware of it from the moment i requested a viewing....knows full well the baby is due and went ahead anyway.....karma will give her a good kicking im sure.

thankyou.......in response to the landlord knowing...she was made fully aware of it from the moment i requested a viewing....knows full well the baby is due and went ahead anyway.....karma will give her a good kicking im sure.hope evrything works out for the 3 of you:thumbsup:

Get some proper advice - here's the Shelter website: http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/eviction/eviction_of_private_tenants

They also have a freephone service, the number is: 0808 800 4444

Hope you find something soon! This sounds a similar situation to what i was in, Baby due end of dec 08, private tennancy ended in sept 08. Have been on sheffield council rehousing list for 4-5 yrs (waiting time). Baby was born in Jan2009 and we had homeless priority from then, and was offered a property in April.
Its a good job we had family to stay with, cramped for space as it was better than on the streets or a hostel.

Places for PEOPLE Housing association offer property quicker that council in my experience, just not in the area i wanted. (Luckily wasnt on the streets at that time)

That sounds like an illegal notice to quit:- the notice to get out has to be served properly, and worded in the correct legal terms, as well as telling you to contact a C A B or Solicitor.

Also I STR, if it's an illegal notice to quit, the council aren't obliged to help you as it's not a bona fide document.

If you sit tight, the LL will have to take it to court, and get a court order to evict you, and if he has served an illegal notice on you, then he will be laughed out of court, particularly if you have the neighbours backing you up, to give evidence that you aren't breaching your tenancy agreement by making any untoward noise.

I really have to agree with Nimrod's assessment of the situation. It does souind to me as if the money-grubbing so-and-so has another tenant lined up, whom he can screw more rent out of.

Oh, and what Ms Macbeth said:- Consult shelter and the CAB as soon as possible.

But surely if it's a short-term tenancy the landlord has the right to end the tenancy at the expiry of that term if he/she wants to. They may have come up with a spurious reason for doing it but I don't think it's going to be illegal.

Legally if the end of your tenancy is up the Landlord is in the right. Morally however that is so so bad. I would be fuming and I'm sure you have the support of the forum when I say you aught to try and get this landlord black listed if they have stepped the line.

Just to also mention - you could try a "mediator" to try and arrange a few months grace until you find a place.

Don't do anything that you could lose your deposit over.

Good luck and if push comes to shove there is a double room at my house!

Good luck and if push comes to shove there is a double room at my house!

and a free babysitter :thumbsup:

Legally if the end of your tenancy is up the Landlord is in the right. Morally however that is so so bad. I would be fuming and I'm sure you have the support of the forum when I say you aught to try and get this landlord black listed if they have stepped the line.



But it doesn't sound as though the landlord has behaved that unreasonably though. They haven't been told to get out by the end of the week or anything like that, there's been no harassment, all that's happened is they've been told that when their tenancy finishes it won't be renewed and it's still two or three months away yet.

If you look at it another way, if the tenant had told the landlord that they wouldn't be renewing their tenancy but were moving somewhere else, would there be this level of animosoty towards them? I think not.

But it doesn't sound as though the landlord has behaved that unreasonably though. They haven't been told to get out by the end of the week or anything like that, there's been no harassment, all that's happened is they've been told that when their tenancy finishes it won't be renewed and it's still two or three months away yet.

If you look at it another way, if the tenant had told the landlord that they wouldn't be renewing their tenancy but were moving somewhere else, would there be this level of animosoty towards them? I think not.

I said if they have over stepped the line.

Morally they have but that doesn't mean a lot to landlords.

and a free babysitter :thumbsup:

lol, poor kid would be educated in the ways of vivianne westwood, prada etc by the age of 2 months :hihi:

dont stay in the house trust me the landlord will have a spare set of keys and change locks the minute you pop out to the shops look on www.propertyshop.co.uk i think it's right it's a website for the council for all the properties that are available but it will aslo give you a list of names and contact numbers for private rented accomodation that run through the council so they are legit and there is loads so give that a try

dont stay in the house trust me the landlord will have a spare set of keys and change locks the minute you pop out to the shops

Which would be illegal

Housing associations will tell you to apply and join the back of the queue with waiting lists from 12 months (others have closed theirs due to them being too long) others will say bid at the property shop because their properties go through them. I'm having this problem myself becoming homeless through some silly **** who thought playing with petrol and matches was fun at the house i was moving to.

The local authority where we are has said because we handed in notice to quit we have made ourselves homeless and it's nothing to do wih them, we can just stay a few weeks longer.

yeah it is illegal but we had it done to us and when we went to a solicitor we didnt have a leg to stand on

Well given that we expressed a wish to stay a further 2 years once the contract ran out and the fact that we need a roof over our head for a baby..keeping in mind this place isnt in the worst condition ever and is suitable i feel as though we will be made unintentionally homeless at that time. If we sat on our asses and didn't pursue anything you could argue we are making ourselves intentionally homeless but then again the situation is not in our power to rectify.

