The rental price for the Wilsons Lane property is £730 a month, but similar properties Punter looked at were much more expensive, he said, and the family could not afford to move into them.
“The hard thing for us is we lost our guarantor some years ago and we can’t get a reference from the landlord because, obviously, they’re not going to give us a glowing reference,” he said.
“And the rents are so exorbitant now. We’re talking around £950 to a grand. We’ve exhausted every avenue.”
HMF Properties said it would have issued the section 21 notice even if the new law had come into force.
“With regards to the environmental health being called out by the tenants – no major issues were found at the property,” it said in a statement.
“I have been a landlord for over 15 years and have good tenant and landlord relationships, with most of my tenants being with me over 10 years, with my goal being to provide good quality homes in the way in which tenants would like to live.”