What to do about tenants?

Grotbagssister

We have a property which is rented out on a 12 month contract which comes to an end in June. The agents served notice to the tenants a few weeks ago to inform them the tenancy will not be renewed and they need to leave on or before the end of tenancy. 

For health reasons we need to have the property back to sell and buy something with disabled access. We need this ASAP for pretty tragic reasons. 

The tenants have said they will not allow any access before they move out which I understand. This does mean though that the earliest we can market the house is June and we can live with that but I am so worried that they just decide not to move out. 

They are a couple who are in secure jobs which are unaffected by Corona virus in terms of work being reduced or anything like that. I know this for 100% fact. 

There are similar properties available to rent , same price, area and facilities.

There is so much going on that I am having to cope with that I am on the brink of collapse. I know they are being difficult with the agency as they wanted to stay beyond the 12 months.

They have had several weeks notice (we wanted to give them as long as possible) but told the agency they have not begun looking for alternative housing. This situation for us is however is tragic and unavoidable. We need to get the house sold ASAP. 

If they don’t move out I assume we have to go to court? They are not in arrears and have been good tenants who we would have happily kept on indefinitely had we not been faced with what we are. 

Is there anything we could do find out in advance what they plan to do or do we just have to sit it out until the date comes along? 

anselld

You can only wait it out and in the meantime check if the Section 21 notice is valid ...
https://markprichard.co.uk/content/documents/180408-Section-21-checker-tool.pdf

Of course you do not need the tenant out if you think you would be able to sell to another investor.

AdrianC

Grotbagssister said:

If they don’t move out I assume we have to go to court?

Unfortunately for you, you can't, unless things change before June.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/complete-ban-on-evictions-and-additional-protection-for-renters
You'll note there's no scope in there even for people in your circumstances.

The chances of that being lifted in three months time are slender, I suspect. So if they play hard-ball, then you only have two routes.
1. Wait until the government lift the restrictions.
2. A financial incentive for them to move.

[Deleted User]

You can get a bank loan against the value of the property that's redeemable on sale.   That will allow the tenants to stay put.

Thrugelmir

You might be better off having a tenant paying rent. Than marketing a property that you are unable to sell. Due to short term adverse conditions. 
Given your tenant has until the end of June. Well over 3 months. Why would they be looking now? 

Lokolo

Sell the property with tenants in situ. It will seriously reduce the marketability, but if you want a fast way to get the money, keep the price low and sell to another landlord.

silvercar

In practical terms, you are going to have to wait it out. The only easy solution would be to raise money on this property. Generally, subject to your finances you could raise upto 70% of the properties value on a BTL mortgage, would that give you enough cash to do what you need?

diggingdude

They might move if you offer them £2-3000 incentive?  With everything going on right now they won't necessarily rush and who can blame them? Hopefully for you they will help you out

greatcrested

I don't know how good your agents are, but some make errors. So double-check they've done it right - it's you that suffers for any mistake, not them!

The agents served notice to the tenants a few weeks ago

Look closely at the 'notice' - it should have been a S21 Notice like this. Then go through the 81 questions (!) in the link anselld gave you above, to check it is valid.

Unfortunately the new Gov rules mean the courts will not evict based on this, even if it is valid, in the next 3 months. After that, who knows?

Paying tenants to leave is always an option. Difficult to know how much to offer, but worth considering.

Selling to another landlord with tenants in place is another option - speak to your agents nearer the time or once it becomes apparant they won't leave. They should know other landlords in the area.

Finally, raising the rent? The tenants can, of course, decline to sign a new fixed term at a higher rent and just move to a periodic tenancy (rolling) at the original rent. If that happens, you can serve a S13 Notice to increase the rent. The tenants can appeal, and the Tribunal will assess if the new rent is in line with the local market (is it high? low?), but a new higher rent might pursuade the tenants to leave.

kazwookie

Offer the house for sale to the tenants on first refusal, cut a bit off the price.

JayRitchie

I think you need to check how the market for selling is progressing. I lot of people won't be looking, and won't want to go for viewings at the moment.