Help!! Landlord wants to sell up

mildredalien

Have they served a valid section 21? When does/did the tenancy officially end?

Unfortunately while it is your 'home' it is the landlords 'house' and sometimes things happen and landlords have to sell. Make sure they have served you valid notice but it is probably best to accept it and start looking for a new home, you could drag things out and force the LL to evict you but ultimately you won't be able to stay there forever.

AdrianC

Let's cut out all the irrelevances, and get to the only thing that actually matters.

You are a tenant on, presumably, an AST. You moved in in Nov 15.
Your landlord is telling you that your tenancy will be coming to an end.

Are you in a fixed period? When does it end?
Have they formally given you s21 notice, with all details correct?

Until any fixed period expires, you are firmly staying put.
When any s21 notice expires, then the landlord can start possession proceedings - until they're completed, you can stay put.

OTOH, tomtontom's last paragraph is very well worth bearing in mind.

POPPYOSCAR

mildredalien wrote: »

Have they served a valid section 21? When does/did the tenancy officially end?

Unfortunately while it is your 'home' it is the landlords 'house' and sometimes things happen and landlords have to sell. Make sure they have served you valid notice but it is probably best to accept it and start looking for a new home, you could drag things out and force the LL to evict you but ultimately you won't be able to stay there forever.

And when you go to rent the next place and want a reference.......

theartfullodger

catalepticstate wrote: »

Hi all,
Last November (2015) my wife and I moved into a property after over 5 months of searching.
No we are both working people and pay our rent on time.

We have had issues with the house when we moved in (Not having heating for two weeks), broken fence, dodgey electrics and more.

Then yesterday the lettings agent called me and said we want to inform you the landlord wants to sell the property as her husband is ill and she needs to sell up to pay for his treatment.

I have two months to find somewhere and move it. Until one is served do nothing, just being verbally asked to leave can be ignored.



It's taken me 5 months to move in.

Any help or advice would be great

You have a lot more than 2 months.

For tenancies started after 01/10/2015 you the tenant must be served with EPC, GSC & "How to Rent" booklet before any s21 notice is valid. No s21 notice is valid until served at least 4 months after start. And deposit must have been protected & PI served to be valid. I'd guess one or more of these will be wrong.

You do not mention if you have been served any s21 notice.

Even a valid s21 does not end a tenancy nor require you to leave: It merely permits landlord when it expires (2 months ..) to start court proceedings. I'd guess you have 4-6 months more.

Just because a place is sold does not end tenancy nor require tenant to leave: Even if the new owner is outside with a huge removal van, screaming husband & 3 bonkers kids. Even if landlord's husband is ill (?really?? agents come up with all sorts of stories...). What happens is new owner becomes your new landlord, tenancy continues.

Calm down, see if any s21 notice is served & when it is tell us about it.

But, yes, eventually even the most stupid landlord will work out how to evict you.

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

Why do you think that tenants should never just move out and find another house when the landlord tells them to leave? I know what the law is. I don't care. Most things in life are done without resorting to the courts. if someone asks me to move my car so he can get out, I don't tell him I'll move it when he gets a court order. When I buy something, I have the legal right to refuse payment and wait for a court to find against me. I don't.

Why do you think tenancies are exempt from common decency and courtesy? Most tenants can easily find another place to live with a lot less trouble than you always want landlords to go to to evict them.

dancingfairy

On the other hand landlord often expect tenants to just leave when requested, irespective of whether they are still in contract/ have issued correct notice.
Like you said common decency and courtesy from both sides makes everything so much easier.
Df
P.s I don't know whether landlords are more likely to be dodgy and pressurise tenants or whether tenants are more likely to be dodgy and get one over on the landlord ? Perhaps theartfullodger has seem his share or dodgy lsndlords?

theartfullodger

ScorpiondeRooftrouser wrote: »

Why do you think that tenants should never just move out and find another house when the landlord tells them to leave? I know what the law is. I don't care. Most things in life are done without resorting to the courts. if someone asks me to move my car so he can get out, I don't tell him I'll move it when he gets a court order. When I buy something, I have the legal right to refuse payment and wait for a court to find against me. I don't.

Why do you think tenancies are exempt from common decency and courtesy? Most tenants can easily find another place to live with a lot less trouble than you always want landlords to go to to evict them.

If that was pointed at me, my post was in response to the OP's original comment

I have two months to find somewhere and move it.

Hopefully we would both agree she has rather more than 2 months, particularly as no s21 appears even to have been served, valid or not.

