No commitment from seller or estate agent - worried!

NS8685

Hello
I had an offer accepted on a property nearly a month ago and the estate agent agreed it would be marked as Sold STC when we provided evidence of our confirmed mortgage offer. The property is currently a rental property, and I was told the tennants would be served with two months notice to leave when we provided our mortgage offer. 

We provided this information on Monday morning, but the estate agent still hasn’t taken the property off the market. The tennants also haven’t been given notice. 

How long would it be reasonable to wait before getting concerned about this? 

Thank you in advance!

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser

It's unlikely that the EA is as fault as they want the property to be sold asap. It's more likely to be a flakey landlord vendor who's having second thoughts, just hasn't responded to the EA yet or (now that he has a firm offer in his pocket) is waiting to see if he gets any higher ones.

You only gave it on Monday, I would give it another couple of days before taking any further steps.

tom9980

It could take many months to evict the tenant they have the right to remain until a court order and bailiff removes them, it could easily take 6+ months, if they agree to move then you are looking at 3 months or so assuming they find somewhere suitable to rent on the timescales suitable for them and their next property. I would tell the agent you wont do anymore towards the purchase until it has been marked sstc and notice has been given as a bare minimum.

akorn77

I'm currently buying a flat where the tenants are on 1 month notice. Seller wants to give notice on exchange, but I'm trying to push them to give notice 1-2 weeks before exchange. Landlord probably wants to wait till exchange so they can squeeze out every penny from the tenant. 

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser

As a portfolio landlord, for all the tenanted flats I've bought, I have always made clear at the outset that the property needs to be vacant before exchange happens. Most landlords are pragmatic and happy to do so, a minority don't agree.

Having said that, as a seller I do do my best to keep the tenant in there as long as possible, and if the buyer doesn't mind exchanging with the tenants still there, that's fine by me!

Giving notice does not mean that the tenant will leave upon expiry of the notice. And if you have exchanged by then, unfortunately you are stuck with the property with no option but to wait.

akorn77

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser said:

As a portfolio landlord, for all the tenanted flats I've bought, I have always made clear at the outset that the property needs to be vacant before exchange happens. Most landlords are pragmatic and happy to do so, a minority don't agree.

Having said that, as a seller I do do my best to keep the tenant in there as long as possible, and if the buyer doesn't mind exchanging with the tenants still there, that's fine by me!

Giving notice does not mean that the tenant will leave upon expiry of the notice. And if you have exchanged by then, unfortunately you are stuck with the property with no option but to wait.

If the tenants havent left by Completion, can you insert a clause stating that the rent will be paid to you, instead of the Seller? This is something I'm going to ask my solicitor and insist that something along the lines of a daily penalty charge be inserted. 

eddddy

akorn77 said:
If the tenants havent left by Completion, can you insert a clause stating that the rent will be paid to you, instead of the Seller? This is something I'm going to ask my solicitor and insist that something along the lines of a daily penalty charge be inserted. 

(What if the tenants haven't left but aren't paying any rent?)

I guess you could try to negotiate with the seller to have a clause added the contract along the lines of: If either party is unable to complete on the specified date (e.g. because there are tenants in the house, so vacant possession isn't possible), then a payment of £x per day must be made to the other party, until completion happens.

But it's up to the seller whether they agree. (They'd already be liable for your consequential losses, using a standard contract.)

You probably can't describe it as a "penalty". Penalties clauses generally can't be enforced in contracts in the UK.

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser

akorn77 said:

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser said:

As a portfolio landlord, for all the tenanted flats I've bought, I have always made clear at the outset that the property needs to be vacant before exchange happens. Most landlords are pragmatic and happy to do so, a minority don't agree.

Having said that, as a seller I do do my best to keep the tenant in there as long as possible, and if the buyer doesn't mind exchanging with the tenants still there, that's fine by me!

Giving notice does not mean that the tenant will leave upon expiry of the notice. And if you have exchanged by then, unfortunately you are stuck with the property with no option but to wait.

If the tenants havent left by Completion, can you insert a clause stating that the rent will be paid to you, instead of the Seller? This is something I'm going to ask my solicitor and insist that something along the lines of a daily penalty charge be inserted. 

That may be possible, I'm not sure. I don't know if something like that would be enforceable and whether it would make you the landlord (and bring a host of other issues)?

akorn77

eddddy said:

akorn77 said:
If the tenants havent left by Completion, can you insert a clause stating that the rent will be paid to you, instead of the Seller? This is something I'm going to ask my solicitor and insist that something along the lines of a daily penalty charge be inserted. 

(What if the tenants haven't left but aren't paying any rent?)

I guess you could try to negotiate with the seller to have a clause added the contract along the lines of: If either party is unable to complete on the specified date (e.g. because there are tenants in the house, so vacant possession isn't possible), then a payment of £x per day must be made to the other party, until completion happens.

But it's up to the seller whether they agree. (They'd already be liable for your consequential losses, using a standard contract.)

You probably can't describe it as a "penalty". Penalties clauses generally can't be enforced in contracts in the UK.

What kind of consequential loss clauses are inserted into a standard contract?