Landlord's remortgage and our tenancy - help

iseemoto

We're in a bit of a pickle and any advice would be much appreciated...

Our landlord just told us that to complete his buy-to-let remortgage, he needs an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) agreement of minimum 6 month to be in place by the offer deadline of 15 November ( his lender's requirement).

Our AST ( which started on the 15th of a month) expired some time ago so we are currently on a month-to-month rolling statutory periodic tenancy, as it suits our life circumstances. We are actually in the process of buying a property, but are unlikely to complete by 15 November.

I recognise that it is well within the landlord's rights to serve us a with a 2- month s21 notice period such that we must move out by 15 November, since we can't afford to sign a new 6 month AST with our landlord.

My question is,would the lender reject an AST starting on, say, 1 December even if it were in place (signed) by 15 November? That seems a possible solution (ie landlord finds a new AST tenant by the mortgage offer deadline, but the tenancy doesn't start till after)

Asking on this valuable forum for second opinions, as our landlord's default answer seems to be "NO" these days!

G_M

You should suggestyour LL write tothe lender with a copy of your original tenancy.

There is no reason why the mortgage lender should not accept a SPT that has followed on from the original 6 month AST.

If you do not want to commit to 6months, do not sign a 6 month tenancy!

But yes, the LL could then issue a S21, which would expire on 14th Nov. It wouldthen be a further 2? 4?monthsbefore you couldbe evicted. When do you hope to Complete?

iseemoto

We're hopeful of completing by early December. So it's not like we're asking for months of delay, it just so happens the landlord's remortgage offer deadline expires by 15 Nov (so he claims). The landlord's been quite adamant about needing a new AST for his remortgage to complete. Not sure this is true, but on certain banks' websites I've seen some buy-to-let mortgages with that kind of condition attached.

I guess we're trying to find a compromise to propose to the landlord, that doesn't involve being difficult tenants refusing to vacate after the s21 notice expires (plus if he does get a new AST tenant to start on the 14th, that would cause problems for the new tenant as well - what my other half call "a d**k move" and bad karma for us...)

Any thoughts on the question in my original post?

Guest101

iseemoto wrote: »

We're in a bit of a pickle and any advice would be much appreciated...

Our landlord just told us that to complete his buy-to-let remortgage, he needs an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) agreement of minimum 6 month to be in place by the offer deadline of 15 November ( his lender's requirement).

Our AST ( which started on the 15th of a month) expired some time ago so we are currently on a month-to-month rolling statutory periodic tenancy, as it suits our life circumstances. We are actually in the process of buying a property, but are unlikely to complete by 15 November.

I recognise that it is well within the landlord's rights to serve us a with a 2- month s21 notice period such that we must move out by 15 November, since we can't afford to sign a new 6 month AST with our landlord.

My question is,would the lender reject an AST starting on, say, 1 December even if it were in place (signed) by 15 November? That seems a possible solution (ie landlord finds a new AST tenant by the mortgage offer deadline, but the tenancy doesn't start till after)

Asking on this valuable forum for second opinions, as our landlord's default answer seems to be "NO" these days!

Lets just say you say no, the LL sends you a s.21 (this is not an eviction, or an end of tenancy), this expires and you dont leave, he has to go to court, his mortgage offer will expire, you will eventually be evicted by the court, but it'll take 2-3 months.

It's in both your interests to agree a compromise, u need somewhere to live, so it may aswell be where you are now. you'll have to sign an AST if you move, so what about negotiating with your LL to have a mutual surrender after 3 months or so?

Guest101

A s.21 notice is notice to seek repossesssion, it does not end the tenancy. Think that's the point.

iseemoto

It's in both your interests to agree a compromise, u need somewhere to live, so it may aswell be where you are now.

We are considering putting up with friends/parents for the few weeks between when the s21 expires and when our house purchase completes. The hassle of having to move twice is a real issue (not to mention the imposition on friends/parents, none of whom live anywhere convenient enough in terms of getting to work) - but I accept that's perhaps not as big an issue in the grander scheme of things.

you'll have to sign an AST if you move, so what about negotiating with your LL to have a mutual surrender after 3 months or so?

We thought about acquiescing and going down this route, but i) not sure whether any mutual surrender agreement would be technically binding on the LL, ii) frankly we don't really trust our LL or the LL's estate agent to hold up their end of the mutual surrender agreement.

anselld

iseemoto wrote: »

Any thoughts on the question in my original post?

It is possible. However unlikely that the LL would find new tenants willing to sign up that far in advance of a move date.

G_Ms suggestion is far more likely to succeed if you can persuade the LL to try, ie "There is no reason why the mortgage lender should not accept a SPT that has followed on from the original 6 month AST."

The reason being that the mortgage company are simply interested in their ability to evict tenants quickly in a repossesion situation. That interest is already well served under a SPT.

Road_Hog

iseemoto wrote: »

We thought about acquiescing and going down this route, but i) not sure whether any mutual surrender agreement would be technically binding on the LL, ii) frankly we don't really trust our LL or the LL's estate agent to hold up their end of the mutual surrender agreement.

Then get a solicitor to draw up the agreement.

iseemoto

Thanks everyone!

G_M

anselld wrote: »

...
G_Ms suggestion is far more likely to succeed if you can persuade the LL to try, ie "There is no reason why the mortgage lender should not accept a SPT that has followed on from the original 6 month AST."

The reason being that the mortgage company are simply interested in their ability to evict tenants quickly in a repossesion situation. That interest is already well served under a SPT.

In many cases, this is just a misunderstanding by a clerk in the mortgage dept.

They have instructions to "see & file a copy of the AST" before approving.

They are not letting lawyers and don't understand things like SPTs.

If you send a copy of the original AST, they may be satisfied (they've now got their bit of paper to file and can tick that box off).

Or they may see the date (expired) and reject it. So your covering letter should EXPLAIN that the tenancy has NOT ended, and is continuing as a SPT. Clerk will be bemused, go to manager, who will, hopefully, understand and approve.

Of course, now you have to convince the landlord of all this......