Housing Rights (Six Counties)
Housing under capitalism is utilised for the purpose of creating profit. This means that renters and mortgage payers often pay much more than it actually costs to own or rent a home. The added profit is often secreted off-shore, as billions of pounds and euros are syphoned from the working class.
As banks and landlords seek ever greater profits, they will often add on additional costs over and above their already bulging profits; as well as investing as little as possible into the properties in question.
In the face of those who’s primary motive is profit over people, it is important that you know what your rights are.
We have broken the sections below into two separate segments, those renting, and those who own mortgages (under construction/coming soon).
Renting a home:
Your landlord cannot evict you overnight.
They must serve you with a 28-day notice to quit and attain a court order to enter the property for eviction. The first step in the eviction process is giving you a notice to quit.
This must be in writing. You must receive it at least 28 days before the date the landlord wants you out of the property, but you’re entitled to a longer notice period if you’ve lived in your rented home for five years or more.
If you have a tenancy agreement that hasn’t ended yet, your landlord should only give you notice to quit if you’ve broken the terms of the contract or the contract includes a term allowing you both to end the agreement early.
If your contract has ended and you’re on a rolling month-by-month tenancy, your landlord doesn’t need a reason to give you notice to quit. If you don’t leave by the end of the notice period, your landlord must go to court to evict you.
At court, the judge will allow you to defend yourself if you have a tenancy agreement. The eviction will only go ahead if you have broken the agreement, but if you can convince the judge that you have fixed the problem or that it won’t happen again, the judge may allow you to stay.
At court the judge can make an ‘order for possession’. This order will end your right to live in the property. The order may come with certain conditions and could be ‘stayed’ or held back for as long as you comply with these conditions.
You will be served with a copy of the possession order through the post. It will give you a date by which you have to leave the property.
If you don’t leave by this date, the landlord will have to apply to another court for a further hearing. This court is the Enforcement of Judgments Office and officers of this court are the only people who are legally allowed to physically remove you or your possessions from your rented home.
If you don’t leave voluntarily, the Enforcement of Judgments Office will write to you, giving you a date by which they will remove you from the property.
You might have to pay rent for the extra time you stayed in the property after receiving notice to quit. You could also have to pay the landlord’s court costs.
Your landlord must give you 24hrs notice before entering your home unless it is an emergency.
If your landlord continually enters your home without notice it is harassment. Record them to protect yourself.
Note: The Private Tenancies Order (NI) 2006, one of the main tenancy laws for ‘Northern Ireland’, says you must let your landlord or his representative into the property for repairs and inspections, but only if the visit is at a reasonable time of day and you’ve been given reasonable advance notice.
You are legally entitled to a rent book and inventory that is to be provided by the letting agent which details your landlords name & address, the amount of rent to be paid, when you have to pay it and who’s responsible for rates.
An inventory is great for protecting your deposit by agreeing the state of the property upon your move-in/arrival.
Your landlord must legally register your deposit in a Tenancy Deposit Scheme within 14 days of receiving it.
This means it is out of the hands of your landlord, protected, and if they wish to deduct funds from your deposit, they must prove why to the TDS company.
Any landlord found not registering deposits in TDS can be fined three times the amount of the deposit.
Tenants, particularly young renters, are being charged illegal letting fees commonly called ‘administration’, ‘application’, or ‘reference-check’ fees. These average around £30 to £50 and are illegal.
Stand together, DON’T PAY THEM.
If you have been charged these fees you are legally entitled to reclaim the money.
Agree and record with your landlord a criterion for emergency repairs and less immediate repairs.
No one wants to be waiting more than 24hrs for the only toilet in a 5-bedroom HMO to be fixed. Any repairs needed to ensure the security of the property should be emergencies. It is also vital you keep a paper trail of all needed repairs – text and email are the best ways to do this. Your landlord will be responsible for repairs and maintenance to all of the following:
- the structure and exterior of the property
- the drains, guttering and piping
- any installations for the supply and use of water, gas, electricity and sanitation
- any appliances for making use of the supply of water, gas or electricity supplied by the landlord
- the heating system
- any fixtures, fittings or furniture that were supplied as part of the tenancy.
As the tenant, it’s your responsibility to:
- take proper care of the premises, including doing basic routine maintenance
- fix any damage caused by you or anybody lawfully visiting or living there
- keep the inside of the property in reasonable order
- get the landlord’s permission (in writing) before making any changes to the property.
If your contract doesn’t say anything about repairs to appliances, your landlord will be responsible for them, as these fall under the default repairing obligations set out in the Private Tenancies (NI) Order 2006.
A build-up of condensation can cause damp and mold to appear which will carry negative impacts upon your health if unresolved.
You have a responsibility to make sure damp and mold don’t become common, but if your landlord keeps insisting to open windows and doors to deal with it (even in winter) this is a likely sign they know the property is poorly ventilated and has a structural problem outside of your responsibilities. If you think this is the case, contact the local councils Environmental Health team to inspect your home.
Takes photos of your property the day you move in to record its condition and contents.
Commonly. students are charged for repairs or breakages even when they were not at fault. Photos act as evidence that you are not liable for damages your landlord has accused you of. Equally, record the condition of the property upon the day of your departure from it to be best equipped for any deposit dispute.
A ‘House of Multiple Occupancy’ property has extra rules to make sure that it is safe and that it is properly managed.
The landlord and property manager of the property must be licensed. They will only get a license if the council is satisfied that they will manage the property safely.
As well as being licensed, HMO properties have to meet extra safety standards and the council can take action if the property doesn’t meet these standards or if the property has hazards in it that could make it unsafe for you and your housemates.
Some landlords let out properties that are not registered or licensed.
Ensure your landlord is registered and that they have an approved electricity and heating certificate for your own safety and convenience. You can do this online.
An unregistered landlord is the first sign of a dodgy one. You can discover if your landlord is registered here: