Landlord planning on knocking down and rebuilding on land!

bowlingo

Hi all,

Me and the wife have been renting the same 2 bed flat for the past 13 years. Its a converted house with a 2 bed flat upstairs and a 2 bed flat downstairs and we live in the downstairs flat. The landlord owned the upstairs flat then sold it in 2000 for £57,000 last month he bought it back from the same person he sold it to for £130,000! Next door is a derelict shop that has been empty for the last 4 years. The landlord is a businessman with quite a few properties and whilst we have lived here he has been round twice in 13 years! So we havent had many dealings with him in fact the only money hes had to spend out on the flat is a new combi boiler 5 years ago and shortly after he put the rent up so ive maintained it all myself i.e new kitchen, new bathroom and the most recent thing ive spent on is a new shower. Anyway when he bought the upstairs flat back for 130K I realised he was up to something and hes more than likely trying to buy the derelict shop next door so he can demolish it and demolish this building so he can put a new build on the land. Today I asked someone to move there car who was parked out the front and we started chatting he said "the person that owns those flats also owns the place next door!" I said how do you know that and he said the person who used to live upstairs had told him. Also a decorator has been working upstairs over the last week and he also said the landlord is into new builds nowadays rather than refurbs etc. My wifes tried phoning his office every day for the last 5 days but his secretary always says hes not there, in a meeting etc which is the way its always been i.e he has no interest in talking to his tenants (it would be a different story if it was someone who wasnt paying rent I bet) We need to know what his plans are part of the reason is we are thinking of getting the place decorated and new carpets etc. We used to have a tenancy agreement many years ago but now all we have is a rent book as my wifes father goes down to his office every fortnight and pays the rent in for us. Im wondering what our rights are if he should tell us he wants us out? My wifes name is on the original agreement she set up with him all those years ago i.e she was single then and we got married 5 years ago so im not sure how we will stand i.e we have breached in some way as im not on the agreement. Im also wondering if theres a way of finding out if he owns the building next door and if I can find out if theres planning permission thats been submitted (it might just be that hes bought next door but hasnt made the planning submission yet)

Thanks in advance
Alex

seven-day-weekend

If the shop is registered will be able to find out who owns the building from the Land Registry (there may be a fee) and you can find out whether anyy Planning Applications have been submitted on the land from your local Council (this is free).

http://www.landregisteronline.gov.uk/

As to your rights it depends what sort of tenancy your wife has. If it is an Assured Shorthold Tenancy he has to give you two month's notice.

If you can't get hold of him by phone, why not write him a letter and send it recorded delivery? Keep a copy of the letter.

Do you actually know that he is planning to rebuild or is this speculation?

barnaby-bear

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

As to your rights it depends what sort of tenancy your wife has. If it is an Assured Shorthold Tenancy he has to give you two month's notice.

If they've been there 13 years they almost certainly don't have an AST (they only were created in 1997)- tenancies used to be far far better - it's very likely they have a tenancy with TENURE, i.e. the landlord can't give them notice unless they don't pay the rent... even with no paper work there will be an implied tenancy.... Try Shelter/CAB for advice but you must say very loudly tenancy started before 28th Feb 1997.
http://www.letlink.co.uk/letting-factsheets/factsheets/factsheet-18---residential-tenancy-agreements.html

They probably have an Ordinary Assured Tenancy not an AST.... so Mr. LL has to be very nice to them....

bowlingo

If the shop is registered will be able to find out who owns the building from the Land Registry (there may be a fee) and you can find out whether anyy Planning Applications have been submitted on the land from your local Council (this is free).

http://www.landregisteronline.gov.uk/

Ive just paid the fee and done the search it says its still the same owners who bought it in 1989 im wondering how up to date the lang registry is i.e if hes bought it in the last month or so will it show on the landregistry?

Thanks
Alex

clutton_2

LA records can take 2-3 months to update. if you have an Assured tenancy, you will be in a very very strong position indeed !!! get some legal advice if you have definite grounds for thinking that the property will be knocked down, but - if there is no planning application on your local council website what makes you think he is planning to do this ?

SquatNow

You'de be free to object to the planning application... not fitting with the area, lack of parking etc.

John_Pierpoint

clutton wrote: »

LA records can take 2-3 months to update. if you have an Assured tenancy, you will be in a very very strong position indeed !!! get some legal advice if you have definite grounds for thinking that the property will be knocked down, but - if there is no planning application on your local council website what makes you think he is planning to do this ?

This is another example of how important it is to keep a dialogue going, so that when a situation like this arises "jaw jaw is so much better than war war".
Re-development need not be a bad thing from your point of view. Life is never completely stable, just tell yourselves that "there are no problems only opportunities". Do you have any capital of your own? We live in a capitalist world, so at times like this it is useful to have savings of your own.
Your landlord probably has an obligation to re-house you, with your agreement; so when you find out what is proposed, get advice on your rights. You could well come out of this situation with better accommodation and some "compensation" in the bank. Beware of being dumped in a short lease flat (one where the lease reverts to the freeholder soon).

On the other hand with the present "credit crunch" you might find that nothing happens for a year or two, while the property market stabilises.