Council Housing Benefit Tenants- Evicting

[pressi]

Hi,

Is it really difficult to evict an housing benefit tenant. I seem to have landed up in problem.

As a first time buyer i purchased a property but ignored that tenant living there, later on completion i was told that the tenant would vacate in couple of days time. Later the true story was revealed that he was housing benefit tenant and refused to move out until court eviction order is obtained. Tried mutual discussions to resolve but have failed, including financial help

Now i have started court eviction procedures , but seem to take time (it is already 3 months now) and landed into problems like Court hearing (scheduled for 2 months later ) on a Accelerated Possession Procedure, which is a surprise to my solicitors as well.

Council pays only a part of the rent the rest to be paid by tenant but tenant has never paid and in fact he has misused one of the rent from council to be paid to me. Is there anything i can do to evict this tenat and get the money from him.

Can someone tell me whether housing benefit tenant can or cannot be evicted. I just realised that the law in the country favours tenant in all ways irrespective of the amount of damages caused to landlords.

Let me know

Thanks

Pressi

[Melboy]

Well, it has to be said pressi that your Solicitor was very unwise to allow you purchase this property with a sitting tenant, especially if it was going to be two days and they would be gone.

It is extremely difficult to remove a sitting Tenant when a house is sold on and the Courts will ALWAYS come down on the side of the Tenant rather than the new Landlord and it has to be said that your Tenant by not paying their rent has given you the golden ticket to get them evicted because if they had carried on paying their rent re-possession by you would have been a long way off in the future.

I've said it before on this Forum so I'll say it again........................

"If you buy a property with a sitting Tenant, possession on completion is not an automatic right."