Received eviction papers from landlord after 11 years of tenancy

[1PeacefulWarrior]

Hello everyone.

 

Myself and my family have been living in this property since Nov 2011.

 

In Feb 2020, just before the lockdown, the landlord and I made a gentlemen's agreement for renovating some of the property, which was becoming run down:

 

the bathroom was mouldy and not fit for purpose, with wall paper hanging down the walls and a wooden sash window next to the bathtub that allowed water to run onto the neighbours front stairs while having a shower, bad tiling and flooring, etc..

 

I work as an electrician and I am also a multi trader/builder, having worked in the Construction Industry since 1991.

 

I told the landlord about the state of the bathroom and he agreed that I should start the refurbishment.

 

I gave him a price and although he haggled me down on it, we agreed in the end. The refurbishment was started and I took detailed photos at every stage of it.

 

As I started to lift up the old lino, to my amazement, I found plasterboard on the floor and in the hallway, under the carpet.

 

The floor level was uneven and the previous 'builders' decided it was good idea to use that to make up for the height difference. But that's not the end of the world, I mused to myself, I can redo the flooring.

 

I carried on, only to discovered that after removing the offending plasterboard, the floorboards and the joists underneath had been water damaged by previous leaks. I took pictures and sent the landlord emails, so that he would be informed of the findings.

 

I told him that the initial quote would have to be adjusted, seeing that there would be a lot more work involved that initially anticipated.

 

As I moved onto working on the walls, the rendering was coming away in chunks, while I was trying to remove the mouldy, rotten wall paper. The condensation has gotten behind it and blew it away from the brickwork. 'OK, I can plaster, so no problem there', I thought to myself.

 

But after removing the rendering, I noticed a long crack on the brickwork, from bottom to the top of the wall. As I pressed against it, the whole section of the wall started to move backwards. 

 

I realised it was no longer a brick wall that was supposed to be supporting the attic joists, but a disaster waiting to happen.

 

Fortunately, being a double brick wall, the outer row of bricks was supporting the rafters. I carefully removed the broken section and rebuilt the wall with studs and plasterboard, also insulating it for the first time, as I like to work properly, by the book, when I do something.

 

The house has no insulation anywhere, between the walls or the floorboards and we have to keep the heating on constantly in winter. Its a very cold house in winter and a very warm one in summer(sigh).

 

Practically, everywhere I looked while doing the renovation, I could discover very shoddy work that had to be put right, by building everything from scratch.

 

The plumbing was a nightmare (pipes running immediately under the floorboards and bunched together, hot/cold/gas and central heating, with the electrical cables running on top of them, totally against regulations).

 

A nightmare of a house. But I soldered on and fixed everything as I went along, seeing that I had to finish the project.

 

As if the project wasn't bad enough, the lockdown kicked in and restrictions meant that I could no longer get the materials I needed for the build. All the builders’ merchants were shut and the project had to be put on hold.

 

Much to my wife's chagrin, as I had already lifted the floorboards to work on the pipes and the toilet had to be moved from one side to another constantly.

 

Everything was up in the air and we had to live on a building site until the restrictions eased and I could once again source some materials.

 

The landlord never once offered us a reduction in rent and I was foolish enough not to think about asking for one. So I carried on working and we lived in meagre conditions for about 1 year longer than planned, while paying the full rent.

 

There were a few months when we didn't even have a window in the bathroom (during the autumn/winter time), since the old/rotten one had been taken out and we were waiting for the new double glazing to arrive.

 

 

In the end, I managed to get most of the refurbishment done by mid 2021 and I wrote to the landlord(he actually lives abroad and only once visited the property in 11 years) and told him that I have run short of funds and I will need some more money to finish the project.

 

I had already paid for the double glazing myself, as well as new wooden flooring and most of the materials that have been used.

 

The central heating unit had to be taken off while the wall was being rebuilt and then put back on, the consumer unit had to be relocated, attic insulated and floorboarded, new attic ladder and hatch door installed, etc.

 

 

To my surprise, the landlord answered my email abruptly and informed me that he is no longer willing to be dealing with me in person and I should be talking to the agency from then onwards.

