Surrendering a lease

HarryBarry

The only way to get money out of the landlord will be to make him offer, rather than ask for it.

If you ask for it, he either already knows she doesnt live there so will refuse knowing this greed is now going to cost you £800 a month (for something you dont need) or he will put about 1 minutes thought into the situation and think "why is she prepared to move out when it is such a good deal to stay" - assuming he is not stupid he will think it is because she wants to leave anyway so he does not need to pay (or he will ask questions until he realises she doesnt even live there).

So assuming he isn't really aware of your situation, the only thing I would do is to drop into conversation that she would like to move closer to you but is put off by the higher rent she will have to pay. It is at this point he is suppose to think he is close to getting his flat back but the issue stopping him is money (and maybe he will think to himself he can help her out with some money).

tim123456789

G_M wrote: »

Sigh!

My grandad dies and left me his house in his will.

I live elsewhere and don't need it.

I know a few people (and know OF thousands more) who need a place to live.

But I'm inclined to sell my (newly aquired asset) rather than give it away.

the brother's mother has an asset ( the tenancy) which, like my inherited house, has a value. Why should she not do as I intend to do - sell the asset?

Because the regulated tenancy has no value to anyone except the mother.

At this point, it can't be passed on to anyone else and if the mother is not going to use it, it is valueless.

(I accept that the threat of the mother returning to use it has value, but only for a limited time)

HTH

tim

tim123456789

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

I ain't blackmail. It's just business. Just like being a landlord is running a business.

No-one is stealing something they are not entitled to. The OP is considering whether it would be possible to negotiate. Like people in business do all the time.

If I had a secure tenancy I wouldn't consider giving it up for nothing. Why should I? That's the free market economy at work. Maggie would be proud

I'm not disagreeing with this approach, in priciple.

I'm questioning the practicality.

The family could, possibly even successfully, argue that the mother has succession rights and that she is only temporarily not in residence as she is convalescing with a relative after an illness.

But ISTM that this argument only has (financial) value if the mother is expected to return, which she isn't.

Otherwise, they will be paying rent on any empty property, just to stop the LL getting it back.

Once again:

what's the point of them doing this?

FBaby

Doesn't it all come down to how much the landlord knows about the mother's condition? If he has no idea that she doesn't live there any longer and is unlikely to ever come back, they would be smart to refuse any deal with the knowledge that the OP is unlikely to be willing to continue to pay the low rent.

However, if they have no clue and think that the lady is likely to stay for a long time, therefore that they are losing rental income each month, they will think they are negotiating a good deal by agreeing a figure to take her out of the tenancy. How much they think will be a good deal again depends on how long they think it likely she would remain.

If I was the landlord, even without knowing that she has had a stroke and hasn't lived there for some time, I would be questioning whether she would be likely to be able to live happily there on her own without the support of her son...

CTY

I seem to have started a big debate on this. Thank you to those who have given advice. Wanna house for somebody that started the thread saying you are not being judgemental I have to say I find your subsequent comments quite offensive. .. "Gee what an honest money grabbing bunch" it's business, everything is negotiable, the LL is a large property company who no doubt bought the property as a to make money. I also have no doubt that had my brother not died they would be doing there best to get him out after living there for 30years ( they have only owned for the past 2) by refurbishing and then reviewing the rent to out price him. Maybe i should have made that clearer. Please don't question my integrity and maybe reflect on the language you use in your posts. Again thanks to everyone for your responses.

Fire_Fox

If the property is unoccupied the landlord might try to claim abandonment or breach of tenancy and regain possession anyway. Check the tenancy agreement for how long it can remain empty.