Sefton Council has been rapped on the knuckles for wrongly advising a tenant he could stay put, despite knowing it could not prevent an eviction.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman ruled that the authority failed to consider whether it was reasonable for the tenant to remain in the property and delayed responding to a complaint. This resulted in the landlord incurring unnecessary legal and bailiff costs.

His tenant had stopped paying rent in August 2023, terminated his tenancy with effect from 31st October and approached the council as homeless in January 2024. On 6th February, the landlord told Sefton Council he had applied for a possession order using a section 8 notice.

Possession

A court order for possession was made on 26^th March, which mean the tenant needed to give the landlord possession by 8th April and required him to pay the rent arrears and awarded costs.

The council told the tenant that his landlord could not evict him until it had an eviction warrant from the court. The court then issued a warrant for possession on 10th April which gave the county court bailiff authority to evict on 30th April. He was given interim accommodation and had moved out by the time the bailiff visited.

Bailiff

The landlord says the council wrongly advised his tenant to remain in the property until the bailiff visited, despite the fact it knew it could not prevent the eviction.

The ombudsman ruled: “None of the documentary evidence the council provided showed any consideration of whether it was reasonable for [the tenant] to remain in the property when he approached as homeless,” he said. “There is also no evidence the council considered the financial impact on the landlord.”

Sefton Council accepted it should have provided the tenant with accommodation when the court granted possession on 26th March. The ombudsman ordered it to pay the landlord’s legal and court costs and for the cost of employing a bailiff to evict his tenant.

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