Tenant versus Landlord: Who Wins?

A Cautionary Tale for all Travellers who would Leave their Homes Behind

Barry and Margaret Williamson
February 2018

Send in the Bailiffs! 

In June 2016, the tenant of over 3 years proposed leaving our house in the autumn but wouldn't put that in writing. To increase the certainty, we gave her a no-fault Section 21 notice of 2 months to vacate the property, expiring on 11 September 2016. On 12 September she suddenly indicated that she was not leaving and continued to ignore a series of three County Court orders. She eventually left one hour before bailiffs arrived for the eviction on 11 January 2017, 6 months after the notice was first given. Her reason? She had to be evicted in order to get a priority place on the local authority's housing waiting list. How did she know that? The local authority told her to do it!

Whatever Happened to the Housing Benefit?

In the interim period, the former tenant stopped paying the rent, although much of its cost had been covered by her housing benefit. Again, she ignored a County Court Judgement and two orders, initially to pay the arrears in full, and then to pay in instalments. It wasn't until November 2017, under the threat of a visit by High Court Enforcement Officers, that she started paying £10 a week towards the rent arrears, which by then had been inflated by costs. At the end of December 2017 she stopped making these payments, reopening the possibility of those same officers arriving at her new address.

What the TDS Dispute Service Adjudicator had to Say

The former tenant strongly resisted the ruling of the TDS (Tenancy Deposit Scheme) Dispute Service Adjudicator that her tenancy deposit should be used as part payment towards costs for legal fees, damage, cleaning and gardening (all giving an indication of the state in which the house was left). The frustration of using the Dispute Service's online 'protocol' was only to be exceeded by that of the insurance companies in settling a personal injuries claim (see below).

Falling Down

Allegedly, the former tenant fell down the three lowest stairs in our house (see photographs below), bruising her right arm and shoulder in August 2016, during the period when she was under notice to leave. The fall allegedly required a visit to the local hospital three days later, although no evidence of any of this has been produced. The matter was only reported to us on 18 January 2018, some 17 months later! The elaborate procedure (or protocol) now invoked by the insurance company involves 2 solicitors, ourselves, our former letting agent, our former insurance agent and their insurance company – at a considerable and growing cost to us. To initiate this activity, the former tenant had little to say, nothing to write (it was typed for her) and nothing to pay under what we assume is a 'no-win, no-fee' special offer common at the lowest levels of the legal system.

Written Warnings

In addition to all this, and following disruptive behaviour on each occasion, the former tenant was given written warnings not to re-visit the house after her eviction, not to phone or visit our former letting agent, our present letting agent's office, our legal representative and, not least, not to phone or send text messages to ourselves.

What can possibly happen next?

Compare and Contrast

Below are photographs of the staircase down the bottom three steps of which the former tenant allegedly fell. This is followed by photographs and extracts from a Guardian article describing atrocious and dangerous living conditions in over half a million rented properties in England.

Where does justice lie? Draw your own conclusions!

With a glimpse into the kitchen, this is the lower staircase and the hall with its sideboard and a piano. The staircase is protected by a full-length bannister rail, with an additional safety rail at the foot, specially fitted for the former tenant in November 2015.

The lower staircase of three steps down which the former tenant allegedly fell

Looking down the main staircase with the bannister rail on the left and the custom-made safety rail at the bottom.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jan/28/hundreds-of-thousands-living-in-squalid-rented-homes-in-england

Extracts from the Guardian Article

Rented housing so squalid it is likely to leave tenants requiring medical attention is being endured by hundreds of thousands of young adults in England, an analysis of government figures has revealed. 

Rats, mouldy walls, exposed electrical wiring, leaking roofs and broken locks are among problems blighting an estimated 338,000 homes rented by people under 35 that have been deemed so hazardous they are likely to cause harm.

It is likely to mean that over half a million people are starting their adult lives in such conditions, amid a worsening housing shortage and rising rents, which are up 15% across the UK in the last seven years

Visits by the Guardian to properties where tenants are paying private landlords up to £1,100 a month have revealed holes in external walls, insect-infested beds, water pouring through ceilings and mould-covered kitchens.

A 30-year-old mother near Bristol said her home is so damp that her child's cot rotted. A 34-year-old woman in Luton told of living with no heating and infestations of rats and cockroaches, while a 24-year-old mother from Kent said she lived in a damp flat with no heating and defective wiring for a year before it was condemned.

Government figures suggest as many as 2.4 million people in England live in rented homes, both in the private and social sectors, with category 1 hazards. That includes 756,000 households living in private rented properties – almost one in five of the whole private rented stock – and 244,000 households in social housing.

The worst affected regions are the east and west Midlands, which features large numbers of Victorian homes, where about a quarter of a million rental properties suffer from category 1 hazards, according to the figures compiled by Labour based on the English Housing Survey. These hazards include exposed wiring or overloaded electrical sockets, dangerous or broken boilers, very cold bedrooms, leaking roofs, mould, vermin and broken stairs.

About half of councils in England have served no or just one enforcement notice under the Housing Act in the last year.

The London Borough of Newham estimates 10,000 private rented homes (and) inspectors have photographed rats in larders, baths and beds in kitchens, bedrooms in cupboards and homes with plastic sheets in place of roofs.

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