Question

Ending a Tenancy (England) | Landlord Wants Tenant to Leave (England) | Types of Tenancies (England)

Which notice?

20 Jul 2018 | 1 comment

My client is the court appointed deputy of her father who has lost capacity and is in a care home. The father owns a house which his son resides in with his wife. They have been there for over 20 years.

My client now needs to sell the house to pay for on-going care home fees for the father. The father’s son and partner are in occupation will not leave. There is no tenancy agreement and there is no rent being paid.

What is the procedure to evict the son so that the deputy can sell the property? What notice would need to be provided?

Answer

1 Comment

  1. guildy

    Not quite sure if a deputy has power of bringing court proceedings, details about a deputy are here.

    If the tenancy is granted otherwise than for money or money’s worth after 1989 (when Housing Act 1988 came into force), it will be an excluded tenancy by way of section 3A Protection from Eviction Act 1977 which means a number of regulatory exclusions apply.

    A notice to quit is not required for an excluded tenancy so a letter giving reasonable notice is required. We submit that at least two months will satisfy reasonable. Whether anything less than two months is reasonable depends on the view of the court.

    Requiring a court order is also excluded by section 3A but, because it’s an offence to take possession of any property (including an excluded tenancy) where there is someone present and objecting, a court order should be obtained. The standard procedure would be used (same paper forms as would be used for a section 8 notice).

Submit a Comment

View your previously asked questions. (Will only show questions from August 2020)

(Link above back to topic only works for questions added after end of August 2020)