 

But seeing that we have had some problems with the letting agency, as they were sending us emails that they would come to inspect the place and take photo's and just let themselves in, without waiting for our reply, we told him that we no longer wanted to deal with the agency and that we would like to talk to him from then on.

 

However, he stopped answering our emails and we started getting the new contract to sign, from the letting people. We decided at that point that enough is enough and that we would seek legal help in the matter.

 

we refused to renew the contract for the 2021-2022 period, until we settled what was owed for the building work. By that point, I was owed around £15000 in labour and materials. Our rent being £1050, I thought that things would balance out for a few months.

 

Fast forward to present time and we have been getting demands for payment of rent for the last 8 months. We also received a court date, as the landlord sent us lawyer papers demanding possession of the property on section 8, for rent arrears.

 

We recently discovered that the agency had not protected our deposit until 4 years into our tenancy, so apparently we can ask for 3 times the amount back.

 

 

While doing the refurbishment work, I have found several moth hives in the attic, bigger than basketballs. We never knew why we had tens of moths flying around the house and that explained the mystery.

 

Seeing that there is no insulation between the brickwork and floors, the moths are able to move freely and I am pretty sure there are more hives to be found under the floorboards in the other rooms.

 

We will know more when a building inspector will come to inspect. We also have been having a mouse infestation on and off for the last few years. We have a cat now and he is being kept busy day and night, bless him :-). But we have found stored food in cupboards eaten away, recently, in places that the cat can't reach.

 

Due to a car accident, I have been unable to work since January this year, suffering from a back problem and undergoing physiotherapy.

 

My wife used to work as a massage therapist until recently, but due to living under the poor conditions, the lockdowns and the 2 children suffering with problems over the last 2 years themselves (self harm, skin problems due to dust and allergens caused by the building work, not being able to attend school, etc) has had a nervous breakdown a few days ago.

 

She had to admit that she is unable to work due to the stress she has been under recently and bursts into tears suddenly, while having a normal conversation.

 

Our savings have finally run out and we have had to apply for Universal Credits 2 months ago. We are still waiting for the housing element to arrive.

 

I have been trying to find a legal aid solicitor to help, but it looks like they are not interested and claim they are fully booked.

 

It looks like my best option here is to self-represent.

 

Does anyone have any experience with this or suggestions that might help us?

 

I have never been to a court hearing before, but I don't mind fighting my case and I am a quick learner

 

There were a few more problems with the property, the garden and one of the neighbours using our garden as if it was theirs, but I have tried to keep this as brief as possible.

 

Sorry to have written so much, I just wanted to paint a realistic picture of the situation, so that people may relate.

Edited July 31, 2022 by dx100uk
Spacing

[stu007]

Hi

 

This is a complicated situation based on what you have posted.

 

Exactly what notice have you been given for the Eviction and what Grounds does it state?

 

The other issue you have is this Gentleman's Agreement which you should never have agreed to without getting it in writing.

 

Do you have evidence that the Landlord agreed to each stage of the works you were carrying out to improved/refurbish the Property and the Landlord agreed to this?

 

Has the Landlord during the works being carried out by yourself and you have invoiced/informed them of the costs at any stage then paid you for these works and you have evidence of that?

[1PeacefulWarrior]

Hi Stu and thanks for the reply. Indeed, it is complex situation. The good news is that I managed to find legal representation after the duty solicitor helped me get a 28 extension to put forth a defence/counterclaim. 

 

The notice is section 8, grounds 8, 10 and 11. Undefended, it would have resulted in a mandatory eviction order. 

 

The gentleman's agreement is in writing. It is what he worded as, when he sent me the acknowledgment email, agreeing to the price.

 

I have evidence that he agreed to both the first part (the planed part) and to the second part of the project(the unforeseen part).

 

He has paid for some of the work (40% of the total cost) and I have invoiced him during the work, for the first part of the project. The work is still incomplete, hence the final invoice has not been sent. My lawyers have advised me not to engage in any communication with him anymore, as they will deal with his lawyers.

 

We were never given a DPS certificate and we are going to find out soon if and when he has protected our deposit.

[stu007]

Hi

 

I know it has been some time but do you have any update you could give us at all on this as you were getting legal advice with your issue as it would be helpful to see if this has been resolved or if it is still ongoing and what is happening to date.

 

An update would be great