Landlord Wanting to Sell.

sore_n_bruised

hi all

new to this forum had a browse but couldn't find what i wanted to know
sorry if it means repeating things over and over.....

been renting a property with a friend which we found through an agency all well and good the landlord only used the agency to find tenants and set up all the tenancy agreements. that 12 months was coming up for renewal last september so we agreed to take the property on for another 12 months.
instead of going through the agency again the landlord proposed doing it himself where the original tenancy was amended to this following year..the rent went up which we agreed to pay as i didn't see the point in moving for £600 extra in rent throughout the year.

6 weeks on which is now he is proposing putting it on the market to sell
after offering it to us numerous times ( if i could buy i would and it wouldn't be this house. even though its all fine i just wouldn't be happy with it)

i know the landlord is in a predicament where he has morgaged himself up to the hilt for his new house he bought. and we are paying a good 80% of the morgage on the house we are renting. so he's loosing money......

now what rights do i have, if any in this situation.
as i'm paying towards the morgage renting he can't afford not to have me in the house, but at the same time i'm paying the morgage till someone else comes along, wants the house then he wants to get rid of me.
( he has mentioned coming to an arrangement if some one wants the house of giving me a month free rent ect....)
the only problem is then i have to look for a new house and move in all within an alotted time slot. (sounds easy but in the real world it might just not happen) where come next september when i should be moving i would have liked to have got a new house giving me a couple weeks overlap to get myself moved and sorted.

not that i want to really screw the guy up but as a tenant under these conditions do i have any rights to end the contract (with notice)

my only other thoughts are how do i go on with people viewing the property
i know my landlord should give me notice but am i going to get that from estate agents..... plus the landlord giving permission for people to view the house with all my stuff in it...... is my stuff insured for that????
then finally i keep the house straight and clean but last nights dishes might not get done till the following night and bits of things left out everynow and then.... do i have to live uncomfortably in showroom conditions to sell his house for him.as it was my own.... when all i want to do is live comfortaby


hope someone can shed some light on this.
thanks.

Premier_2

All rights of both parties are as per the tenancy agreement.

If you have a fixed term of 12 months without any reference to any intermediate break clause then you have the right to remain a tenant for that term (assuming you keep to the terms of the TA).

Neither you nor the LL can terminate the TA earlier (unless the other agrees)

The LL can sell the property if he wants, but that shouldn't affect your TA (just who you give the rent to)

silvercar

You are entitled to quiet enjoyment of the property. That means the landlord can only visit, by pre-arranged notice, for important things like, inspections, maintenance, gas safety certficates etc. Allowing prospective buyers to view the property is not giving you quiet enjoyment.

There is no obligation on you to allow buyers through the door and no obligation on you to keep the place in a viewable condition.

If the landlord wanted to sell, he would either have to offer you sufficient money to move (i presume everyone has their price) or sell the property with you as a tenant on a fixed term AST with the property. In the latter case it would be reasonable to assume your new landlord may give you notice to leave at the end of the fixed term.

sore_n_bruised

Premier wrote: »

Neither you nor the LL can terminate the TA earlier (unless the other agrees)

The LL can sell the property if he wants, but that shouldn't affect your TA (just who you give the rent to)

thanks for the quick response.
i have read through all the agrements of the TA and i think the only cause of ending early is if the bank reposses the property.... which i can't be certain of as the way it is worded (subject to cluase ...... and clause .....)

i have a feeling he is trying to sell the property on the open market to widen the potential of buyers and not advirtising it with sitting tenants....

he has family who are lawyers and no doubt has sought advise. and thats why he is probably offering a bit of free rent if it come to a sale.... so i'm persuaded to move.

sore_n_bruised

silvercar wrote: »

You are entitled to quiet enjoyment of the property. That means the landlord can only visit, by pre-arranged notice, for important things like, inspections, maintenance, gas safety certficates etc. Allowing prospective buyers to view the property is not giving you quiet enjoyment.

There is no obligation on you to allow buyers through the door and no obligation on you to keep the place in a viewable condition.

