Tenanted House purchase

[Deleted User]

Hi Everyone,

I am buying a property which is currently tenanted. I was told that the tenants (friends of the vendor) will vacate on completion. I have 2 questions for anyone who has some experience of this:

1 Can I ask for the tenants to vacate on exchange of contracts rather than completion?

2 What would happen if the tenants do not move on completion? Who will be responsible for ensuring they move out?

This is causing me a bit of concern, as I do not want to be stuck with them and it then becomes my responsiblility to evict them if they don't move out.

Thanks for any advise.

dander

I don't have any advice really, but just to say, don't worry too much. The vendor was renting out the first flat I bought, and there weren't any problems - it was vacant when I got the keys.

If you are buying a 'vacant possession' property, then that's exactly what you should get. If not, I'm sure you could phone the police right away.

securityman

I would find out what type of tenancy agreement he's got if he has one and what he can and cannot do if he does have one.

Sm

sashacat

You need to instruct your solicitor to complete the purchase on the basis of vacant possession only and make sure he informs the vendors' solicitors accordingly

Ian_W

I don't think you've any right at all to require the tenant to leave on exchange, you don't own the property - you've simply paid a deposit with the balance due when you complete. The fact you're advised to insure from exchange is because at that stage you're committed to purchasing even if the property suffers damage - not because you own it.

You shouldn't need to instruct your sol to complete on vacant possession, that's the norm unless you buy an investment property with tenants already in. You should make them aware of your concerns and see what they suggest to ensure the completion only goes ahead when there is "vacant possession".

A solicitor we've used in the past always used to suggest a visit on the day, prior to completion taking place, to ensure the sellers were out or at least the van was well on the way to being packed. He advised against completion until we were happy that was the case.

I suspect you will need to ensure the property is vacant before you complete. Once completion has taken place, if it isn't vacant you'll be able to sue the seller but that's really second prize compared to what you want.