Offered on house but tenant still not left

kinith

Hi All,

Me and my O/H had an offer on a house accepted in December. The house is currently occupied by an couple with their two adult children.

The tenants were given two months notice and had until 28th Feb 2014 to leave the property so then we could exchange and complete.

We have met the tenants on a couple of occasions to discuss buying the cooker from them (as it doesn't belong to the vendor) actually all the furniture belongs to the tenant (they have lived their about 5 years).

So now it's been almost two weeks since the tenants should have been moved on but they're still there. Meanwhile we have done our searches and surveys and are just about ready to exchange.

Any advice anyone can give? We don't want to give the vendor the impression we're thinking of pulling out but at the same time we've spent over a grand already on searches etc. But at the same time we don't want our lives to be put on hold while the tenant finds a place to rent.

The tenants seem fairly reasonable people having met them twice.

Dazedandconfused

why haven't they moved yet?

G_M

kinith wrote: »

The tenants were given two months notice and had until 28th Feb 2014 to leave the property so then we could exchange and complete.

Given notice by who? The owner /landlord, or a court?

Only a court can bring a tenancy to an end (other than by surrender of the tenancy by the tenant) so no, they did NOT have " until 28th Feb 2014 to leave the property."

They have until a court orders them to.

Never spend money on searches, legals, mortgage, surveys etc till you know for sure the tenants hav already left.

Lesson learnt.

It might be months yet......

kinith

Dazedandconfused wrote: »

why haven't they moved yet?

Because they are having difficulty finding a new place to rent for the same money they were paying. Also they are looking for unfurnished property which further limits their search. As I said before all the furniture belongs to them. Today I rang the estate agent and asked if the tenant is prepared to negotiate the cost of the furniture with the vendor just so they can get things moving along. We personally are not keen on the furniture and will freecycle stuff as and when we find replacements.

The vendor wants them out also and wants to complete before end of tax year which is now looking more and more unlikely.

kinith

G_M wrote: »

Given notice by who? The owner /landlord, or a court?

Only a court can bring a tenancy to an end (other than by surrender of the tenancy by the tenant) so no, they did NOT have " until 28th Feb 2014 to leave the property."

They have until a court orders them to.

Never spend money on searches, legals, mortgage, surveys etc till you know for sure the tenants hav already left.

Lesson learnt.

It might be months yet......

Notice was given by the vendor. Funny that was my solicitor instigating the searches. She said she's not come across this kind of scenario before. She's a friend of mine and I've known her for years so I don't think she had an ulterior motive. Also not doing the searches might put off the vendor and they might become nervous. Risky tactic I think.

I've sold my flat and am living in temporary accommodation so not massively in a rush but it would be good to get out of the renting game and start our lives together.

G_M

kinith wrote: »

Notice was given by the vendor. Funny that was my solicitor instigating the searches. She said she's not come across this kind of scenario before. She's a friend of mine and I've known her for years so I don't think she had an ulterior motive. Also not doing the searches might put off the vendor and they might become nervous. Risky tactic I think.

I've sold my flat and am living in temporary accommodation so not massively in a rush but it would be good to get out of the renting game and start our lives together.

I was not cticising your solicitor (though she could have advised you of the risk - assuming she didn't). If you instructed her to start the conveyancing process, then that is what she should do, and did.

Not doing the searches might have made the vendor realise he cannot have his cake and eat it: keep tenants in situ while marketing the property and thus maximise rental income right up to Exchange..... at the risk as here of p*ssing off his buyer and potentially losing buyer too.

BitterAndTwisted

Has the vendor applied for a court-date for the possession hearing yet? Securing a date could take a couple of months depending on how busy they are. Then if possession is awarded to the landlord and the tenants don't move out he will have to appoint bailiffs to physically evict the tents.

You could be waiting to exchange by June or longer

benjus

This vendor really needs to start offering the tenants a financial incentive to leave now, otherwise he could end up without paying tenants and without a buyer... let's just hope he realises this.

anselld

kinith wrote: »

We don't want to give the vendor the impression we're thinking of pulling out

I suspect that is exactly the impression you should be giving even if you don't want to.

