An unusual "want to give notice to tenant" situation.

ProDave

I re visit this thread again.

The latest communication from the tenant is she intends to make an offer to buy the house by the end of this year.  She is still on an agreed reduced rent, but a bit higher than previously.

Someone mentioned it was not possible to evict on the grounds of wanting to sell the property.  Well it IS in Scotland. I found this while researching the paperwork I would need.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/private-residential-tenancies-landlords-guide/pages/grounds-for-eviction/

Mandatory grounds

The first eight grounds for eviction are 'mandatory'.

This means that if the Tribunal agrees that the ground exists, the tenant must leave the property.

1. Landlord intends to sell the let property

This ground applies if you plan on putting the let property up for sale within three months of the tenant moving out.

So the plan now is to give her to the end of the year, and if no offer to serve notice early in 2021

The only thing I cannot find is anything to tell me if the notice period is currently extended by Covid regulations or not.

Rural_Puppy

Actually the grounds quoted apply to the PRT: Private residential tenancy, not the SAT that you have with your tenant.
Personally if I needed the property back, I would be serving a valid notice to quit. I think you need to serve an AT6 form, from memory and with correct amount of notice.
The Scottish Association of Landlords has been mentioned already in the thread, if you aren't a member, join. Only about £100 or so a year and their advice might be very helpful to you.
Best of luck.
ETA
Take a look at the shelter site, it seems that the minimum notice period is currently 6 months due to Covid.
https://scotland.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/advice_topics/eviction/eviction_of_private_tenants/eviction_of_short_assured_tenants/eviction_at_the_end_of_your_tenancy

steampowered

I think you are being very naive.

In order to buy the house, the tenant will need a significant deposit saved. If she needs a rent holiday, she presumably doesn't have a deposit. 

Back in 2014 it was easy to get 95% mortgages. Most lenders have tightened their lending criteria since then. 95% mortgages are now difficult to get. At the moment it is getting harder for your tenant to get a mortgage, not easier. It doesn't sound like anything is going to change between now and the end of the year.

Remember that giving notice doesn't necessarily mean the tenant will leave on the date you want them to. If the tenant refuses to leave you'll have to go through the court eviction process which takes months.

ProDave

Yes I realise a court may need to evict if the tenant does not vacate.

The reason she could not get a mortgage in 2015 was she was starting a self employed business and needed 2 years of accounts to get a mortgage.

The reason for the rent reduction was to match her temporary lower income so that she did not have to eat into the deposit she says she has saved.

The only way I am being naive is to give her one last chance to actually buy the house by waiting until the end of the year before serving notice.  Even then, she has the entire notice period to make an offer to buy it and remain there.

swingaloo2

I dont understand why you are delaying serving notice at all. If you serve notice of 6 months now it will be April when the notice runs out and by then she should be making you an offer or making firm plans to leave. If neither of these happens then you will be able to start  court proceedings to get your property back. Why wait till April to give notice? If you do that you may well be looking at another 18 months before you can sell your property.

Grumpy_chap

steampowered said:

I think you are being very naive.

In order to buy the house, the tenant will need a significant deposit saved. If she needs a rent holiday, she presumably doesn't have a deposit. 

Maybe the tenant doesn't need a rent holiday but is using the current situation to advantage and it will help with building the deposit.
Anyway, the OP has agreed a rent reduction and should honour what has been agreed.
I also see no reason why the OP would not serve notice now and, if the tenant makes an offer at the end of the year, then that sale can happen and everyone is happy.

Rural_Puppy

Been pondering this further. 
If it is genuinely a properly set up SAT, then a mandatory ground for ending it is that the tenancy term has expired.
What was the original term? Did it then roll over, say, on a month to month basis thereafter? Has any other agreement been signed since?
You would need to take care the notice is given correctly using the correct "ish", and form AT6 etc.
Assuming you serve notice correctly, and the tenant refuses to leave at the expiry, then the tribunal would have to issue an eviction notice. Could take some time, but you would eventually get the house back.
As others have said, I would serve notice now. Best of luck

ProDave

Yes it was a SAT for 6 months that then rolled over. There was no communication from either side about the rollover but it was written into the contract that it would rollover month to month until either party gave required notice.