Landlady putting house on market

Lauraj1391

I had this happen to me.

I had a 5 month old baby and had been living in the property for about 7 months.

We had a 6 month contract which then turned into a roll on contract after.

I had gone in and redecorated the whole property as it was a dive and didn't want to live there in those conditions then the landlord saw how much better it was and decided to sell.

I feel for you as i tried to be as helpful as i could by allowing viewings when i could but it was so uncomfortable as i felt uncomfortable with people in and out of my home. They would ask me questions and it wasn't pleasant with a small baby!

I would recommend speaking to the landlord and ask if they are looking to sell to another investor because sometimes they will advertise the property with a sitting tenant and it may sell to someone who will happily keep you on as a tenant?

I myself went and found another place to rent as i couldn't deal with the stress of the viewings and wanted somewhere knew was going to be more permanent plus i didn't have a great relationship with the landlord she was rude and wouldn't ever sort out any problems we had.

Hope it all works out for you!

[Deleted User]

Similiar to other stories on here. Went into periodic contract in September, LL informed me he wanted to sell the property. He said he'd try and sell it to another LL who wanted a sitting tenant.., but I realise no guarantee of this.

I've painted and decorated, tidied the place to show room quality on every viewing (in spite of physical difficulties and nasty pain this causes).., but the LL is asking too high a price for the place. So it could be a while until it sells, if ever. And in spite of tidying and decorating, anyone who knows their stuff will realise this place has quite a few issues.

But if I do anything wrong.., like not getting the place as presentable as possible, refusing viewings, I could be in B&B even sooner. Moving is going to cost a fortune I don't have.., and there aren't many Private LL's who will accept tenants on benefits here (took me three months of daily looking to find this place) so you have to.

However, as the OP is still in their fixed term contract, if they don't want to, they don't have to allow viewings in a practical sense. The LL can't evict them until the fixed term is up. Even if they issue a correct S21 now.., the OP wouldn't 'have' to move out until a dated eviction order is made by a court. Obviously, this may affect the reference the LL gives.., although this would be silly if the LL wants them to move.

45002

45002 wrote:

As a Tenant myself.

Some time ago having been through two sales myself and had legal advice on both occasions regarding viewings from 2 different solicitors and a TRO...

There advice was there was nothing in law to force a tenant to cooperate with viewings.

They went on to say only option available to LL would to be evict the tenant lawfully, then have viewings.

In my case they couldn't evict me as I have a Regulated Tenancy...

Re my post # 41

The 1st sale I went through when the viewing started, there where at least 7 people viewing with an a hour, EA and LL asked when the best for viewing I said No and Solicitor/TRO told LL I would not cooperate any more.

2nd sale I refused viewing point blank and different Solicitor had to write both LL and EA.

One odd point is my last and current LL, didn't even ask to look around my home until after the sales, just a surveyor came around on last sale...

All this was a bloody nightmare !

ghostfinder

just got home.

The tenancy was renewed on 31.01.14 for 18 months.

They sent out a S21 with the renewal.

under section 6 of the agreement it says,

"within the last two months of the tenancy to permit the landlord or any person authorised by the landlord at reasonable hours in daytime to enter and view the property with prospective tenants or purchasers having first given the tenant a reasonable period of notice"

Speaks for itself does'nt it?

jjlandlord

It's as I expected in post #5.
It means that you are free to do what you want regarding viewings at the time being.

If the tenancy is indeed for 18 months without break clause, ie. until end of July, and they want to sell now then they need to be really nice with you

ghostfinder

thanks,

as i mentioned before the letting agent is excellent.

sadly, they seem to be following the LL demands.

we have a holiday booked just at the time when the viewings should be allowed. Would it be unreasonable to stop viewings for the 7 days we are away?

My 21 year old son will be at the house for the week

Thanks

dancingfairy

After I posted previously I realised that it is ages away until the end of your contract. It's mad to expect you to have to put up with it for months.
Back to my original point. What do you think would be reasonable? Viewings only in the last month? Viewings on a saturday afternoon? No viewings at all? Do you want to allow viewings in return for a rent reduction? Do you want to try and negotiate a break in the contract and just leave the landlord to it?
Frankly you can do what you want and you can tell them letting agents that they can't do viewings during x week but it helps if you can get a strategy/plan in place.
Any viewings at this stage are down to your goodwill.
Like I said before, for the avoidance of doubt I would put your decision in writing, keep a copy and send 1 copy to the letting agents (email is fine for speed but I would always follow it up in writing).
I hope that if you are reasonable (ie viewings in the last month on tuesday evenings and saturdays for example) then they will be reasonable with you. It would help if you can get the letting agents on side to point out to the landlord that they are relying entirely on your goodwill.
At this stage try and keep things amicable and on good terms if possible.
Obviously if that all fails then you could change the barrells of the locks to prevent them getting in but it is wise to not get militant unless you have to.
df

dancingfairy

I mean if they wanted you out early you could agree a 50% rent reduction for allowing viewings (for inconvienience whilst you are living there), and to pay for your next credit/referencing fees, and a nice reference and some money towards removals (if they want to get you out early ).
df

45002

ghostfinder wrote:

just got home.

The tenancy was renewed on 31.01.14 for 18 months.

They sent out a S21 with the renewal.

under section 6 of the agreement it says,

"within the last two months of the tenancy to permit the landlord or any person authorised by the landlord at reasonable hours in daytime to enter and view the property with prospective tenants or purchasers having first given the tenant a reasonable period of notice"

Speaks for itself does'nt it?

No not really

ghostfinder wrote:

thanks,

as i mentioned before the letting agent is excellent.

sadly, they seem to be following the LL demands.

we have a holiday booked just at the time when the viewings should be allowed. Would it be unreasonable to stop viewings for the 7 days we are away?

My 21 year old son will be at the house for the week

Thanks

Up to you.

If you dont like the idea of stranger in your home just say No thank you, If they got keys change the locks causing no damage and refit LL locks when you leave for good....

Only thing they can do is after s21 expires, apply to court for possession order, then if you don't by date ordered by court, apply for a warrant and Bailiffs to execute the warrant.

dancingfairy

Apparently you only need to change the barrel bits inside the locks and it's a 5 minute job and a new barrel is quite cheap (apparently,i've never done it before).
For completeness: you have a right to quiet enjoyment of the property.
Landlord has right of access to the property in case of emergency/to do repairs.
These rights conflict and nobody's right automatically trumps the other. It would come down to a court to decide on the day what was reasonable. If you were refusing access for a gas safety inspection , for example or the place was flooding and you refused access then that would be clearly ridiculous. Refusing to let random strangers traipse round your house for the purposes of viewings seems entirely reasonable to me (however I would make sure you have tried the reasonable approach first).
df