Tenant not leaving

right here we go:

we've been renting our flat out for the past year and a half. first year ended badly due to a shitty tenant not paying rent on time, leaving the flat in a shitty state and stealing stuff when they vacated - not to mention the letting agents being awful.
second tenant, seemed much better. paid rent on time, kept the place clean, met her on a couple of occasions (when fitting a new oven) and she was kind and pleasant and has 2 young children (both under 5)
we gave a section 21 notice with 2 months on it for her to vacate as we need to move back in.
the missus had visited the property (about 2 weeks ago) since then and saw her stuff being packed, so we assumed all was going ahead as would be expected.
we collect the keys yesterday (the moving out date) go to take some stuff over and check the flat out only to find she is still there :shock:

turns out she contacted the lettings agents when we handed the section 21 notice and told them she may not be able to leave by that date. apparently she needed to do this in writing to the agency, but never did. despite the agents knowing this, they never told us.

the section 21 notice has now expired and we are now applying for 'accelerated possession' of our property.

she is refusing to leave as she says she cannot arrange another property to move to. her guarantor has relinquished their position and she doesnt have another, so cant get another rental without one.
we've been told that the council have told her to stay put until she is evicted and they find her alternative council housing.

i'm posting this as a warning to anyone thinking of renting property out.
we are lucky enough to have somewhere to stay in the mean time, but had we been renting/come to then end of occupancy on where we are staying, things would have been very different (i have a very kind mother in law)

we only did it to help save some money, but its been the most stressful year aside from all the other shit that's happened. this just tops it off.

i'm frustrated with the lettings agents and frustrated with the tenant. all i want is to get back to OUR flat so MY family can live in the flat WE work hard to keep over OUR heads.

what the f*ck is wrong with people today?! i cant help but feel we may have just been very unlucky. but at the same time, i think this is happening more and more. people constantly screwing other people over.

rant over.

feel free to discuss/comment/argue/converse politely/ or just read and take heed.

Just skimming over it, it seems you may have a tenant that taking the opportunity to try for social housing.

Assuming from what you say she is a single mother, with young kids.

Being 'homeless' should give her the points required to qualify.

Really is a bum steer for you, but this may be an act of desperation rather than calculated.

Have you tried talking to her directly? Always be on guard as your position is that of landlord.

It sounds like the letting agent is at fault here for not conducting your letting appropriately.
As HF said above, your tenant is probably trying to get social housing. As you are making her homeless this makes her case a lot stronger than if she had a private rental property (as she did). I understand that you will be upset with the tenant, but she is probably in a more difficult position than you in this case, and is just trying to do what is best for her and her kids.

My advice would be to withhold payment to the letting agent, or bill them for your inconvenience. Don't talk to the tenant. If emotions come into it it might not end well.

to be honest, i'm inclined to agree with you both. thats what we've concluded. not sure what else could explain it.

does give us an opportunity to save a little more money - in a round about kind of way. i can understand her position too, but i can also see how this sort of situation can be used for someones gain (be it an act of desperation or otherwise).
just more unnecessary aggro when we need it the least as the missus has fallen pregnant (and after the year she's had, this is a blessing). just when we need to settle, this comes along and feel it could have been avoided or even treated more appropriately and dealt with more calmly if they actually spoke to us. its beyond incompetence.
seems we are the last people to know anything when it comes to our tenant and the lettings agent.

looking forward to seeing the back of the lettings agent and the tenant to be honest. feeling less and less sympathetic toward others recently....

needed to air my experience and that is what i have done. going to drag on a bot me thinks....

The law is an ass in this respect, what is the point of a tenancy agreement if the tenant can just ignore it? Bottom line should be if sufficient notice is given then the property owner can rightfully turf the freeloading shyster out. I really feel for you Twain, best of luck getting it resolved promptly so you can get into YOUR property.

Advice centre would be my first port of call

they would be able to advise you wether you can get the police involved or not based on the description that you have appeared to follow your half of the notice requirements.

I would also start recording the costs involved to follow later a small claims court case either against the tenant\letting agency or both

I would also contact your local housing authority to see what options there are for you as a landlord and for the tenant

remove the doors and windows.........

Just sounds like bad luck, not all tenants are like that....i have top references dating back to 94 and my last landlords became very good friends..........you have a very stressful dilema though........but it is very hard for some people to find another property in time, BUT she should have informed the agency or you asap.

<frivolous mode>
I'm disappointed. I thought this was going to be about an old Dr Who refusing to leave the show.
</frivolous mode>

CAB told us, when our landlords agent threatened to boot us out, that it would take 6 months before it got to bailiffs and we would probably want to leave before they turned up.