2nd viewing tomorrow without seller there! Property seems too good to be true?

Fire_Fox

The flat is NOT more or less empty, it is tenanted even if they are not at home today because there is an AST in place and they are paying rent. Please get that notion out of your head, notice needs to be served OR a deed of surrender signed by both parties. DO NOT turn up at the flat, the tenant has the right to quiet enjoyment and your presence could be deemed harassment.

You can't have penalty clauses because you don't have a contract until you have both signed and exchanged, by which time the property will be vacated. Ask your solicitor how they will confirm vacant possession, I suspect it will be a written declaration prepared by one of the conveyancers.

Given that the tenant and the landlord are abroad this place will likely take months to complete, that is probably why it is still on the market. At any time before exchange of contracts one or other of you can pull out. What do you mean are you still unable to move into the property, when?

Ulfar

Given that the landlord obviously isn't following the rules and is abroad, he may have serious difficulty issuing schedule 21 and getting the tenants out.

Before you exchange you want to see the flat empty with written assurances from the other side that the tenancy has been ended.

This could take a long time, during which time your mortgage offer might disappear.

As for your plans to potentially let the property in the future, please read some of the other threads on this board. There is no guarantee that your bank will allow this. If they don't you will be looking at a BTL mortgage for which you will need 40% equity currently.

What happens if prices fall in the next two year, your equity could vanish.