Landlord wanting to sell, son on shielded list

myoung48

We have been in our current place for 3 years and are on a rolling one month contract.
Today my wife got a call from the estate agent saying that the landlord wants to sell and we are being given 3 months notice.  Ideally we wouldn't want to move, but understand that the law allows the landlord to force us to vacate.
The wrinkle in all this is that we have a young son (1 year old) who is in the extremely vulnerable to COVID19 category and we have been shielding for months for his sake.
Now the estate agent wants to have someone come through to do a valuation, then presumably followed by potential buyers doing inspections.
While I'm sure we have to leave after the 3 month notice period, do we have to allow access to the property for valuations and viewings?  Can anyone point me to official guidance regarding those shielding and property access that I can refer to when communicating with the estate agent? 
We have a good relationship with our estate agent and landlord for what it's worth.

Grumpy_chap

Can you buy the property?

greatcrested

* a phone call is a helpful 'heads up' but is legally meaningless.

* the LL/agent must serve a S21 Notice giving 3 months, and then apply to court - given the court backlogs, that could be another 3-6 months. You do not have to leave after 3 months.

* you do not have to allow access. If you are shielding that is a good reason to refuse. If you choose this, do it in writing, politely but firmly, and explain why.

* change the locks if you fear the LL/agent might ignore you and use their key. (keep the old lock to replace when you eventually leave).

* selling the property does not end the tenancy - only a court can do that. Or you if you so wish.

Now read

Post 4: Ending/renewing an AST: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?

tom9980

You do not have to leave until a court order is obtained, that will take most likely 6+ months at the moment. you are also free to reject access to the property. 

Since you are on good terms I would negotiate with your landlord a solution, ideally ask them to wait until you leave before viewings are permitted and allow you to give shorter notice if you find a new place quickly.

Thrugelmir

myoung48 said:

We have a good relationship with our estate agent and landlord for what it's worth.

Do you wish to maintain the good relationship going forward?  Good cooperation all round will help everyone and perhaps is more important. . 

onwards&upwards

This can all be done entirely on your terms.  

With the extended 3 months  for section 21 expiry, plus the backlog when the courts start hearing eviction cases again, if you decided to stay put until you were legally required to leave you might still be in that property this time next year, and the landlord would have zero right to do anything about it or to enter your home. 

So, the ball is totally in your court, what do you want to happen?  

[Deleted User]

Keep in mind that if the new buyer is purchasing the property with the intention to let it out, you may not have to move at all. Although you will probably need to sign a new tenancy if that is the case.

GDB2222

Normally, I think it’s best not to assert your rights too strongly as a tenant, as it can be quite stressful, and you’ll need a landlord’s reference. However, these are not normal times, and you are absolutely right to protect your son. So, you definitely should not allow viewings etc. Government guidelines are irrelevant.

 The landlord has a right to inspect the property under the lease, but if you deny him access he cannot legally just barge his way in. He can obtain an injunction, requiring access, but he probably won’t.

What you can do is explain the problem to the landlord, so he understands. He may then decide to postpone the sale.  You can also offer to take photos and measure the place, if that helps at all. 

myoung48

Thanks everyone, this has definitely given me a lot to think about.

I normal times, I'd be completely adverse to going down a path that would potentially need the law and courts to resolve.  This would be attitude anyway, but an additional consideration in the back of my mind is that I am an immigrant who will be applying for citizenship in the next 12 months.  The home office attitude has been to look for any reason to deny applications, with others having been denied based on trivial infractions such as minor tax issues.  My number one concern is my son, but this is definitely in the back of my mind as a potential issue.

I think in the first instance I'll explain the situation in detail to the LL/agent and hope that we can reach some kind of compromise.  If they are unwilling to budge, I will then perhaps imply that I will not simply vacate in 3 months as they would like.

Thank you all for your advice, the internet has a lot of issues with spreading garbage, but being able to quickly and easily get sensible advice from a large group of people is quite empowering.

GDB2222

myoung48 said:

Thanks everyone, this has definitely given me a lot to think about.

I normal times, I'd be completely adverse to going down a path that would potentially need the law and courts to resolve.  This would be attitude anyway, but an additional consideration in the back of my mind is that I am an immigrant who will be applying for citizenship in the next 12 months.  The home office attitude has been to look for any reason to deny applications, with others having been denied based on trivial infractions such as minor tax issues.  My number one concern is my son, but this is definitely in the back of my mind as a potential issue.

I think in the first instance I'll explain the situation in detail to the LL/agent and hope that we can reach some kind of compromise.  If they are unwilling to budge, I will then perhaps imply that I will not simply vacate in 3 months as they would like.

Thank you all for your advice, the internet has a lot of issues with spreading garbage, but being able to quickly and easily get sensible advice from a large group of people is quite empowering.

I wish you all the best with your son and your application. 

The only thing I would add is that Covid is at it’s lowest level since March in this country at the moment. I fear that the easing of lockdown is going to make it worse.  If you are going to move, now is possibly the best opportunity until there is a vaccine available. 

myoung48

GDB2222 said:

myoung48 said:

Thanks everyone, this has definitely given me a lot to think about.

I normal times, I'd be completely adverse to going down a path that would potentially need the law and courts to resolve.  This would be attitude anyway, but an additional consideration in the back of my mind is that I am an immigrant who will be applying for citizenship in the next 12 months.  The home office attitude has been to look for any reason to deny applications, with others having been denied based on trivial infractions such as minor tax issues.  My number one concern is my son, but this is definitely in the back of my mind as a potential issue.

I think in the first instance I'll explain the situation in detail to the LL/agent and hope that we can reach some kind of compromise.  If they are unwilling to budge, I will then perhaps imply that I will not simply vacate in 3 months as they would like.

Thank you all for your advice, the internet has a lot of issues with spreading garbage, but being able to quickly and easily get sensible advice from a large group of people is quite empowering.

I wish you all the best with your son and your application. 

The only thing I would add is that Covid is at it’s lowest level since March in this country at the moment. I fear that the easing of lockdown is going to make it worse.  If you are going to move, now is possibly the best opportunity until there is a vaccine available. 

Yes I agree with this.  If we had somewhere to move to right this second, I'd probably want to do that.  I am very pessimistic about what will happen when schools start again at the end of the summer and we head into winter.