Storing seller's possessions post sale

Keh

Advice needed please: I'm buying the rental  property I'm in from my landlord and she's insisted I continue storing her possessions in the loft until she finds a property (she lives abroad). She's refused to agree to a time limit and has clarified she expects to use the loft as storage post completion. She's also explicitly said this is a deal breaker for her. 
I've even offered to take her stuff to a local  facility to be helpful but she's not budging. 
I think this is an utterly bizarre - and ridiculous - request and given she's messed me about for 9 months, I'm  prepared to walk away .
However, it would be helpful and interesting to hear of others' views.
Thanks, K

hazyjo

Tell your solicitor to deal with her solicitor.

Just say no! Not her house after completion!

greatcrested

You have 2 options

1) say no and walk away - you lose the house

2) say yes but with a time limit (2 weeks?) and get your solicitor to write it intothe contract

3) as 2) above, but charge rental eg £50 pw

4) ignore. Once Completion takes place, put all her stuf in a storage unit and only release it once she has paid the storage unit costs (plus any removalfees to get it there)

But the fundimental question is, how committed are you to this purchase? Are you willing to let it fall through over this issue?

Annisele

Sounds like she doesn't actually want to sell. She doesn't seem to be even trying to sell the whole house - she's essentially wanting to retain an interest in the loft forever. Horribly messy, and not something I'd entertain.

claire111

No. Just no. Your solicitor and mortgage lender won't allow this.
Ask her to liaise with you, through her solicitor from now on.

rik111

Just verbally agree to it, make sure nothing is in writing. Once you complete write to her saying she has left a load of rubbish in the loft and you want £250.00 from her for a skip or you will taking to small claims. Money claim on line only costs about £30.00.

AdrianC

Keh said:

She's also explicitly said this is a deal breaker for her. 

"Oh, OK, then. So be it."

MovingForwards

Walk away, I'm assuming there are other properties in your budget.

Rambosmum

We had a similar issue which was preventing the sale moving forward. We agreed to store the sellers stuff (much more than a loft full) for 3 months, which was written in to contract. It prevented a lot of hassle for both sides. HOWEVER it sounds like an agreement like this would CAUSE you a lot of hassle with a previous owner who doesn't understand boundaries. 

So for me, it isn't an absolute no in all cases, but in yours it probably would be. 

Grumpy_chap

I agree with others that you can't have an arrangement where the ex-landlord retains access to the loft for an indefinite period.  Your Solicitor is the one to resolve this, but no-one else will complete purchase with such a constraint either.  While a short time-limit would make this more palatable, I am not sure that the Solicitor would even agree to that as "full & vacant possession" is a clear term; anything else just muddies the waters.

Who / what initiated the sale of the rental property?  Did you push for the purchase, or did the landlord initiate the sale to release capital?  If they need the sale, the landlord may be more flexible.  If the landlord does not really want to sell, that may be why this obstacle is being put in place.

I wonder, though, whether you even need to leave the stored stuff in there now.  What type of tenancy are you under?  Is it part of the tenancy agreement that you cannot use the loft?  What access to the loft does the landlord have (given that they should not be traipsing through your home)?

hannah021

wow, that has got to be a joke! So she wants to sell the property but still own the loft? Of course you'd have paid for the loft but gotten nothing out of it! This is not only ridiculous, it is indeed a dealbreaker for you... someone like that is clearly not someone you'd want dealings with. In fact, I'd be shopping for another house to move out as soon as possible and leave her out of business.