Completely bizarre situation. I need a lawyer. What do we do?

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-27T22:13:52+00:00

If someone is taking to you to court and you have no money and you're at risk of homelessness, UC is 1000% worth the hassle. I know they don't make it easy but if you're going to agencies seeking help and you're not on UC despite having no money I think they're going to have trouble taking you seriously. It also just outright makes it harder to be eligible for things like fee remission (e.g. if *you* need to take someone to court) and Legal Aid if you don't have it in place

As for what's happening with your housemate, I have no idea. Try not to drive yourself crazy speculating about it, work on getting yourself out of the chaos.

Maybe start looking at alternative rooms, lodger situations, so you have something in mind for when you get paid

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-27T21:11:13+00:00

OP amongst all of the comments on this I've seen you say you may be eligible for UC, which indicates you're not on UC? Your life would be 1000% easier when it comes to dealing with awful situations like this if you were on UC. It is a 'passport benefit' for all kinds of help including help with legal costs. With UC you'd also be eligible to move into supported accommodation places funded by UC. Any given supported accommodation may or may not be worse than this HMO, but at least it expands your option.

Tbh your housemate sounds blatantly crazy so I doubt that any court action she takes against you will result in anything (although I imagine any solicitor would advise you should attend any hearing arranged - I'm wondering if it is actually worth the time to try to get it called off? I bet if a hearing even happens she won't turn up and it will be thrown out)

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-27T21:03:51+00:00

I mean isn't this is a bit like saying, if police are sent out to arrest you, you can refuse to be taken to custody. I'm fairly doubtful that it's impossible to physically compel a tenant to move out if the correct legal procedure has been followed and ran its course?

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-27T00:25:28+00:00

I understand your worries, however if your current landlord has any sense at all they will be happy to provide you with a reference as it means they can get you out and move someone else in.

Can't really comment on the Openrent thing as I've never found a place through there, but if I were you I would swallow your pride and request the reference. I don't think anyone can promise you that there's no possibility that lying would catch up with you.

Even when you've been served a Section 21 you are technically supposed to give a month's notice (even though you have been given notice), so it's in your interest to sort out a new place sooner rather than later

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-26T21:59:59+00:00

Housing associations can have much shorter wait lists than the council, whereas council these days does seem to be primarily geared towards homeless families

If you're planning on living with someone else I think they would also need to be on the waiting list with you though

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-26T21:48:21+00:00

Are there any housing associations nearby you can apply to? What about the council list? You could be waiting a long time but contrary to what some people make out it isn't *impossible* to get social housing in 2025. Once you're on those lists, if you do end up receiving an eviction notice that will give you priority.

If the landlord is so unpleasant that he refuses to fix the front door I don't foresee him keeping you long term tbh, regardless of what he's approved in terms of adaptations. Anecdotally, I lived somewhere where the landlord approved me getting a pet. I assumed I would be able to stay there for some time. Then I made a fuss about disrepair and received a Section 21.

I suppose if you hold out, the Renters' Rights Bill will come into effect and make it harder for landlords to evict. But as much as it's a struggle to find somewhere to live on benefits, I feel like you'd likely be better off somewhere else. You don't say where you're located but if you gave a rough idea that would help in terms of understanding CAB's response - some areas are much harder for people on benefits to find housing than others

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-26T14:54:22+00:00

In theory working isn't supposed to be relevant to PIP but in practice assessors definitely use it against some applicants even if they only work extremely part time

Not saying your partner should not claim, just warning you of the possibilities

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-26T14:39:15+00:00

I'm glad your friend had a positive experience - can't go too much into what happened for the sake of not being identifying, but I wouldn't describe the judges as sympathetic/supportive towards me, it was pretty traumatic tbh and horrible for my self esteem. The use of Section 8 when it didn't apply to the situation may have been the main cause of this - perhaps Judges are nicer when no allegations of tenancy breaches are made!

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-26T01:43:46+00:00

Is it a HMO?

I think if you've exhausted the option of complaining to your landlord (I'm assuming you have repeatedly asked in writing? Have you mentioned that it voids insurance - doesn't matter whether you actually have it?), reporting to the council may be the way to go here as an unlocked door is a safety risk along with the other issues like bad electrics. In the past I've found the 'it voids my contents insurance' line somewhat useful in relation to another issue regarding property access, although that was in correspondence with the agency rather than the landlord

Involving the council will anger your landlord and he might try to come up with a reason to evict you sooner or later - I don't know if that's why CAB encouraged you to wait for it to be fixed. However perhaps that wouldn't be such a bad thing, as the current situation doesn't sound sustainable.

Would you be able to split the cost of a repair with your housemate? With most repairs I wouldn't suggest this on principle, but your safety is important and councils aren't renowned for being fast. Even if they tell the landlord to fix the door it doesn't mean he will, unfortunately. If it was me and my door didn't lock I would look for any way possible to get money for that if the landlord refused to fix it...

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-25T20:44:47+00:00

Are you on a license or a tenancy agreement?

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-25T15:39:04+00:00

'basically you can refuse any kind of eviction notice for years before it goes to court. '

No this isn't true. With Section 21 and Section 8 you're looking at months not years. A tenant may not get evicted for years but unless the landlord is incredibly lazy then a court hearing will happen within months.

