Landlord selling and HB -advice please

saraht1969

Hi,
I am looking for some advice and information if anyone can help me out. We are housing benefit tenants, and rented our current accommodation at the end of November 2009. We have 2 children, a 6yr old and a 6 wk old baby. We are on full housing benefit due to my partner being made redundant recently.

When we rented the property, the landlord was very friendly and chatty and told us she was renting out the property and moving to another rented house in a bid to save her marriage etc etc, and kept gushing how we were a wonderful family and how she hoped we were as happy here as she was. The agreement was for 1 year, stating that after 6 months are served either party can give 2 months notice to leave. The rental was handled by a letting agent.

Last week we received a letter from the landlord telling us she needed to get a valuation carried out and could we advise on our availability. We arranged for this to take place on Wednesday last week and she arrived with her children and an estate agent who proceeded to measure the rooms. We asked her what was going on and she said that at the moment she was only getting a valuation but that her relationship with her husband had got worse and he was being very nasty. She said that he may make her sell the property so that they could divide the assets and she would get the financial help she needed from him. She said that if she did sell she would do her utmost to sell it as a property with sitting tenants but didnt know how easy it would be. She has now asked if a second estate agent can come round on Monday evening.

Where exactly do we stand with this, being housing benefit tenants? We are on the council list but the list is so long in our area (Lewisham) that we received a letter telling us that our chances of getting a council property were very slim or impossible. The money we used for the months rent in advance and deposit was money my partner got and saved from when he was made redundant in his last job. This redundancy he got nothing due to being there less than a year (and only being given one weeks notice of it so no chance to save anything). I am assuming we wouldnt get the deposit back until after we have vacated the property and a check has been carried out, so this wouldnt be available for us to use as a deposit for a new property and housing benefit is paid in arrears. Even if, by the time the place is sold, my partner finds a new job chances are we wouldnt be able to save that amount of money again (rent is £1000 per month and deposit was £1000).

Somebody told us we would be put into temporary accommodation by the council until a property could be found but that this could be anything, anywhere. What usually happens in these circumstances?

Sorry, just a new mum who is very worried about our future and our home so any advice or information is very welcome.

Many thanks

Sarah

BitterAndTwisted

Selling a property with tenants in situ is difficult for the seller as no mortgage lender will lend on a property with tenants currently renting it. Your landlord cannot evict you unless they give you notice and they cannot break your existing tenancy agreement unless you come to a mutual understanding. It sounds to me like your landlord may choose to exercise the six-month break-clause in May and I think you should prepare for this.

Your local authority's private rentals section should have a list of HB or LHA-friendly landlords so you should definitely look into that asap so you have somewhere arranged before you give up the property at the six months break-clause. Please bear in mind that if your landlord doesn't exercise the break-clause and you choose not to either you do have the right to remain in the property until November.

ETA: Speak to your local authority as most of them have arrangements where they can supply or guarantee the new deposit for when you find a new rental property. There's no need to panic just yet because you do have a few months to make arrangements fro your onward move. If you have any further questions please post back in this thread so any posters on here can give more advice knowing the full facts that you've already supplied on this one.

Good luck!

saraht1969

Many thanks BitterAndTwisted, I appreciate your comments. The landlord came again today with another estate agent and it seemed really obvious she is going to sell. We are going to go to our local Housing Options office and get some advice about where we stand.

Any other comments, advice or information anyone has to give would be welcome!

Thanks again

Sarah

clutton_2

you have the right to "quiet enjoyment" and you do not have to let your landord or her estate agents into the property at any time...

no landlord can force a tenant to leave.. if you choose not to leave in May then you can stay put and the landlord has to go to court to get you out and that takes a while...

i would start to look for somewhere else if it was me, and negotiate an early surrender of the property ......

if they want to bring prospective purchasers round... they cannot do so without yhour specific consent.. you are in a strong negotiating position..

if they want you out early, you need some inducement to go.... an offer of the last month rent free might do it......

Fire_Fox

You have the right to quiet enjoyment, you do not have to allow any valuations or viewings if you prefer not to. This risk here is that your landlord may decide to serve notice to quit but you cannot be made to leave before the break clause. Do not understand why you think you will not get your damage deposit back?

ETA cross post and nearly word for word!!