Section 21 notice recieved advice on options who to contact.

[speedfreek]

Well with a rent increase hanging over me since May 2012. Which apparently I can't afford (sort of true) as I'm on benefits and I apparently rejected by asking for a valid Section 13 notice in July 2012 as he hadn't server correct notice. There was a knock on my door Wednesday and my landlord with witness handed me the following.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]44873[/ATTACH]

 

Now I've had a look on Shelter and although a bit of a mess all the information for correct service is there. If somebody could double check for anything untoward before I take it to the Council it would be appreciated.

 

Not looking to get out of it as we've had a good innings and no rent increase for 7 years.

 

The other thing does anybody know the exact title of the department/person I need to see at the council?

 

Also options with them for housing? My Council is Lambeth which as a single male with mental illness means I'm on a bit of a sticky wicket.

 

Money for deposits, rent and moving isn't an issue. It's more a case of looking for somewhere (see bellow), losing my GP, Counselor and having fought for 3 /12 years for a psychiatric referral at St Thomas's Hospital which I'm currently waiting on an appointment for.... I don't really want to start again, since last May proved there be no affordable private housing within quite a distance.

 

I get ESA WRAG, DLA mid rate care and low rate mobility. Can leave the flat twice on a good week, haven't been able to use public transport for 3 years and using the telephone can/does trigger panic attacks.

 

I think my GP and counselor will support me but it's a question of what they can do and how to go about it?

 

It took 8 visits in May 2012 to get to see somebody who knew somebody at an affiliated charity who offered to travel to places with me. After 3 days of constant phone calls (where the people calling could understand why I couldn't leave the house) plus the £50 each way by taxi to the nearest places they were offering. I couldn't cope and this fizzled out.

 

So this is going to be interesting!

 

I'm going to give Shelter and the charity from last time a bell later on this week. Then it's camping time in the Council offices next door. So help with who/what to ask for would be great.

[sequenci]

Hi there.

 

Sorry to learn about the situation but very glad you're on the case with Shelter. As far as the councils are concerned then it's usually the housing department that you'll need to speak with although in these times of abject council nonsense I bet some councils have ridiculous names for that department! I'm sure Shelter will see you good, though!

 

Another charity that are hot on housing advice and mental illness is Rethink, they are very good too! http://www.rethink.org/

 

Sorry to learn about the notice but as you've already mentioned it's unlikely that you'll be able to prevent the landlord in taking back the property, sadly.

 

Best wishes,

 

Seq.

[mariner51]

Be careful with Council, they may require you to have a Court Repo order (imminently homeless) before they will offer 1 bed social housing, so LL will have to pay £175 Court fee which are recoverable from you.

 

Unless 'imminently homeless', it could be 3 years before a property is offered, so you may be better to negotiate an acceptable rent increase with current LL. As you agree one is overdue.

[fletch70]

Just because he has served you with a S21 notice it does not mean you actually have to quit on that date. After that he would need to get a court order for possession and that could take a while.

Is there any chance that he will reconsider, do you get HB .

Sadly until you have a possession order it is unlikely that you will get rehoused

[speedfreek]

Cheers for the replies

 

@ sequenci - there's an exact job title/department. I've seen it posted on CAG before but can't remember it. Otherwise as I found out last year you get blocked by the reception desk and go round in circles.

 

Good idea! I think there's a rethink drop in session near by which I'll take a look at.

 

@ mariner51 & fletch70 - Negotiation is out of the question now. He's wrongly of the opinion that I rejected the £200 rent increase May 2012 and that I can not afford it on benefits! I asked for a valid section 13 notice (sent recorded in July 2012) as the Council refused to accept what he originally sent as valid. It also would have opened up some options for me (as it was £100 over the LHA rate) but he's not very good at things like notices or repairs.

 

Once he's cheaply refurbished it he can get £400-500 a month more than I'm paying. Knowing that and the state of the place after 7 years, plus no matter what happens I'd have to move soon anyway it's time to go.

 

 

My main importance is stability and keeping the psychiatric referral alive. So that's keeping in the hospital catchment area and a permanent residence.

 

I'm not going to cope with eviction nor living in temporary housing like hostels or B&Bs. Which knowing Lambeth council well and it's non existent social housing stock are both on the cards unless I get help/support and take action whilst I can.

 

So that's what I need to avoid/get help with and I have two months to do it in.

