Disregard safety or forcibly evict your tenant and

you could lose control of your property

One of the less publicised elements of the Housing Act 2004 involves the use of Interim Management Orders (IMO). The press has recently been shouting about Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMO), where a Local Authority can take over the management of empty properties, and IMOs are similar but the house does not have to be empty.

The idea is that if a landlord is not managing the property well, for example by allowing the property condition to become hazardous, the Local Authority can take over running the property to secure the health, safety or welfare of the tenants and others affected.

What has received less attention, but is still contained within the provisions of the Act is that if a landlord threatens to evict, or presumably actually tries to evict, a tenant to avoid licensing, then the Local Authority has the power to use an Interim Management Order to prevent this happening.

The power to do this is contained in sections 102 and 104 of the Housing Act 2004. Section 102 allows for the use of a management order where there is a threat to the health and safety of the occupiers. Section 104 says:

“ (1) This section explains what “the health and safety condition” is for the purposes of section 102.

(2) The health and safety condition is that the making of an interim management order is necessary for the purpose of protecting the health, safety or welfare of persons occupying the house, or persons occupying or having an estate or interest in any premises in the vicinity.

(3) A threat to evict persons occupying a house in order to avoid the house being required to be licenced under Part 2 may constitute a threat to the welfare of those persons for the purposes of subsection (2).”

The first case of this happening has already occurred where South Tyneside took control of a property at which a landlord asked a tenant to vacate within the next 4 days, clearly ignoring legal requirements for the correct notice as well. This was done so that the landlord would not have to license the property. The tenant, naturally, went to the council to discuss being re-housed and this resulted in the enforcement action against the landlord.

Presumably the Interim Management Order could also be considered in deciding if the landlord was a fit and proper person for future licence applications.

“Natural Wastage”, where a tenant chooses to leave a property and therefore the property would not need a licence, would not fall into the same situation and would be acceptable. However, even the use of the correct notice and court procedure to evict would allow the Local Authority to take this sort of action, if the reason is to avoid needing to be licensed. To make sure this avenue is not left open, great care should be exercised if an eviction will result in a property not needing a licence. For example, telling the tenant that if you evict for rent arrears you will be better off as you are not getting any rent for that room anyway and at least you won’t need a licence, could land you in trouble.

From an original email courtesy of the letting network www.lettingnetwork.com

I was reading one of the newsletters I get from a council where I have a property and their headline was "Prison Term For Landlord". It was a female landlord who changed the locks and threw the tenant's belongings in the front garden. The tenant was a single father with 4 young girls and the landlord made them homeless 3 days after christmas. The landlord got a 6 month prison sentence.

I know it all gets frustrating when a tenant doesn't pay the rent but you should NEVER resort to just throwing out their stuff and changing the locks. I know I don't have to tell you this but I thought I would bring it to your attention if you ever feel the urge to go to the dark side! Remember - its only MONEY! Follow the legal procedure and they'll be out within 12 weeks.