• Home
  • About
  • Clinic
  • Training
  • Eco Landlords
  • Landlord Law

The Landlord Law Blog

From landlord and tenant lawyer Tessa Shepperson

  • Home
  • Posts
  • News & comment
  • Cases
  • Tenants
    • Penalties for breaching tenancy rules
    • 15 Places for tenant help
  • Clinic
  • Podcasts
    • Interview
    • Surgery
  • Series
    • Analysis
    • should law and justice be free
    • HMO Basics
    • Tenancy Agreements 33 days
    • Airbnb
    • Grounds for Eviction
    • The Deregulation Act Explained
    • Tips

Can her landlord order this tenant to leave her home in under 2 weeks?

March 23, 2020 by Tessa Shepperson

leave now!Here is a question to the blog clinic from Staar who is a tenant:

I’ve been told to leave my rental property by the 2nd of April 2020. I have 2 younger boys and nowhere to go, with the Coronavirus can I be exempt from leaving by this date?

Answer

Almost certainly your landlord does not have the right to make you leave.

If you are a tenant, the only way you can be forced to leave your home is if your landlord obtains an order for Possession through the courts and then uses the Court Bailiffs of High Court Enforcement Officers to carry out a physical eviction.

In normal times this process would take in the region of six months. However the government has announced new legislation during the coronavirus emergency to prohibit evictions for the next three months, and most courts are not accepting new applications.

However, before even issuing proceedings landlords must serve the proper form of notice. The minimum notice period for a rent arrears claim is two weeks, and the minimum notice period for the ‘no-fault’ section 21 process is two months.  Landlords cannot even start proceedings until this notice period is over.

So I suggest you stay put.

The only exception to this is if you fall into one of the ‘excluded’ occupation types set out in the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. One of the most important of these is lodgers sharing accommodation with their landlord.

However, it sounds as if you have a tenancy in which case you are entitled to remain.

Incidentally, if your landlord is ordering you to leave in circumstances where he is not entitled to do so – this is harassment which is a criminal offence and which entitles you to claim compensation.

For more advice during the coronavirus, emergency see the Shelter Information Page.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Filed Under: Readers problems

Scroll down for the comments

Landlord Law for Landlords

Are you a landlord, unsure how to manage your properties in these uncertain times?  My Landlord Law service can help you in this crisis by providing online help and guidance and giving you one to one advice in the members' forum area.

>> Find out more about Landlord Law.


IMPORTANT: Please check the date of the post above - remember, if it is an old post, the law may have changed since it was written.

You should always get independent legal advice before taking any action.

Notes on comments:

For personal landlord and tenant related problems, please use our >> Blog Clinic.
Note that we do not publish all comments, please >> click here to read our terms of use and comments policy. Comments close after three months.

Keep up with the news on Landlord Law blog!

To get posts sent direct to your email in box click here

About Tessa Shepperson

Tessa is a specialist landlord & tenant solicitor and the creator of this site! She is a director of Landlord Law Services which now hosts Landlord Law and other services for landlords and property professionals.

« Landlord Law Blog Roundup from 16th March
Landlord Law Webinar on Coronavirus and what Landlords need to Know »

Its good to talk


>> See all blog clinic posts posts

>> Click here for the Blog Clinic form
>> Click here for the Blog Clinic Fast Track

The Clinic in a Nutshell

- You send us your problem using our special form
- We post it as a normal blog post, do our answer and ask readers to comment
- You agree that you won't hold people responsible (or legally liable) if they give a wrong answer
- You understand that you may not get any readers answers - it is up to readers whether they comment or not
- We won't publish everything - whether or not we publish someone's question is entirely up to us
- However if you use the Fast Track service you will get your question answered within 14 days or your money back

We may be able to help with problems with:

- Tenancy agreements
- Tenancy deposits
- HMOs
- Disrepair issues
- Eviction
- Harassment
(This is not an exhaustive list!)

However we won’t publish questions on:

- Long leases
- Commercial tenancies
- Agricultural tenancies
- Owner occupier problems
- Rented properties outside England & Wales UK
- Neighbour disputes (unless perhaps they are landlord and tenant related)
- Social housing problems (eg where the local authority or a housing association is your landlord)

So please do not ask question on these topics.

Recent Blog Clinic Posts

Can landlords rely on ’24 hour’ inspection notices if they don’t actually give any date or time?

houses

Can this landlord go back on an agreement to end a tenancy early?

Flats

Has this tenants Notice to Quit ended her tenancy?

More Posts from this Category

Disclaimer

The purpose of this blog is to provide information, comment and discussion.

Although Tessa, or guest bloggers, may from time to time, give helpful comments to readers' questions, these can only be based on the information given by the reader in his or her comment, which may not contain all material facts.

Any comments or suggestions provided by Tessa or any guest bloggers should not, therefore be relied upon as a substitute for legal advice from a qualified lawyer regarding any actual legal issue or dispute.

Nothing on this website should be construed as legal advice or perceived as creating a lawyer-client relationship (apart from the Fast Track block clinic service - so far as the questioners only are concerned).

Please also note that any opinion expressed by a guest blogger is his or hers alone, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tessa Shepperson, or the other writers on this blog.

Cookies

You can find out more about our use of 'cookies' on this website here.

Associated sites

Landlord Law Services
Tenant Law
Eco Landlords
Your Law Store

Legal

Landlord Law Blog is © 2006 – 2020 Tessa Shepperson.

Note that Tessa is an introducer for Alan Boswell Insurance Brokers and will get a commission from sales made via links on this website.

© 2006–2021 Tessa Shepperson | Rainmaker Platform | Contact Page | Log in

This website or its third-party tools use cookies which are necessary to its functioning and required to improve your experience. By clicking the consent button, you agree to allow the site to use, collect and/or store cookies.
I accept