Staying beyond end of tenancy in rental property? how do we manage this...?

Petite_Anglaise

Hello

We are currently in a rental property and in the process of purchasing a property.

As expected, the conveyancing process has been long and slow so far and we do not yet have a date for competition although our solicitor keeps saying it won't be long.

Our landlord, via the letting agents, insisted that we sign a new AST for 12 months- of course we were not able to do this and explained our current situation, requesting a periodic "rolling" tenancy.

To cut it short, we have been served a section 21 notice to vacate the property in mid-September and we have no idea whether our purchase will have completed by then.

We do not think that we will be able to leave on the date we've been given to vacate, if we stay on we will of course pay rent for the length of time we stay.

I appreciate that it doesn't really work like this, but we feel that we have been good tenants, always paid rent on time each month and just need some flexibility as our purchase goes through.

Also, the agents have been in touch about arranging viewings for potential new tenants, which I am not happy about. Why should we do a favour for the landlord when they could not show any understanding or consideration for our current situation.

Anyhow, my question is- what happens next if we do not vacate on the date given for next month? Anyone had experience of this as tenants/landlords?

To make it clear, we are perfectly happy and prepared to pay rent for every single day we occupy the property- the problem is we have nowhere else to go (unless it's a hotel or v short term rental) until our purchase completes.

Thank you in advance

Pixie5740

You simply remain in the property paying rent because that Section 21 notice does not end the tenancy, that can only be done by you or a court. All the Section 21 does is give you notice that the landlord might go to court to get a possession order at the end of the notice period. It takes time to get a court date and the Section 21 might not even be valid so do please check.

Read G_M's guide to Ending/renewing an AST for further information.

ReadingTim

In short, you can't: you've asked and they've said no. Your only option would be to stay put and wait to be evicted, but that's somewhat of a nuclear option. Similarly, being difficult about viewings isn't going to help your case for staying on, but as the relationship has broken down already, then you might not want to be too accommodating about when people can come and view the place.

Personally, I'd spend my time and energy researching temporary options (short term lets, serviced apartments, even air bnb) if you really have "nowhere else to go" as the landlord doesn't want you in their place after mid-September.

aneary

Someone with more precise information will be along soon but you don't have to leave on or before the date on the notice, the LL will have to go to court first and can't start that until the date on the notice.

The court date maybe several weeks/months and after that they would have to get baliffs in etc. This could take months.

As for viewings make sure you are given 24 hours notice no less and explain to the agent that you have no intention of leaving mid-Sept so they should inform the people viewing the flat that.

AdrianC

Quite simply, if you don't move out at the end of the tenancy - when the s21 expires - then you don't move out.

Only after that expiry can the landlord start court proceedings to regain possession. This can take a couple of months. Until such time as possession is granted, you need to keep paying rent, and your landlord needs to continue to grant you quiet enjoyment of the property.

There will be costs associated with whatever legal action the landlord takes, obviously, and the landlord is will within their rights to pass the bill to you.

It's better for everybody if you explain the situation, that you DO want to move out, but it may not be bang on time. That way the costs are minimised, and the landlord is not wondering what's happening. But if they don't want to play ball... you have the law on your side, right up until the court grant possession. Then and only then can you be physically evicted.

MonkeyDr

I let a flat but I completely understand your dilemma.

It sounds like you have been good tenants, and I appreciate that you aren't trying to be deliberately difficult.

The landlord may have a myriad of reasons for wanting you to be on a fixed term contract (e.g. one is needed for remortgaging, or they have important life events coming up when they wouldn't be around so much to deal with a changeover in tenants etc). Ultimately, if they have issued a valid Section 21 it doesn't end your tenancy on that date but it starts the process for court proceedings etc, which would be annoying and I think you would be liable for costs. Much better to avoid if possible.

Are you communicating directly with the Landlord, or via an agency? I prefer to have these conversations directly with the tenants without potential miscommunication (or deliberate untruths to inflate fees...).

Talk to them. Explain your situation, that you are absolutely going to pay rent for all the time you are in the flat, and that you hope to move out asap. What would annoy me would be tenants who didn't let me know what was going on. They will be keen to avoid zero notice of your moving out, so reassure them that you will give them the requisite notice and that you will be accommodating to viewings in that period (with the standard 24 hours notice etc).

What will you do if your purchase falls through or drags on for months? Best to stay on good terms with landlord and not antagonise them unnecessarily, otherwise you could find yourself in November with court ordered eviction, costs to pay, no house to move into and end up having to sign a new fixed term contract somewhere else... To that end I would be reasonable about allowing some viewings at convenient times and with adequate notice, whilst explaining very clearly to agent and landlord that you are _not_ committing to moving out on Sec 21 date, and that you know that you cannot be forced to.

One thing I have learned from this forum is not to treat the Sec 21 date as a definite move out date.

TLDR: be nice. talk to landlord.

Petite_Anglaise

Hi everyone

Thank you for all the replies so far, please keep them coming.

We have been honest and open with the letting agents- we did not wish to sign up for a new AST as we are buying our own home, but do not have a completion date yet.

The agents are aware that we will not be able to move out on the section 21 expiry date- obviously, this could change if we are given a completion date before the date we are required to leave.

It's all very up in the air currently!

ReadingTim- yes it's all very well us organising an Airbnb/hotel/letting for a couple of weeks or whatever but it's not very practical as we will need to put our furniture somewhere etc

The point is that we would like to move directly from our rental home into our new home, rather than move out for an unknown number of weeks in between.

Petite_Anglaise

MonkeyDr

We only communicate through the letting agents and have never met the landlord as they live abroad (somewhere in South America) and, I suspect, the landlord has never even seen the property as they bought it off plan before the building was complete.

So we have explained the ins and outs of our current situation via the LA- we presume that this has been relayed to the landlord. The official line from the LA is that the landlord will not agree to us staying any longer, unless we sign up for a new AST.

It's an awkward situation, we absolutely would like to move out ASAP so that we can start paying a mortgage (hundreds of pounds cheaper than the current rent!) but you can only do so much to hurry up the solicitors and the whole conveyancing process.

A last resort would be to offer the solicitors more money to move things along faster...is this an option?!

aneary

Petite_Anglaise wrote: »

MonkeyDr

We only communicate through the letting agents and have never met the landlord as they live abroad (somewhere in South America) and, I suspect, the landlord has never even seen the property as they bought it off plan before the building was complete.

So we have explained the ins and outs of our current situation via the LA- we presume that this has been relayed to the landlord. The official line from the LA is that the landlord will not agree to us staying any longer, unless we sign up for a new AST.

It's an awkward situation, we absolutely would like to move out ASAP so that we can start paying a mortgage (hundreds of pounds cheaper than the current rent!) but you can only do so much to hurry up the solicitors and the whole conveyancing process.

A last resort would be to offer the solicitors more money to move things along faster...is this an option?!

What address is on your AST for the landlord?

This should be a uk address

Pixie5740

Is it the landlord or the letting agent who is pushing for you to sign a new fixed term contract?

It does not make good business sense for a landlord to go through all the hassle of taking a decent tenant to court to get a possession order. However, it does make good business sense for a letting agent to get a renewal fee and if they can't get that fee there's the tenant finder fees plus the referencing fees from the new tenants. Kerching!!!

In other words the landlord's goals might not be aligned with the letting agent's goals.

Petite_Anglaise

The address for our landlord is the letting agents address