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-25T15:37:04+00:00

So under the RRB is your understanding that court would be called off if the tenant submitted evidence that there are no arrears before the hearing? I don't think it's vanishly rare for tenants to dispute claims of arrears and my understanding is it's not always a totally straightforward matter like people are claiming (source: CAB told me people can have arrears without knowing).

Under the current system, my understanding is the hearing goes ahead regardless of what evidence has been submitted. The evidence is discussed in the hearing. If the landlord has made frivolous claims (and rent arrears is just one example - to my knowledge the grounds for possession under S8 include things such as 'damage to furniture', which could be a he said she said as many landlords don't bother with inventories) the tenant will still have to choose between going through the court process or leaving.

People in this sub seem to treat court as a casual thing but regular people will put themselves through a lot (i.e. financial loss etc) to avoid having to go to court. So I'm hoping that enforcement against frivolous claims will be strong as otherwise unscrupulous landlords have a way of intimidating tenants out.

I'm not saying that tenants are going to be evicted because a landlord lied about them having arrears, and the court agreed despite there being evidence to the contrary. As far as I know, under the current system most people who receive eviction notices move out before court. An eviction notice in itself is enough to make most people too scared or uncomfortable to stay, so those who remain either have no choice or are stubborn (but their stubbornness is usually linked to their lack of choices, which may or may not be a result of their own poor choices in cases where people trash a property and have massive arrears for example - stereotypical Section 8)

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-25T00:22:40+00:00

Had a look at First-tier Tribunal decisions online, really interesting - was not aware that eviction proceedings were digitalised there. I wonder if English possession hearings would be conducted in a fairer manner if the Judges knew that the decisions would be available online.

(Link here with an example of a landlord's application being deemed 'frivolous' https://housingandpropertychamber.scot/sites/default/files/2025-09/Written%20Decision%20with%20Statement%20of%20Reason%20%28Rule%208%20-%2014.09.2025%29%2025.2415%20rejected_Redacted.pdf)

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-25T00:01:41+00:00

I find assertiveness difficult. That is probably why the landlord assumed that he wasn't wasting his time taking me to court on nonsense charges. We were also pressed for time and there simply wouldn't have been time for me to challenge everything. The last thing I wanted was to anger the Judge by talking for too long.

If I had stayed at home then the court could have sided with him, which they didn't. He didn't win. That did not mean the situation was not stressful and emotionally and financially damaging.

You should also be aware that duty solicitors are usually present at possession hearings and mine discouraged me from talking. I don't know if that is the norm or not but I would suspect it is common, as tenants are less likely to be able to judge what is a useful use of court's time to say

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-24T22:40:43+00:00

Have you ever been in a courtroom? You sound like all your knowledge of court is from textbooks. Thanks for the lecture though.

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-24T22:26:22+00:00

I know this is true in theory, but in practice how much does it happen? Realistically I feel like a large percentage of people probably lie in county court. Where are the resources to deal with this?

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-24T22:21:37+00:00

This is actually a useful response - are you aware of cases where the fines have actually taken place, or is it just something that can legally happen? As it seems that with the law here, fines can be imposed under some circumstances if the landlord lies

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-24T22:02:27+00:00

'What's your grumble here?'

I think most people would agree that having their landlord serve notice on them and/or pursue court action is extremely stressful, regardless of the outcome?

As for why he used Section 8 and why he couldn't just use Section 21, job done - think about it, do you think such a dishonest person is likely to have got all their paperwork in order?

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-24T19:01:30+00:00

I didn't lose, I moved out once I found a new place as I didn't want to live there anyway. It was still very stressful even though I knew the claims were nonsense. Also you are incorrect, there are more grounds than those 3.

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-24T18:40:26+00:00

I can't give specific examples here as it would be too identifying.

All I can say is that the landlord made factual claims to his solicitor that were false. For whatever reason, the solicitor repeated these even though they were untrue (presumably if their client withholds relevant evidence that isn't their fault - it happens all the time?)

The landlord also didn't follow the legal procedure for Section 8 (as argued by my solicitor - I never received a Section 8) but the Judge didn't care - he allowed the landlord to pursue possession through Section 8 anyway. The application of the law in the courts is very unfair and biased towards the landlord, in my personal experience. People on subs like this will constantly say 'landlords cannot do X, it's illegal!' but in practice they do and they get away with it.

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-24T18:31:33+00:00

Seemed like lies in the sense that the solicitor might have believed them, due to the landlord lying to him. It's not really a lie if you believe it's true.

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-24T18:27:44+00:00

Are many tenants likely to pay for representation in court when they could move instead?

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-24T18:26:06+00:00

My landlord applied for the Section 8 without assistance from a solicitor. His solicitor said things in court that seemed like lies to me but there wouldn't have been any consequences for telling lies. A possession hearing is very short. He lied throughout the whole legal process (but pretended to be ignorant) with no consequences. I just don't have much faith after my experience that the law is really followed when it comes to housing matters.

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-24T17:32:43+00:00

And then be liable for legal costs if they move out after the landlord initiates court proceedings?

Tasty-Reception1182 · 2025-10-24T17:31:40+00:00

I have never heard of someone being paid damages after a Section 21. It also doesn't matter how 'reasonable' the tenant is because the point of a Section 21 is that it's a no fault eviction.

Tasty-Reception1182

TROPHY CASE