I am in favour of decent, courteous, fair, reasonable but well-informed tenants:

I am also in favour of decent, courteous, fair, reasonable but well-informed landlords: Even agents!

Sadly too many landlords and agents get away with all-sorts by exploiting tenants lack of understanding of their rights. And that's all sorts of landlords - Councils, Housing Association, Private and other types...

Artful (Landlord since 2000 btw..)

G_M

Good grief! Let's get away from the nhs debate (interesting but not here).



We cannot advise until we know:

1) date your tenancy started
2) end date of fixed term (if any), or length of term (6 months? 12 months? 24?)
3) whether you paid a deposit?
4) if yes, was it protected within 30 days? And was the PI served on you in 30 days? (see deposit links below)
5) whether you were given the Rental 'Prescribed Information' (gas certificate, EPC, and government leaflet "How to rent" )?
6) whether you've been served a 'Section 21 Notice'?
7) if yes, date served? Date of expiry on the notice?
8) was the S21 Notice the New S21 Notice (Form 6a) version?

Now read:

* Deposits: payment, protection and return

* Ending/renewing an AST: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?

catalepticstate

Hi all,
Wow what a long post this has become.
Apologies for not including more information, I was trying to write the original post as my workplace was shutting down for the day and I had to get out.

So to answer your questions:

1) date your tenancy started
>> 13th November 2015

2) end date of fixed term (if any), or length of term (6 months? 12 months? 24?)
>> 12 months

3) whether you paid a deposit?
>> I paid a deposit of £800 which includes £250 for my cat

4) if yes, was it protected within 30 days? And was the PI served on you in 30 days? (see deposit links below)
>> I think it was protected, I got it on the same day as I was given the keys

5) whether you were given the Rental 'Prescribed Information' (gas certificate, EPC, and government leaflet on renting)?
>> Yes I was given this, but the renting leaflet was for October 2015

6) whether you've been served a 'Section 21 Notice'?
>> No, not yet

7) if yes, date served? Date of expiry on the notice?

Some things don't make sense to me:
1) If her husband was ill why did she get a double glazing company to come and measure up the house 3 weeks prior? Surely he didn't develop an illness she was not aware of within 3 weeks.

2) The letting agent said, the landlord needs to sell the property to get him treatment.
(I said ok, I then said how much does she need maybe I can see if I can get an investor or I can buy the house off her.)
The letting agent then said oh she needs a lump sum as she wants to take him private.
>> I thought this was odd, for two reasons. One, I would not tell my letting agent why I needed the money, its entirely up to me what I want to do with my property.
Two, If her husband was ill, he would have gone to his NHS GP first, then seen at a hospital, then referred to a specialist, usually then if all else fails or if stated the NHS cannot do anything for him, you would seek private treatment.
Having said that, I moved into the house in November, nothing would have been done for her husband over the Christmas period and she was planning on fixing up the house by installing double glazing and now she needs to sell up. She would have definitely known she would need to sell if this is the case.

Now I'm not being mean, or nasty but I have actually worked in a letting agents for 6 months and yes, there are times when it's genuine, but this does not sit well with me.

catalepticstate

I do think it's unfair on the tenant that the landlord can terminate a contract whenever they feel like it, imagine a tenant doing that, landlords up and down the country would go ape crazy!

Is the landlord not in breach of contract if its been less than 12 months regardless of the 2 month notify clause.

Isn't this now invalid?:
7.9 QUITE ENJOYMENT That the Tenant paying the Rent and performing the Agreements on the part of the Tenant herein contained and using the Property and the Contents in a Tenant like manner then the Tenant may possess and enjoy the Property during the Tenancy without any lawful interruption from the Landlord or any person claiming under or in trust of the Landlord.

I am now not enjoying living here, my wife is upset and I don't know when this official letter is coming that is going to tell me in writing I have 2 months to move out. I busted my guts getting moved in, haven't invited any of our family down because we have been improving the house and buying new furniture and planning further improvements in the garden. Changed all my details on every utility, bank details, driving license etc.

I am new to renting, if this is what it's going to be like then I do want to buy a house of my own, if only I could get a bl***y mortgage! I'm paying more than I would for a mortgage it doesn't make any sense!

When I asked the agent how much does the landlord want for the property they said £119k.

I looked on ourproperty.co.uk and the average price for the street is £88k and the average going rate for a 3 or 4 bed brand new new build up the road is £80