New rental contract, auction sale, is she secure?

Spark

As far as I know, a woman I know has been a tenant in her one bedroom flat for eight years now. She got a letter saying that her flat was being sold at auction, but her landlord has told her not to worry because she will renew the contract for a year, before the flat is sold. Her landlord has the launderette underneath the flat too. As I understand, the properties are leasehold but her landlord will retain the lease after the sale?
She's got the new contract and took it to the citizen advice bureau, they said it was fine, so therefore she feels secure that she's got a roof over her head for at least a year.
That's what I could gather from her, but she has no idea on how things work, and I am none the wiser. I just know she was near panic when explaining all that to me one week, then she relaxed after her visit to the citizen advice bureau, in the knowledge that she got time to find something else now, which will be difficult as she wants to stay in the same area.
The citizen advice bureau said that they could help her have a housing association accommodation when it comes to the crunch, as she is working and can pay a rent. But, as she is on her own, I would have thought it would be difficult for her to get social housing.
But something bugs me.
Why would anyone buy a flat if it would mean not being capable of doing what you want with the flat?
It would be alright if the new owner of the flat will want the property to let, and carry on with the tenancy, but what if he wants to get the flat for himself, or rise the rent, thus want to cancel the contract with the previous owner and make her sign a new contract with a rent rise? Could he do that? Could he still get her out?
Is she really secure for at least a year?

G_M

If the tenant has a fixed term tenancy then she is secure for the length of the fixed term (ie 12 months).

If the property is sold, she will get a new landlord. Nothing about the tenancy changes, same rent, same fixed term. Just a new landlord to pay the rent to.

It is being sold at auction as no one normally would buy a flat with a tenant. At auction, it will be sold cheap, and a landlord will buy it.

Spark

That's good news then, I'll tell her to carry on celebrating.
I don't know why the property is sold at auction in the first place, the landlord could have given notice to the tenant, as the contract was renewed 3 weeks ago, and the flat could have been sold for more.

Tassotti

Spark wrote: »

That's good news then, I'll tell her to carry on celebrating.
I don't know why the property is sold at auction in the first place, the landlord could have given notice to the tenant, as the contract was renewed 3 weeks ago, and the flat could have been sold for more.

If the flat is above a launderette, then any prospective buyers will struggle to get a mortgage on it.

An auction is a quick way to sell usually to a cash buyer/someone using bridging.

Saying that, these are the type of properties that don't even sell at auction.

eddddy

You mention...

Spark wrote: »

....
As I understand, the properties are leasehold but her landlord will retain the lease after the sale?
....

So do you know if it's the freehold of the building, or the leasehold of the flat that's being sold?

If it's the freehold of the building, the woman is unlikely to notice any difference at all. She will have the same landlord as before.

If it's the leasehold of the flat, as G_M says, the woman will have a new landlord. The rent, fixed term etc wont change. But the new landlord might be 'better' or 'worse' than the old one. e.g. They might fix problems more quickly, or they might fix them more slowly. The woman will have to wait and see.