landlord wants to sell house

hm71_2

ok short background my girls & I have lived in a rental property for 7 years on a yearly assured shorthold tenancy-

my landlord told me before the last renewal that he was having some financial issues & so may have to sell the house unless he could put the rent up- the rent went up by £100 a month to help him re-finance- 6 months into the agreement he has announced he didnt get the finance & so house has to go on the market.

now i still have best part of 6 months left on the tenancy but he says because of a clause in the agreement
"The landlord may bring the tenancy to an end at anytime before the expiry of teh term(but not earlier than 6 months from the date tenancy commenced, whichever shall be the later) by giving the tenant not less than 2 calender months notice in writing stating that the landlord requires possession of the property". He can basically move me out inb september if he needs to.

I am on the council list but dont really know what help i may get from them- anyway i supose i need to know what is the best thing for me to do- i am registered diasbled so have no working income so trying to find some where new is almost impossible.

BitterAndTwisted

Sounds like he's going to exercise the break-clause an give you two month's notice. He'll have to serve you with a Section 21 Notice, and if you are not willing or able to leave will have to apply to the court for possession. A Section 21 Notice is also known as a "no-fault" notice and can be issued for any reason or no reason at all, so you cannot contest it.

Often, courts can be very busy, so your landlord may not be able to get a court date for a couple of months after the S21 expires.

Once you have the S21 Notice in your hand is the time to see the housing dept of your local authority. They may not be able to provide you with any housing but they should offer you some help in securing another property if you cannot find one yourself.

HB58

You do not have to leave at the end of the notice period. The S21 simply informs you that the LL intends to seek possession through the courts if neccessary. Indeed, many local authorities are notorious for not doing anything to help until the bailiffs are actually at your door - if you leave before this they can class you as 'voluntarily homeless'.

Hopefully, considering your disability, they will be more helpful in your case.

Kynthia

Do not leave without getting advice from the council. The landlord can ask you to leave with notice but legally you don't have to do so until he then applies for a possession hearing and is awarded possession. If you leave without a possession date or bailiff date you won't get assistance from the council.

His notice should be in the form of a section 21 and often these are invalid due to LLs getting the dates wrong or not having protected the deposit. Once you receive this come back and post for more information.

sirmosh

Won't be much reassurance, but he won't want to leave it empty so he'll probably not give you notice until there is a buyer and in the current market that could mean you won't even need to leave before your current term is other anyway.

Yorkie1

Are you in England / Wales, did you pay a deposit, and have you received details of where it is protected?

hm71_2

further to my earlier question i have had a bit of luck & been offered a bigger house, less rent but my landlord has still not served me with my s21. i wondered if i could give notice & break the agreement early on the grounds that the tenancy is unstable & he wants to sell the house having verbally informed me of this.

Yorkie1

There are three options:

1. You and your LL can agree a mutually convenient date for the tenancy to be surrendered. If this happens, get it agreed in writing. If there's agreement, then notice periods don't apply because you've both waived them.

2. Is there a break clause for you in the tenancy? You've quoted the one for the LL in an earlier post, and I'd be surprised if there wasn't one for you too - it's not normally acceptable for clauses such as this to be drafted so as to benefit one party only. If so, please quote it here.

3. There isn't a break clause, the LL won't agree to a mutual early surrender, and you're stuck until the end of the fixed term.

ETA: The two reasons you've put in your post won't of themselves allow you to break the tenancy. The tenancy isn't unstable, but the LL's desire to sell the house might help you to negotiate under #1. Don't be surprised if he wants his cake and to eat it, by trying to keep you as a tenant as long as possible so as to minimise his void period.

It_can_get_better

hm71 wrote: »

further to my earlier question i have had a bit of luck & been offered a bigger house, less rent but my landlord has still not served me with my s21. i wondered if i could give notice & break the agreement early on the grounds that the tenancy is unstable & he wants to sell the house having verbally informed me of this.

If there is a clause allowing the landlord to operate a break clause, to be considered a fair term there should be a corrosponding clause allowing the tenant to operate the break clause.

hm71_2

no there is no mention of a break clause for me as teh tenant- the trouble is every 6 months he trys to tell me i have rent arrears when i havent- i waited 18mths for a boiler repair, 6 months for garage roof repair and now every 6mths he tells me he is going to sell the house- the stress is making me really ill as i have several medical conditions that it exasperates.

G_M

The clause the landlord is relying on is unenforcible.

To be valid, a break clause in a fixed term tenancy must apply to BOTH parties - in this case it gives the LL an option to end the tenancy early, but does not give the tenant the same option.

Therefore I doubt a court would allow the clause, or give the LL possession. You can stay safely for the full 12 months.

This gives you a strong bargaining position. Once the LL understands this (he may not!), you will be able to say "You cannot make me leave early, but I'm willing to go if you pay my costs" (eg credit checking for new property; removal costs; deposit for new prperty; whatever....)