Assured Shorthold Tenancy Problem

Pixie5740

JackJones456 wrote: »

Hello everyone, hope you all had a good weekend.

So I had a light bulb moment today and realised that I am NOT paying via direct debit the so called Landlady named on my AST Agreement, but her mother and father. I decided to do a Land Registry search and it has revealed the the parents do indeed own the property which is mortgage free.

I cannot understand why their daughter is named on the AST Agreement, when it is her parents who own the property and it is to them whom I pay the rent.

Can anyone advise if this AST Agreement is legally binding please?

All I have been verbally told by the agent is that mother and daughter have a financial interest in the property and that they both want to sell it and that I will be served a S21 anytime soon. I am only 4 months into a 12 month contract. And it is obvious from Land Registry that the daughter (my supposed Landlady) is NOT the registered owner, but her parents are.

Any help much appreciated.

Why wouldn't your AST be legally binding? You pay rent in return for exclusive occupation of the property ergo an AST exists. Your landlord doesn't have to be the same as the legal owners named on the deeds. The deeds only records legal ownership it doesn't record beneficial ownership.

The letting agent can tell you verbally, using semaphore, or by employing a skywriter, that a Section 21 will be issued. You are only 4 months into a 12 month fixed term so any Section 21 issued now cannot be valid and will fail if it gets to court.

Your landlord doesn't have to be the same as the legal owners named on the

saajan_12

JackJones456 wrote: »

Hello everyone, hope you all had a good weekend.

So I had a light bulb moment today and realised that I am NOT paying via direct debit - direct debit or standing order? DD is very unlikely where you're paying a person not a company the so called Landlady named on my AST Agreement, but her mother and father. I decided to do a Land Registry search and it has revealed the the parents do indeed own the property which is mortgage free.

I cannot understand why their daughter is named on the AST Agreement, when it is her parents who own the property and it is to them whom I pay the rent.- I can't either, possibly because it's a mistake, possibly the parents let the property to the daughter and the daughter is subletting to you.

Can anyone advise if this AST Agreement is legally binding please?- yes, you still have an AST with someone. They owner / bank account you pay rent to is irrelevant to you, as long as its the one your LL instructed you to pay into.

All I have been verbally told by the agent is that mother and daughter have a financial interest in the property and that they both want to sell it and that I will be served a S21 anytime soon. I am only 4 months into a 12 month contract. And it is obvious from Land Registry that the daughter (my supposed Landlady) is NOT the registered owner, but her parents are. - Your LL doesn't necessarily have to be the owner.

Any help much appreciated.

This doesn't affect anything for you..
- your LL doesn't have to be the owner, could be someone subletting with permission from the owner.
- the payment account for rent must be the one you are instructed to pay into by your LL. Who this belongs to is irrelevant.

So yes, you still have a legally binding AST, and all the previous advice applies.. Earliest you can be evicted is Late 2018 through section 21 notice route assuming you're up to date with rent etc. At some point you will be evicted so may be beneficial to negotiate an early surrender in return for a £ payout to cover your moving costs/whatever.

FBaby

Why does it matter who is the owner of the property? Your issue is getting your LA to acknowledge that they cannot legally give you a S21 to leave before the end of your fixed contract. Have you spoken to them today to tell them to stop bothering you about it and that you'll be changing to locks in case they decide they want to do viewings?

JackJones456

Thanks for the replies reassuring me about the tenancy.

I don't want to go down the route of another private rent property as this could happen all over again (it happened once before). 2 of my 3 children are disabled and I really need some stability for them after all these moves. No I am not in breach of my tenancy clauses and the rent is paid up to date.

I haven't been in touch with the agents to tell them I've changed the locks as this is a clause in the AST Agreement not to change the locks. Also the Local Authority have told me that once I've received the S21 they will look at it and speak with the Agent as I know they are bang out of order.

saajan_12

JackJones456 wrote: »

I don't want to go down the route of another private rent property as this could happen all over again (it happened once before). 2 of my 3 children are disabled and I really need some stability for them after all these moves.

We do understand you want some stability, but remember you will be evicted eventually and getting housed by the council is unlikely to be smooth sailing.

Option 1: negotiate early surrender with payout from LL covering full removals service, letting agents costs etc so you can move at leisure to another place in the same area. No distress to your kids, just an adventure, no changing schools etc. Yes, the new LL COULD evict again, but most are in it for the long term, preferring long term tenants so this is very unlikely.

Option 2: Stay put, as is your right, until evicted by a court based on Section 21 (no contest, it will happen eventually). You can try to get bulk of packing ready, but will need to leave on the day they arrive, and likely won't get anything from council until that day. Possibly placed in temporary accommodation away from current schools, before 2nd move to a longer term home.

JackJones456

Update. I thought everything had gone quiet as I had not received the Section 21 Notice, and that the Agent had realised he had got the AST term confused thinking it was 6 months when in actual fact it is 12 months.

On Tuesday I received a phone call from the Agent to say that he was sending out the Section 21 Notice and post dating it to end of March (that will take the tenancy into 6 months of my occupation with a further 6 months remaining). I don't understand why he is post dating the Section 21. The Agent then said he had put the house on the market and that a sale board would be place outside my home and viewings are going to take place. I told him to put everything in writing and ended the call. I checked his website and he had put the property on the market.

I again checked all my paperwork and found that I have not been given a Boiler Gas Safe Certificate or any Gas Safe Certificate for the property.

I do not want a sale board put up outside my home and I do not want people viewing. I am very vulnerable, have 3 children, 2 are disabled, am having to top up this rent by £150 every month and been the victim of past domestic violence.

Any advice much appreciated.

Comms69

The LL can sell with you in situ - it may be best to compromise a specific day and time(s) for viewings

theartfullodger

Read your tenancy carefully and see if it grants landlord/agent the right to either...
a) Put up for sale board...
b) conduct viewings: And any time. Often says in "last 2 months of tenancy" but until evicted by a court/bailiffs you & they don't know when last day of tenancy is so don't know when last 2 month are.

You are probably safe to refuse all viewings, surveys, valuations etc etc.. But may wish to compromise & offer, say, between 12:37 & 12:52 every 3rd Wednesday...

Owner if perfectly entitled to sell. Any time. With or without your permission. With or without new owner seeing inside or getting valuation. But change of owner does not mean tenancy ended nor that you have to leave. New owner simply becomes new landlord, even if sitting outside with huge removal van & screaming kids.

However, eventually (usually) even the most stupid landlord will evict you using s21 (another Thatcher legacy). So perhaps start looking for somewhere new - they'd probably be very happy to end deal early.

Best wishes & good luck.

JackJones456

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

It does say 'in the last 2 months of tenancy about the Sale Board and Viewings'.

I've decided not to allow viewings. As soon as I get the S21 and some supporting letters from school, doctors etc, I will again contact the Local Authority and present my case. In the meantime, I'm saying nothing to the Agent until I get the S21 and if he wants viewings before I receive S21, I am going to tell him to send the S21.

BTW, checked the EPC and it is well out of date, 2012, thought these had to be checked every 3 years, plus no Boiler Gas Safe Certificate.

System

The EPC is valid for 10 years, however if you weren't given a Gas Safety Certificate on the day you moved in then a section 21 cannot be served. See this article https://landlordadvice.co.uk/one-chance-to-serve-the-gas-safety-certificate/