If the landlord wanted to sell, he would either have to offer you sufficient money to move (i presume everyone has their price) or sell the property with you as a tenant on a fixed term AST with the property. In the latter case it would be reasonable to assume your new landlord may give you notice to leave at the end of the fixed term.

thats interesting, does that mean when he markets the property in the next week he has to advirtise the property with tenants...... or he buys me out before marketing the property...(in an ideal world)

i feel i'm sounding like i want to screw him over. which is the last thing i want to do as i'd be p1$$ed if he did it to me. it that bit of niggling in the back of my head knowing in the end of the day its him who is going to be all sorted and me left with nothing........especially agreeing to pay more rent to cover his morgage this year......

baby_fuzz

last time I rented, I think there was something around having 1 month's notice period, which I think shoudl be enough time to find somewhere else to live. Who knows, he might not be able to find a buyer for some time...

PasturesNew

As has been said, you have the right to rent that property until September 2009 without having to let anybody round to view it at all.

However, that solves neither of your problems and he's indicated some free rent might be in order if you were to accommodate him.

You are in a strong position. He can't sell it with you there except to another landlord (or a 100% cash buyer who is happy to wait for you to leave). I might tend to limit viewings to 1-2 set timeslots per week (non-negotiable), say Thu 6-8 and Sat 9-11. That way you only have to tidy up/vacate (or you can sit and smile at them if you want) twice a week.

If he sold it I'd ask for the return of my deposit (so I could put it down on another property) and 2 months free rent to cover inconvenience and new agency credit check fees and removal costs.

sore_n_bruised

baby_fuzz wrote: »

last time I rented, I think there was something around having 1 month's notice period, which I think shoudl be enough time to find somewhere else to live. Who knows, he might not be able to find a buyer for some time...

thats the problem it might not sell for some time or it might go in a month....
it took me 2 months to find this place and sure as Sh*t there won't be much on the market or in the areas i need.

silvercar

sore_n_bruised wrote: »

thats interesting, does that mean when he markets the property in the next week he has to advirtise the property with tenants...... or he buys me out before marketing the property...(in an ideal world)

.....

He doesn't have to advertise the property as tenanted. Particularly if he intends paying you off before sale. He doesn't have any rights to show buyers around, so he could try and sell it with no viewings; he could ask you permission to allow viewings (you can refuse); he could choose to advertise it as tenanted and sell to a landlord.

Any sensible solicitor will advise him that, if he is selling with vacant possession, he gets you out before exchange. If he gets to completion day and you are still living there he will have a problem.

Remember there are only 2 ways to get a tenant out. Either they live willingly or a landlord needs a court order. Even if a landlord has correctly served valid notices, if a tenant doesn't leave a landlord needs to go to court to enforce the notices. If that failed he would have to go back to court to appoint baliffs and then wait for the baliffs to forcefully evict. The law really is on the side of the tenant.

sore_n_bruised

PasturesNew wrote: »

As has been said, you have the right to rent that property until September 2009 without having to let anybody round to view it at all.

However, that solves neither of your problems and he's indicated some free rent might be in order if you were to accommodate him.

You are in a strong position. He can't sell it with you there except to another landlord (or a 100% cash buyer who is happy to wait for you to leave). I might tend to limit viewings to 1-2 set timeslots per week (non-negotiable), say Thu 6-8 and Sat 9-11. That way you only have to tidy up/vacate (or you can sit and smile at them if you want) twice a week.

If he sold it I'd ask for the return of my deposit (so I could put it down on another property) and 2 months free rent to cover inconvenience and new agency credit check fees and removal costs.

well that makes things a little better for me knowing i'm not gonna have people coming to look round when ever an estate agent feels fit.... where i've heard they can be a pain in the !!!! with it all.

sore_n_bruised

now for the curve ball......


with agreement with the landlord he said we where allowed pets..words to the effect of he doesn't care what we get cat, dog he was encouraging it.( for the reason he wanted us to buy the house).
don't worry they are all in tanks.....well you might.....
we have a couple lizards and some snakes now all playing fair letting people view the house ect... can he turn round and ask for the pets to be removed if its putting people off buying..