Buying house I currently rent.

Glassofwine

Apologies if this has already been answered, searching hasn't brought up anything.

My partner and I are currently in the process of buying the house which we rent.

Our solicitor and our letting agent have mentioned deducting the security deposit we paid as tennants from the final agreed price. We can't get a straight answer from either as to why?

Thanks

kellyt86

I guess it will be easier for them as it saves having to go through the motions of doing a final check and claiming it from the protection service!

At a guess anyway! :-) I suppose they will no longer care about the condition!

ValHaller

You effectively become your own landlords for a moment or 2. As such, you become responsible for paying your own deposit back to yourselves. When a new landlord buys with tenants in place, the new landlord takes over responsibility for the deposit - but extracts that deposit back from the old landlord in full by reducing the amount he pays for the property, putting the rest into a new deposit protection. But you trouser the money instead.

Doing it this way, you can be sure of getting your deposit back in full, but you have to allow the old landlord to reclaim your deposit in full.

The only disadvantage is if you need that money back as part of your equity (house buying deposit) although if you have a problem there because you need the tenancy deposit as part of your house buying deposit then mention it to your solicitor who I would hope could sort this out on your completion statement.

Glassofwine

Thank you very much for your answers! :-)

G_M

What if the new landlord after the sale feels a deduction should be made from the deposit eg for not cleaning properly?

If the tenant has already effectively received back his deposit in full via an adjusted purchase price......?

malcolmffc

Surely as the landlord no longer owned the property, it would be impossible for them to claim they had suffered any loss from damage, no matter how severe?

Personally if I were buying a property off my landlord, I'd have made return of the deposit with no deductions a condition of sale.

What happens if exchange is delayed and the landlord issues a section 21?

G_M

malcolmffc wrote: »

Surely as the landlord no longer owned the property, it would be impossible for them to claim they had suffered any loss from damage, no matter how severe?

What if the new landlord after the sale feels a deduction should be made from the deposit eg for not cleaning properly?

What happens if exchange is delayed and the landlord issues a section 21?

Presumably the tenants respond by reducing their purchase price offer by the amount it will cost them to move out, stay in a hotel, and move back in on Completion.....