Vendor hasn't given tenants notice. Any advice appreciated

ml00jms

Hi,
We are buying a property that currently has a tenant in it. We are going to occupy it ourselves and our mortgage offer stipulates a vacant possession. Through the estate agent we agreed a completion date so that we could give notice on our flat and the vendor could give notice to the tenants. We have since found out that he only gave the tenants notice three weeks after we agreed he would do so. This now means we will be homeless for 3weeks whilst we wait for the tenants to move.
We can stay with family and put stuff in storage etc.... But we have now lost faith in the vendor and are wondering the following....
- what legal documentation do we need that will confirm the tenants are definitely going to vacate?
- given that we have email proof that he agreed to the earlier completion date can we claim against him for misrepresentation and get some of the money for the cost of having our stuff in storage?

Many thanks for help!

Poppy9

Speak with your solicitor. Do not complete until the flat is vacant. Re compensation, ask your solicitor but it's doubtful

BitterAndTwisted

Serving tenants with the appropriate documentation will not and cannot ensure the tenants leave the property on the date of expiry. Anyone operating on such a premise is foolish in the extreme. It could take your vendor up to six months to get the tenants out if they are unwilling to go, so you took a grave risk by giving notice on your rental.

If you haven't exchanged contracts yet, do not do so.

The only way to ensure that you can complete is to visit the property and see for yourself that the tenants have really gone.

kirkbyinfurnesslad_2

Very foolish indeed to think that they will just leave....

Lokolo

As B&T has said, have you exchanged yet?

You talk about completion dates but haven't said whether you have exchanged or not.

jbainbridge

Sorry, but you should not give notice on your own rental until you have exchanged. Anything could happen up until that point!

G_M

Poppy9 wrote: »

Speak with your solicitor. Do not EXCAHNGE until the flat is vacant. Re compensation, ask your solicitor but it's doubtful

Have you Exchanged? If not, you have no contract so cannot enforce,or claim, anything.

If you HAVE Exchanged,(MAD before the tenants are OUT), then

a) Completion date is fixed
b) if tenants don't leave, seller can't Complete
c) seller will have topay ALL your incidentalcosts for failing to Complete

NEVER assume the tenants will leave-it could take months.

Yorkie1

Can you ask your LL if you can stay a bit longer?

Depending on the date that notice was served, and the date of the end of each rolling monthly tenancy period, the LL's notice will expire anywhere between 2-3 months after it was served.

The Ts are not then obliged to leave (though many do); it's merely a sign that the LL intends to seek repossession of the property. The LL then has to get a court hearing booked, and the court will then issue a possession order - assuming the LL has got the paperwork right ...

If the Ts don't leave by the date stipulated in the possession order, then the LL has to get the bailiffs booked to evict them.

And then you be well advised to inspect the property before exchange, to check it hasn't been damaged by the Ts before leaving or other stuff covered up by the Ts' possessions.

This is a worst case scenario but it demonstrates how the process may be drawn out if court action is needed.

Your solicitor really should have advised you not to give notice on your present place until you'd exchanged, if they knew you were in rented accommodation.

sammyjammy

Surely if vendor gave the tenants notice three weeks after you gave yours then you will be potentially homeless for over 7 weeks? Vendor will have had to give two months notice to tenants.

You could always get the vendor to offer a cash incentive to the tenants to leave if you're willing to fund it. No guarantee they'll go for it though.

BitterAndTwisted

Potentially the OP could be homeless for months and months.

I'd be speaking to my landlord and begging to rescind the notice I'd given, and have my fingers crossed that they haven't lined up a new tenant already

G_M

Bear in mind that unless you negotiate/agree with the LL to rescind your notice, if you simply overstay beyond your notice date the LL can charge you double rent and go to court for possession (without the need for 2 months notice first).

Double rent - explanation (Tenant fails to leave after giving notice) Distress For Rent Act 1747 S18