selling with adult children who refuse to leave

samanthaxxx

Hi I would like some advice on my mum-in-laws current situation its quite long winded so here goes;

My husbands mother lives in west sussex and has a big house in which she wants to sell and buy a small bungalow. At the moment she lives there with her 30 year old daughter and two sons one being 26 the other 16 with special needs. She is in the process of selling it and wants to buy a bungalow which she would like to rent out and her and 16 year old son would move in with a friend.
The problem is the two adult children they are saying they won't move so she can't sell it she has been carrying them for years while they have had periods of being jobless etc. She has an interest only mortgage with no way of paying the capital in about 5 years as she is a pensioner but if she sells now she will have enough profit to buy a bungalow out right.
She has had a hair brained scheme to let the 2 adult children rent the bungalow for 3 months until they can sort out places of their own so they willingly move out the house but they both have bad job records and bad credit I am not sure even if they would be able to rent and have no chance of buying anything. The daughter is refusing to speak to her and thinks she has a right to stay in the house even though she was out of work for 6 years and although she is now in full time employment is paying no housekeeping money and neither is the son at the moment. Thier mum is even paying off their car loans for them. How can they be so horrible and treat their mum like this?
My husband is so frustrated with her for even thinking this will work and fear they will never get out the bungalow and will use emotional blackmail but mum-in-law fears that its the only way of getting them out the house when contracts are exchanged. So I suppose I need some advice on what the situation would be if they refused to move on completion day can the new owner get the police involved to remove them or what? Any advice would be appreciated thanks.

Zelie

The adults have no right to live there. They are not tenants in any way and thus have no legal rights. Her easiest option might be to just change the locks while they are out one day.

She's going to have to do something about this situation before she sells. What happens if they refuse to leave on completion day? Will she let them disrupt her sale?

samanthaxxx

Thanks for replying Zelie thats the problem she is scared that might happen thats why she is thinking of letting them live rent free in the bungalow for 3 months but I just think she will just be shifting the problem even though she says she will have a written contract drawn up to get them out but if they have nowhere to go before she sells the house why should it be any different after living in the bungalow for 3 months? they will just get comfitable in there.

Jowo_2

I second the previous poster. Adult family members living with the property owner have no security of tenure and are nothing more than guests.

All she needs to do is give them a reasonable period of notice to move out, 4 weeks for example, and then change the locks if they haven't gone. If she wants to help them, she could give or loan them money for a deposit, plus give them information on how they can apply to the local council for assistance. Local council's are obliged to help anyone who is at risk of losing their home in the next 28 days so that would coincide with her notice period.

The dumbest thing she could do is to let them live there in the original property on their own because once she accepts rent from them or arranges a tenancy agreement, they have greater security of tenure and it requires a court order and then bailiffs to get rid of them if they don't cooperate. Buyers want vacant possession, not tenants that may take many, many months to evict. by the time that happens, the buyers would have found a new place. Also, if they live there as tenants, they have the right to exclude visitors, including viewers of properties, surveyors and the like.

My understanding is that excluded occupiers, such as you've described, have no security of tenure and yes, the police could assist them but tend not to like to get involved in disputes of this type.

But it would be much better if she got rid of them now with all of their belongings, rather than waiting for them to sabotage the sale.

Jowo_2

samanthaxxx wrote: »

Thanks for replying Zelie thats the problem she is scared that might happen thats why she is thinking of letting them live rent free in the bungalow for 3 months but I just think she will just be shifting the problem even though she says she will have a written contract drawn up to get them out but if they have nowhere to go before she sells the house why should it be any different after living in the bungalow for 3 months? they will just get comfitable in there.

By the way, I note that you wondered if it was up to the new owner to evict them if they overstay. My guess is as vacant possession is the norm, it falls on the seller to have done this before completion so its a problem for her, not the buyers.

Get this lady to speak to someone at Shelter about the options and their risks. She needs to understand that there is usually a significant difference in security of tenure between live-in and live-out landlords.

I don't know if the non-payment of rent if they live there while she lives out has any effect on their tenure - only a housing expert would know. But if it doesn't, and she has to seek a court order, she could not kick off the legal action for 6 months, then it takes a few months for the court case, then possibly a few more months if they don't cooperate with the possession notice and bailiffs are sought.

Does anyone on this forum have legal knowledge about whether the agreed non-payment of rent by the children in the capacity of tenants has any effect on their tenure?

But I agree with you - action needs to be taken now to prepare the house for vacant possession rather than leave it until the last minute and hope that it goes well or try and shift the problem a different way.

1 months written notice, change the locks. Any problem they have with housing is between the children and the council.

samanthaxxx

Hi Jowo thanks for your advice it will be in fact the bungalow that she is gonna buy after selling the present house that she is thinking of letting them rent for 3 months not the big house they are already in. Thanks for pointing out about security of tenure that is something that we had not thought of :beer:

scottn

get the house on the market, a forsale sign outside.

there is no need to tell the "kids" that she is buying a bungalow and won't be living their, tell them she is buying a 2 bed place for her and the 16 year old, there is no room for them.

hopefully they will see the forsale sign and see the light and realise. Maybe she might want to consider offering to lend them cash for a deposit if they are doing to be renting. can you start putting pressure on by pointing out suitable rental accomodation for them etc?

Gwhiz

I think getting the lazy shysters out as soon as possible and into the "real" world will be good for them.

I cannot imagine how anyone can do this to their own parent!

carefullycautious

'Adult Children' being the operative word here. What is wrong with them. She needs to be firm and say that she is selling the house and is moving into a bungalow with her disabled son and that they have x amount of time to get alternative accommodation. Which part of that sentence dont they understand?

THis is classic case of a parent not being consistant in their parenting and giving mixed messages. Hence the mum jumping from getting them out to letting them stay in bungalow to giving them money.

Let this be a message to all new parents if you spoil your children you get selfish adults.

Rant over

samanthaxxx

She already has a firm offer on the table a builder who wants to convert it who wants to go ahead asap.

Fire_Fox

Stop paying for their cars and they will get the message she isn't messing. She is doing these adults no favours by treating them like babies. What does your husband say about this?