You need to step up pressure on the vendor to sort out vacant posession and the only way to do that is by indicating that you are not willing to wait indefinitely.

Realopinion

kinith wrote: »

The tenants were given two months notice and had until 28th Feb 2014 to leave the property so then we could exchange and complete.

The seller of a property, unless agreed within the contract, must sell the title as vacant possession. This means that they sell the property with no one living in it. Getting tenants to leave who have no where else to go is a pain and you must go through a strict procedure to get possession - I know because I am doing this at the moment with tenants in a property I rent in Birmingham.

If the tenants have been given notice, what notice were they given? If it anything other than a Section 21 notice then, if the tenants don't leave, getting a repossession order can take some time.

Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 is the procedure the owner of the property will need to follow to legally obtain possession of their residential property let under an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST).

It is likely that this is the style of tenancy used, in fact if there is no agreement then this will be the tenancy.

After 2 months from the date of serving notice, the owner can then make an application to the court to gain possession of the home. The process can take anywhere from 3 to 6 months if the tenants refuse to leave. The process must be followed to the letter otherwise it will cause delays.

The owner cannot contact the tenants personally more than twice for fear of harassment. It is really egg shell stuff and leans towards the tenants so they have enough time to find somewhere to live and don't just get thrown out into the street.

So for you the buyer:

1. you can't exchange until the tenants are out
2. find out what notice was served and when
3. get a section 21 notice served on the tenants by the owner ASAP if not done
4. follow the process through

What normally happens is the tenant leaves once they have found somewhere to live. If they are waiting for council housing then the process can drag out. If the parents are working and the children healthy they probably be category 2 to 6. Category 1 is reserved for people with illnesses and out of work. The category system reflects how quickly they get bumped up the line to get given a house by the government.

As I said, I'm doing this now and my tenants are category because, although they are not working, they are all healthy and there is no risk to them. If evicted and on the street, they would be bumped up to 1.

Good luck and thank if it helped.

kinith

Realopinion wrote: »

The seller of a property, unless agreed within the contract, must sell the title as vacant possession. This means that they sell the property with no one living in it. Getting tenants to leave who have no where else to go is a pain and you must go through a strict procedure to get possession - I know because I am doing this at the moment with tenants in a property I rent in Birmingham.

If the tenants have been given notice, what notice were they given? If it anything other than a Section 21 notice then, if the tenants don't leave, getting a repossession order can take some time.

Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 is the procedure the owner of the property will need to follow to legally obtain possession of their residential property let under an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST).

It is likely that this is the style of tenancy used, in fact if there is no agreement then this will be the tenancy.

After 2 months from the date of serving notice, the owner can then make an application to the court to gain possession of the home. The process can take anywhere from 3 to 6 months if the tenants refuse to leave. The process must be followed to the letter otherwise it will cause delays.

The owner cannot contact the tenants personally more than twice for fear of harassment. It is really egg shell stuff and leans towards the tenants so they have enough time to find somewhere to live and don't just get thrown out into the street.

So for you the buyer:

1. you can't exchange until the tenants are out
2. find out what notice was served and when
3. get a section 21 notice served on the tenants by the owner ASAP if not done
4. follow the process through

What normally happens is the tenant leaves once they have found somewhere to live. If they are waiting for council housing then the process can drag out. If the parents are working and the children healthy they probably be category 2 to 6. Category 1 is reserved for people with illnesses and out of work. The category system reflects how quickly they get bumped up the line to get given a house by the government.

As I said, I'm doing this now and my tenants are category because, although they are not working, they are all healthy and there is no risk to them. If evicted and on the street, they would be bumped up to 1.

Good luck and thank if it helped.

Thanks Real Opinion and everyone else who contributed. I didn't know about the Section 21 notice and will ask my solicitor to look into getting this instigated. My gut feeling is that the noticed given was not a section 21 notice because of the length of time the tenant has rented from the vendors and didn't want to appear mean to them.

Good luck with your situation also and hope it resolves itself.