[time4change2]

my sister managed to stay with her current mental health team when she moved there policy was she can still have access to there services as long as its within the GP surgery's that they were covered under which there is 9 in her area with a radios of about 12 miles between them this covered her in there blanket of GP they use and the psychiatric hospital she went into was 9 miles away from her address.

 

i am not too sure if its the same in your area though it might be different. my dad lost his house last year he was served with a court eviction order and the council only put him on the emergency waiting list when this was done they would not accept anything else unless it was this court order other wise they just treated him as the same as someone who wanted to just apply for hosing

[speedfreek]

@ time4change2 -

 

I'm not at that stage yet! It's taken 3 years to get back to a point now where we are almost at that stage! Awaiting 1st interview with secondary care services. Something went wrong last time I was referred in 2010.

 

So I'm a bit exposed here in that regards. Luckily I've had my current Counselor for almost a year now and my latest GP is on side now which took some 4 months of doing. I'm writing to my GP for her advice and help on keeping this referral going. She's young pretty and feisty! Plus I wouldn't want to meat her down a dark alley way armed only with a travel scrabble board. I'm in good hands

 

 

Any way yesterday I spoke to SHELTER who explained the process of going via the Council most of it I sort of knew from doing the research last year. Having it explained threw up some interesting bit I hadn't found and we now are almost fully informed and have a paln!

 

@mariner51

 

Be careful with Council, they may require you to have a Court Repo order (imminently homeless) before they will offer 1 bed social housing, so LL will have to pay £175 Court fee which are recoverable from you.

 

Apparently this is because Councils are of the belief that a Landlord might just change their mind at the last minute.

 

Unless 'imminently homeless', it could be 3 years before a property is offered

 

Or longer that's the stage after the 4-6 weeks in a hostel B&B if judged imminently homeless, followed by the 12 month temporary accommodation (you'll be assessed again at the end of this 12 month period) should be offered

 

 

Here's an extract from the letter I'm writing to my GP which may help others in this situation.

 

2, try and get accommodation via the Council.

 

How this works is Council will not act until my Landlord seeks and obtains a legal Court order for possession. This will take a couple of months from the (end of the section 21 notice) 31st August. Once that's done I then approach the Council with an imminently homeless application. This if accepted would see me spending 4-6 weeks (although it could be very much longer) in a hostel or bed and breakfast. During that time we then wait for a decision on if the Council have a duty to provide me with accommodation. If yes then depending on availability I would get temporary accommodation for 12 months. There's no guarantee here either that any of this would be within Lambeth.

 

The charity SHELTER (who explained the above to me) said that I would have to demonstrate that I meet the priority need criteria. One of the things they suggested is asking you for letter confirming how my mental health effects me, the fact that I am on disability benefits and also your opinion on how I would cope if I had to sleep on the streets over night.

That sleeping on the streets business I hadn't considered but SHELTER stressed it's importance.

 

Also

a duty to provide me with accommodation

You will receive a Section 184 Decision Letter/Notice. - If they say you fail here then this is an appealable decision and you can still get legal aid for help with this. They suggested contacting Civil Legal Aid at this point.

 

 

Saw my Counselor today and showed her 1st draft on my GP letter so she's up to speed.

 

Will visit the Council Friday to see if they will accept the Section 21 as valid and ask their advice for what options of help finding somewhere exist.

 

Then Monday I'll have a chat with that charity Monday who offered to help last year.

 

Get letter to GP finalised and ready to go for Wednesday.

 

I'll update as n when

[Batfink]

What date (exact) did your most recent fixed term start?

 

Have you paid a deposit? Has it been protected and you received the Prescribed Information?

[speedfreek]

An AST was signed/commneced on April 1st 2007 so pre April 4th 2007 so I'm not covered by any deposit protection scheme.

 

Think it went periodic either 1st October 2007 or April 1st 2008.

 

The only issue might be with betterment (as he's not the sharpest tool in the box on his responsibilities) or getting ****y and having a hissy fit if we have to go down the Council eviction route.

 

After 6 years I'm not expecting too much difficulty but am prepared to use the Courts if he does decide to be a plonker.

[tezza1234]

have i miss-read something, if you can afford deposit-rent-moving to a new place can you not afford to pay any arrears and then the section 21 is invalid

[speedfreek]

have i miss-read something, if you can afford deposit-rent-moving to a new place can you not afford to pay any arrears and then the section 21 is invalid

 

Rent has always been paid on time and in full. So not sure where you've picked that up from?

[tezza1234]

Why has a section 21 been issued then

[The Carpet Cleaners]

LL does not need a reason to issue a section 21