New tenancy - old tenant still in

paintpot

No disrespect anotherpaul but it may be wise that you don't comment on possession proceedings if you do not know what is involved. There has been no mention of a S21 or any other notice having been served from the OP. She may not even know why the tenant was due to be departing. The tenant may have served notice themselves and has simply changed their mind. Either way, the process is far more complex and lengthy than you may be inadvertently leading Janey to believe.

There are many different scenarios I could go through, all of which are complex but if the tenant is not leaving, the tenant is not leaving and Janey needs to plan for her future home on that basis or else she could be homeless. I agree that she should ensure that she is not jeopardised by ending up with two tenanancies as you quite rightly pointed out if she has signed a tenancy but otherwise I will quote back to you what you quoted to me "I'm not sure this is good advice".

ETA If I had a tenant leaving due to having received a S21, even if they told me they were happy to leave on X date then there is not a snowballs chance in hell that I would sign a new tenant up until the outgoing tenant had GONE!

anotherpaul wrote: »

True, but on the grounds that any landlord would be "as mad as a hatter to sign up a new tenant until they have gained possession" (and I agree), I made the assumption that their AST was coming to an end by S21 notice and the tenant has accounced that they aren't moving out. In which case, accelerated possession takes 14 days in court (which is longer than I expected). Plus the odd few days at the start and end.

It would be far more normal to agree a let in this circumstance if you tenant appeared to be happy to leave.

anotherpaul_2

Fair enough. I apologise and withdraw my comments.

paintpot wrote: »

ETA If I had a tenant leaving due to having received a S21, even if they told me they were happy to leave on X date then there is not a snowballs chance in hell that I would sign a new tenant up until the outgoing tenant had GONE!

Given the number of properties I have viewed while still occupied by the current tenant, I suspect you may be more prudent than the majority of LLs.

paintpot

I am not trying to put you down. There is a difference in the way you treat reletting a property where a tenant has served notice themselves and those who are under notice because the landlord wants them to leave.

I don't think I am more prudent than most landlords. Having back to back tenancies is risky even where the tenant has served notice themselves because they can "change their mind" or simply refuse to move out.

I've taken my chances with that but it's always been with tenants I am on good terms with and I do not ever sign up a new tenant until the day they are due to move in. I would not however offer a property to let and sign a tenant up when I am the one serving notice because there can be hostility and other social factors involved and like I say, the process is a long one. The term "accelerated possession" is misleading. There is nothing "accelerated" about it!

anotherpaul wrote: »

Fair enough. I apologise and withdraw my comments.


Given the number of properties I have viewed while still occupied by the current tenant, I suspect you may be more prudent than the majority of LLs.

anotherpaul_2

paintpot wrote: »

I am not trying to put you down.

I've not had the impression that you were at any point.

paintpot wrote: »

... and I do not ever sign up a new tenant until the day they are due to move in.

Ah. In that case, I suspect I've been misled (and naive) in the past. For some reason the agent always instist the agreement be signed by the tenant urgently, but then is reticent to provide a copy with the LL signature until move in day. Clearly its a more lope-sided arrangement than I had assumed - I suspect the agreement would mysteriously go unsigned by the LL if they couldn't get the previous tenant out, so the LL has a get-out but the tenant doesn't. (And I reaslise there's a lot that's lope-sided in the tenant favour too.)

janey_uk

Thanks for the advice. We have signed (as has the LL) and the current tenant had given notice themselves. The current tenant had been due to move this week and has not and had basically said they could not move. We however cannot not move as have sold.

Fortunately, having made our position very clear to the agency we were contacted today to confirm that the tenants will now get themselves out before we are due to take tenancy next week. It seems the tenants were taking their chances that we might agree to it somehow.

And I thought moving to rental avoided the stresses of uncertainty that you get when in a property chain!

Thanks again.

poppysarah

I would have the number of a storage company or a friend with a big empty garage on speed dial still though.

robpitt

Sounds like things are going to work out for you.

For what its worth I was under the impression that if you've signed a tenancy and a landlord fails to deliver their part of the bargain then you could charge (sue) the landlord for reasonable losses incurred as a result.

poppysarah

Have you spoken to the CAB or shelter for advice though?