Tenant in property bought

Most_Wanted

Hi,
I needed some advice.
I am on the verge of completion of purchasing a property that requires some updating. I am also planning some extension work and knocking some walls down and erecting some new ones.

Now there's a guy already living there who is required to vacate the property by the completion date as per the contract. Seems like a straight forward guy - he is not the owner.

I was thinking, over the time I have the renovation work carried out, I can retain him as a tenant so as to help a little towards the expenses and mortgage. This gives him more time to find somewhere else to move to and gives me a little income.
He is prepared to think about it and I have made it clear it would only be for about 2-3 months.

What do you guys think? What should I be aware of? How should I go about this?

Thanks in advance

village_life

the main thing is that a main term of your mortgage will be "vacant on completion" - you need to speak to your lender about this...

regularsaver1

Would he really want to live there whilst all that work is going on?

inmypocketnottheirs

Plus have you bought on a residential mortgage or is it a buy to let mortgage. Not many lenders would be happy at a property being occupied by a tenant on completion. Are you sure that the tenant is on a assured shorthold tenancy and is not on a protected rtenancy. Are you sure that you will have vacant possession on completion.

I would be very wary about continuing any tenancy agreement if it is a property that you later hope to occupy.

Best of luck.

Most_Wanted

I have checked with the bank and they are OK with it as long as it is only a transitional measure. The tenancy should not exceed three months.

The property is supposed to be vacant on possession but would it be possible to draw up an immediate contract stipulating that he will vacate the property in 10 days notice, pay £x a month in advance, tolerate construction work noise/disturbances between hours of 9 -5 etc etc.
He is in the situation where he doesn't have anywhere to stay afterwards and so I think I am have a better position to bargain with

silvercar

Technically you are buying the property with vacant possession, so I would have thought he has to move out, at least overnight. You could then reach a new agreement with him based on your suggested contract.

chugalug

You should also be aware that should you start a new tenancy with the tenant (which you would have to do) you would not be able to require him to leave within 6 months. Its true that you can have an AST for any period but most are for 6 months. This is because you can only repossess the property under certain conditions ie the rent hasnt been paid or another term of the tenancy agreement has been broken - in the first 6 months. What if he decides not to leave then? What would you do? Trying to evict without a court order would be an illegal eviction and would leave you wide open to prosecution. The tenant may be reasonable but what if he couldnt find anywhere to go would he remain reasonable - I think he would try and protect his own interests like the rest of us. Check this out thoroughly or you could find yourself in a costly mess!!