House rental advice

[jas328sport]

I am guessing that there are a few landlords on here and could do with some advice as my sister is in a bit of a state.
Her ex hobby worked on a local estate and was allowed to rent an old grooms cottage as part of his job. He was made redundant about 3 years ago but was allowed to stay in the cottage as long as the rent remained paid.
My sister split up with him soon after and has remained in the house with her 8yr old son ever since so about 5 yrs in total and has never been late with the rent.
Was a bit of a shock today when she received a letter telling her that they want her out by the end of march. She is not so worried about herself or her son as getting another place would be easy but the awkward part is that although the cottage is like a matchbox, it is set in a large plot which I am guessing that they want to build on and because of the size of the plot she has amassed quite a few pets, 5 dogs, 4 cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, an aviary and a fish pond and is now terrified as she has no idea what she is going to do with them all.
Is vacation in 2 months a fair request from them considering how long she has been there.

[X5Sport]

It probably depends upon what the terms of the rentaL/tennancy agreement says. 60-90 days for rented properties does not sound unusual. I'm assuming that there is a written agreement in place of course?

[Pete]

I'd say that it sounds fair enough TBH. (We placed a clause in our contract where we only need to give the tennant 4 weeks notice)

It all depends on her tennancy agreement though and whether or not she has signed it.

[AW8]

As well as having owned 3 properties we have also lived in 3 rentals since 2008.

Typically once an initial contract is agreed & the initial fixed term has elapsed its normal that tenant & landlord/lady can give same (EDITED after I considered posts below from others Our last landlady allowed us to switch to 1 month notice by us & by special agreement)

If she has kids then dependant on seperation maintenance & income she may qualify for subsidised housing or benefit assistance on a new property rental.

A significant problem you highlighted is sorting the animals....As an entire family we all crave owning a pet dog, however, most rentals prohibit pets. Even if our current landlady agreed on this havent sourced one as we know that if we get served notice that having a pet can seriously restrict the likelihood of sourcing another rental. Most in our area wont allow pets & one landlord renting a family home refused both pets & children!!

.........I recall we had a mid term inspection on one rental & the person checking the inventory & condition mid term asked us to confirm we didnt have pets. When I told him our daughter kept Sea Monkeys I saw a look of genuine concern before he saw same

Sorry to tell you this but chances of your sister getting another rental that will allow hewr to have that lot are very slim indeed unless privately renting a farmhouse. If she cant buy (either asap or in relaistic foreseeable future), then she has the very unpleasant & emotional task of having to possibly re-home loved animals & pets in abscence of others agreeing to temporarily foster same with expectation she may sort matters.

Also no good thinking of renting a compromise for a few weeks until sourcing something more suitable.........Nearly all landlords want a minimum rental. This typically used to be 6 months but most in my area most seek 12 months if looking to rent to long term tenants. Essentially if she rents something as a compromise & then says she wants out, she will have to pay the balance of the agreed period. E.g . If renting for min 12 month term at £1200 pcm & tenant serves notice to leave at end of month 2 then landlord pockets £12,000 for remaining 10 months @ £1200 pcm).

You also need to tell her to check on deposits some want 6weeks or even 2 moths deposit so using above benchmark of £1200 pcm allow £2400 as down payment & sister can expect this to he held back if she cant comlply with t&c's off tenancy on check out......Mine include having to provide invloices for professional cleaning, carpet shampoo & curtain dry cleaning.

Re securing any new rental she needs to consider her credit score,financial history plus proveable income & job security. Letting agents perform a means test & many will only allow you to rent up to a total ammount pcm based on affordability. I had to prove that gross annual income was at least 3 times gross rental cost. I also had to be subject to credit checks, employer & prior landlord checks & referencing in addition to meeting the landlady.

Ironically though proactively looking to buy again, (having been forced to withdraw from yet another purchase), we just found out that the owner of our current rental is seriously considering selling (2nd agent valuation tomorrow), so we may have to go through all the rental processes again soon ! ........far from ideal !!!

[Minda]

The sounds about right, but dependent on the tenancy agreement.

[NewX5]

Depends on Tenancy agreement if standard AST like most Landlords use then will be 2 months notice either party.

[jas328sport]

Looks as if she had better start looking for new homes for all of her animals as I quite agree that nobody in their right mind would allow all of them in a house, I know I wouldn't if it was my house.
The cottage and estate are in very rural Somerset and to be honest I very much doubt there was ever a proper contract although I may be wrong. She is going to the c.a.b tomorrow so I guess they will tell her what she is entitled to.

[AW8]

[quote=""NewX5""]Depends on Tenancy agreement if standard AST like most Landlords use then will be 2 months notice either party.[/quote]

Hmmmmm.............that made me think.........On further consideration & I think the norm may be 2 months either party unless tenant specifically negotiates a shorter notice period & this is contracted accordingly..........my earlier post edited slightly

In your sisters case I agree she may need extra advice. CAB might not be able to give all the info she needs & solicitor advice may also be required.

No civil law expert but in abscence of a formal tenancy agreement she may wish to check to see how far she can legally drag matters out if she genuinely needs more time to sort things. Ultimately they can only legally get her out once she has failed to comply with an eviction notice.

I cant stress enough how important it is that she gets expert advice as reprecussions of her wrong actions could be significant. She should also consider type of folk she is dealing with & that securing any future rental may be very dependant on them providing a decent reference.

[Turks]

This is a bit of a mess isn't it! I would say she was pretty lucky to have a single pet let alone the 5 dogs 4 cats etc etc.

This is going to be the hardest part, looking for new homes for all these animals - thats not even considering how hard it will be emotionally for her. I doubt she will be able to find somewhere with a similar set-up unless there are farmers / estates with properties on that allow this.

2 Months is about average, it completely depends on the Contract. A Contract is written and prepared to protect both parties, they are rarely looked at until there is a problem. Despite her renting long-term, the Contract (if there is one) is probably just a rolling ASHTA which means the landlord is probably being fair to request 2 months. Has she tried discussing this with the Landlord? Try to get an extension?


Turks.

[jas328sport]

Well c.a.b weren't really able to offer much advice as I expected but did offer to try and get the notice extended but also said it wouldn't help her much as she wouldn't become a council priority until under 28 days left.
It is difficult I know and she is my sister but this sort of thing was always going to happen one day so I really think she needs to accept the fact that her pets are going to have to be rehomed somehow although I hate to think how this is going to affect her mental health as she is very attached to them.

[AW8]

[quote=""jas328sport""]Well c.a.b weren't really able to offer much advice as I expected but did offer to try and get the notice extended..........[/quote]

They don't have legal authority........merely a volnteer resourced organisation that point folk in right direction & occasionbaly mediate & negotiate for folk.

[quote=""jas328sport""]..........she needs to accept the fact that her pets are going to have to be rehomed somehow although I hate to think how this is going to affect her mental health as she is very attached to them.[/quote]

Once again I suggest she explores securing fostering if genuinely likely to be able to sort pet friendly premises within a realistic timescale.

If funds only dictate the council list for foreseeable future council or housing association will force her to part with majority of animals.

Sadly the longer she delays plans to cause fostering or rehoming rehome then the less say she may have.

I would advise her to consider approaching pet re-homing specialists &/or the RSPCA provisionally but asap.

Fingers crossed for best realistically achievable outcome.

[Turks]

I agree with AW8. I am unfortunately currently looking to rehome my two dogs, its heartbreaking but it has to be done. I have been told by a number of centres that they are all too busy to take on even one at the moment and that it could be up to 8 weeks before they get any free space. 8 weeks is all your sister has? And there isn't just one or two pets...


Turks.