Was my landlord obliged to inform me???

connolly80

I recently signed up to rent a house with an assured shorthold tenancy agreement with a 6 month break clause.

3 months in, my landlord has now sold the property to a development company who are now serving me notice (as per the contract) to leave.

I have found out (and I am currently collating proof) that the property was already up for sale when we signed the contract, and even though we made it clear we were looking for as long a rental term as possible, our original landlord failed to inform us it was up for sale.

Was my landlord obliged to inform us? We would never have rented the place if we'd have known. Do i have a case against him?

It has landed us in a real pickle.. we spent all we had on setting up home here, and we are now going to find ourselves homeless just before xmas with a 3 month old baby; a position we feel we were tricked into.

If anyone out there has any info re this I'd appreciate it. I've trawled the web.. its such a grey area i cant find anything on it!!

Thanks

sharpy2010

I should imagine, as per the contract, that once the six months is up then that will be it, it will be time to leave.

I feel for you, but I dont think that there is a case to be heard on this occasion

chewmylegoff

my understanding is that he was under no legal obligation to tell you the house was up for sale, or to give you advance notice that it has been sold.

it appears from what you say that proper notice has been given in accordance with the contract, and that therefore the tenancy will come to an end when six months is up.

so, in summary, neither your ex-landlord or current landlord has done anything (legally) wrong, in my opinion. whilst it might be a bit off morally, that isn't going to help you.

theartfullodger

You don't have to leave when the notice expires : the only legal way to evict you is for the Landlord to, after notice expires, apply for a court possession order then get bailiffs round.

Probably another 2-3 months after notice expires.

Have you applied to Council to join housing waiting list??

missile

That is the advice often quoted but I wonder if there is a downside to waiting to be evicted? Would this affect tenants ability to rent in future? Most LLs want references and may not accept tenant if they find out they had to be evicted from their previous tenancy.

jjlandlord

connolly80 wrote: »

I recently signed up to rent a house with an assured shorthold tenancy agreement with a 6 month break clause.

That's what too often overlooked: When you sign up for a 12+ month AST with a 6 month break clause, you actually agree to have security of tenure for only 6 months... And that's exactly what you're is getting.

connolly80 wrote: »

and even though we made it clear we were looking for as long a rental term as possible

So why agreeing to a 6 month term?

I'm afraid there's little you can do now. But for the next tenancy you agree to, if you want security for 12+ months, make sure that the absolute minimum term is as long (ie. no break clause), just remember that it works both ways: LL cannot ask you to leave early, but you are also bound for the full term.

RabbitMad

Random thoughts that might help you:
1. Did you pay a deposit and has it been protected and the perscribed info provided to you? If Yes, Yes and Yes ignore but if Yes, yes, no or Yes, no and no then the LL's section 21 won't be valid
2. Have you been properly notified of the new landlord, i.e given the correct notice? If not again could the notice be invalid?
3. has the break clause been worded correctly and did the LL exercise it correctly - i.e. if it was a LL only break clause it might be unfair and you could challenge on this basis.
At the end of the day the developer wants you out and you will eventually have to leave, if none of the above apply point out to the LL that they will have to evict you via court order if they don't give you sufficeint time to find something else suitable.

connolly80

Hey one and all

Thank you all for your replies

My beef isn't with the new owners as they are doing everything within their rights. Its with the previous landlord for not telling us it was for sale.

JJLANDLORD - we agreed to a six month breakout because its standard in shorthold tenancy agreements. I've never seen one without it. My problem isn't that I'm going, its the fact that information was withheld from me that would have led to me making a different decision and I would not have signed the contract. I'm trying to find out if the information withheld from me needed to be disclosed, or whether, once again, landlords are able to morally and ethically shaft tenants.

I forgot to mention... one of the 'sellingpoints' that the lettings agency used was that the landlord wasnt going anywhere.. his grandfather had built the propety 70 years earlier and all of the neighbours (he owned the block) had been there 10 years plus. It was implied to us that this was long term.

I wouldnt try fighting the new landlords as they have done nothing wrong.

jjlandlord

connolly80 wrote: »

JJLANDLORD - we agreed to a six month breakout because its standard in shorthold tenancy agreements. I've never seen one without it.

It's not "standard" and if the agreement template the landlord/agent uses has one it's very easy to delete it.

The point being that if there is a 6 month break clause, that's in effect the length of your fixed term. So if you want a 12+ month fixed term, you should not agree to such break clause.

mchale

OP, if security of tenure was a issue to you. you should have asked for a 3 yr AST.

ukcarper

missile wrote: »

That is the advice often quoted but I wonder if there is a downside to waiting to be evicted? Would this affect tenants ability to rent in future? Most LLs want references and may not accept tenant if they find out they had to be evicted from their previous tenancy.

I've often wondered that myself does anybody have an answer?