Thankyou so far for the numbers which ill be sure to ring (partner started her contractions and went to hospital today)..as soon as i can.

Had another talk with the neighbours today and they said all they ever heard from this house is laughter and how nice it was to hear some mornings. Yup we must be pond scum with super powered speakers playing thrash metal at 3 in the morning.....you can understand why im so upset when it takes the council so long to evict actual nuisance neighbours!.

Plod on i must though and plod on i shall

all the best to you and your missus, weasel.

So sorry to hear about your situation weasel, all i can say is good luck, and as you said - karma is a wonderful thing !
Hope all goes well with the birth , keep your chin up :thumbsup: x

thanks for all your positive comments, trying to figure out how to sort a bond if we have too...it's not helping that the neigbour who complained is stamping about like there is no tommorow....and you can tell if someone is putting their full weight into footsteps when it's shaking the walls down here....takes even more not to go round there and give her a piece of my mind.

Im literally shaking right now, and i just have to try and stop it cause my partner needs me to be strong and sort things out right now

Got a few leads right now and i will keep you posted on my progress...thanks for the moral support guys it means alot.

As PT and Ms MacBeth said, get some proper advice. But let me say there is a world of difference between the tenancy ending and a landlord taking time and money to get you evicted. Just because the 6 month period comes to an end doesn't mean you have to leave. The landlord could take steps to evict you but it would take some time . What's in it for him/her?

Well my Other half as pretty much told the whole of all this but after reading whats been said by you all i want to thank you all for the help and support.
We really werent expecting the letter from the landlord and we have put up with way much more noise coming from upstairs...i can understand she has a child too but theres a difference between the pitter patter of feet and the occasional bang and then the thump thump thumping of an adult stomping around because she knows she can. Not only that but the child goes away at the weekends and the noises seem to intensify around that time, followed by doors slamming at early hours of the morning.

I'm currently in slow labour, im having my contractions but could be a few days yet and im getting so stressed by all the noise im hearing from upstairs that i've felt like going round and telling her how annoyed i am...i, however, will not do that because i do not want to cause more problems.
I have however said im not going to tiptoe around and be frightened to do anything in my own home for fear that the landlord will come down on us yet again...after all theres nothing she can do now shes basically kicked us out anyway.

I'm struggling to keep my partner so that he knows he has done nothing wrong and he is a good man, it isnt his fault this is happening. We got three months till the tenancy agreement ends, take a few weeks...and we're not going to stress too much as the babies due very very soon...your help is much appreciated and my other half will no doubt keep you all updated on the situation :)

Thank you all again

Hi, it sounds like the landlord had given you the requred two months notice letter. There's a lot of legislation around about the rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants but you'll find that much of it isn't worth the paper it's written on.

In recent experience my daughter (who was 38 weeks pregnant) and son-in-law had just moved into a private rented house - 118 Kiveton Lane - and the living room caught fire because of a faulty lamp left in the house by the landlord. The landlord broke the law because he hadn't made sure any electrical equipment supplied was safe, there was even a wrong fuse in the plug, but because my daughter and her partner both they don't qualify for legal aid but don't earn enough to be able to afford to pay a solicitor. These 'no win no fee' solicitors all say they have a case but it's too complex for them.

My advice - find somewhere else asap and leave. There is a scheme to do with the bond that may be able to help you, can't think of the name of it off-hand but if you do a google search you should be able to find something about it. But don't be shocked and don't be scared, he's not threatened you or anything has he? The neighbour upstairs sounds a right pain in the butt though!

The tenancy deposit scheme, yes the landlord should have paid the bond into one of three government approved schemes - http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TenancyDeposit/index.htm

I would give Shelter a call as they can give you some useful advice, all the best and i hope you get something sorted.

if you have not damaged nothing in the property the landlord should give you your bond back

There was never a bond to pay......we payed 100 pound which was some holding fee, or administration fee and that was it.....she told us she understood our position and that it wasn't needed as long as the DSS was set up promptly which we did with no delay.

The more i look back on this now the more i think something isn't quite right with all this and im starting to get more angry than scared now.

Going to give shelter a ring and see what they say...there are alot of people around us that just don't understand how we have been given this letter.

I might post the letter up but gotta find out if im allowed to first.

Was it just a letter stating that your contract wouldn't be renewed or was it a legal notice (section 21)? It does sound as though she has notified you in plenty of time (half way through the agreed term), but what does your tenancy agreement say with regards to ending the agreement? I would be inclined to agree that it looks as though she's found herself a 'better' tenant and this is why she wants you out, so long as you've been good tenants and paid on time i can't see why else she would change her mind in such a short period of time; especially as she knew you wanted to stay on longer.

I am deciding against publishing the agreement as im not sure if it would breach any privacy laws in the situation, at present and with it's current vagueness (no names, property location or address) were pretty free to discuss.

Given the current climate i will be talking with my current landlord about how we go about running the tenancy and contract to it's conclusion with neither side out of pocket.

Time of course will tell if this version of events unfolds but right now we have character references that will stand us in good stead.