We're renting a house that is for sale, what to do?

hopeitwill

Hi everyone,

We recently pulled out buying the house we were renting, and the house is put on the market by the landlord like we expected, but there is nothing on the listing about it being rented at the moment and it says available now. (not sure if that means available to be sold?)

Of course we do not want to make it any more difficult than it could be for anyone in this, because we would also like to buy a house somewhere else, but how does this affect a prospective buyer if they want to move in right after completing if they complete fairly quickly?

Do we have 6 months from the moment the landlord gives us an eviction note due to covid? Do the new owners become our landlord and gives us the note? What about the rental contract because we're on a rolling contract? The landlord has not mentioned anything about these as of yet.

hazyjo

If they intended selling with tenants in situ, it would (presumably) say that on the particulars.

A buyer will need you out before exchange - let alone completion (presuming they'll be living in it). Anyone would be mad (or optimistic) to start spending too much with tenants still in place!

Six months' notice, presuming it's been served correctly. And that's just notice they want you out. The LL can't evict you without going through courts etc if you're not willing/ ready to go.

Or of course you could try to come to a (substantial) financial agreement...

Scotbot

Unless they sell it to a cash buyer or  another landlord with a BTL mortgage it has to be sold with vacant posession prior to completion. You also have to give permission for viewings, has anyone spoken to you about this? I would discuss the issue with the agent so they are aware of your position and can advise any potential buyer.

dimbo61

So the Landlord explained to you several months ago that they wanted to sell the property and offered it to you ?
You don't want the property/ Can't afford the property ?
You have been living in the property for over 6 months as the shortest AST is 6 months and your now on a periodic tenancy !
Now there are Landlords out there buying tenanted properties but the current LL is limiting his market if he sells with a tenant/s Insitu.
Yes the LL needs to serve an S21 and it's now 6 months not 2 before they can begin the eviction process.
You could still be in the property in 12 months time.
Meanwhile you have this hanging over your head and need to find a new home.
Maybe if the LL was willing to help ££££ you to move you could reach agreement.
Carry on paying your rent and with Covid19 restrictions you are well within your rights to decline all viewings.

hopeitwill

Thank you all, as I said we really don't want to make this difficult any more than it can be. It would probably feel like extortion, settling for money from the landlord, that would be a last resort for us if at all.

Nobody has asked us about giving permission for viewings but LL has probably thought it would be ok as we work from home.

dimbo61 said:

So the Landlord explained to you several months ago that they wanted to sell the property and offered it to you ?
You don't want the property/ Can't afford the property ?
You have been living in the property for over 6 months as the shortest AST is 6 months and your now on a periodic tenancy !
Now there are Landlords out there buying tenanted properties but the current LL is limiting his market if he sells with a tenant/s Insitu.
Yes the LL needs to serve an S21 and it's now 6 months not 2 before they can begin the eviction process.
You could still be in the property in 12 months time.
Meanwhile you have this hanging over your head and need to find a new home.
Maybe if the LL was willing to help ££££ you to move you could reach agreement.
Carry on paying your rent and with Covid19 restrictions you are well within your rights to decline all viewings.

 And thanks dimbo61, we actually have started with the purchase but pulled out because new neighbours moved next door after we started the process and they are neighbours from hell, we simply could not continue with the purchase knowing how that affected us (or me mostly, I am very sensitive to noise). Thank god for this forum!

We have been living here for more than 3 years, never had problems paying the rent. No damage in the property either, just normal living.

I think I am just surprised that the listings do not mention about the house being occupied although I guess that attracts more buyers, only to be told on the phone that the house isn't vacant. And, nobody including us can promise it will be, as we don't know if we'd complete on a house before the buyer of our rental does. And they won't be able to seeing from your comments if they would like to move in unless they want to rent it.

greatcrested

Scotbot said:

Unless they sell it to a cash buyer or  another landlord either with or without a BTL mortgage it has to be sold with vacant posession prior to completion. You also have to give permission for viewings, has anyone spoken to you about this? I would discuss the issue with the agent so they are aware of your position and can advise any potential buyer.

If it is sold to another landlord, there is no impact on you or your tenancy other than a new landlord and new payment details (bank details). The old/new LLs must inform you - Landlord & Tenant Act 1985 S3.

If sold to a new owner-occupier, your current LL will need to evict you before the sale. That currently means serving you a S21 Notice (currently 6 months) and then applying to court for possession (currently around another 4+ months)..

Read your tenancy agreement regardng access for viewings, but commonly it allows access for the final 2 months of the tenancy which as you can see is not for some time to come. And even then you could chooses to deny acces and in practical terms there is little the LL could do.

Suseka97

You say you want to leave, looking to purchase your own home - so I don't see why this can't be relatively straightforward.  It would be different if you were not willing to leave of course.  Now you've pulled out of the purchase, noting your previous thread on this topic, are you looking at other properties?  Perhaps have that conversation with your LL and work with him to agree viewings (at your convenience/discretion) and be clear that the sale will need to tie in with your onward purchase.  

I'm not sure why this would need to go down the 'eviction' route if you are actually looking to leave anyway - perhaps I misunderstand the issues.

FTB_Help

Suseka97 said:

You say you want to leave, looking to purchase your own home - so I don't see why this can't be relatively straightforward.  It would be different if you were not willing to leave of course.  Now you've pulled out of the purchase, noting your previous thread on this topic, are you looking at other properties?  Perhaps have that conversation with your LL and work with him to agree viewings (at your convenience/discretion) and be clear that the sale will need to tie in with your onward purchase.  

I'm not sure why this would need to go down the 'eviction' route if you are actually looking to leave anyway - perhaps I misunderstand the issues.

Im with you on this too

As you pulled out of buying because of your neighbours, surely it means you don't want to live there full stop (renting or owning), otherwise you should have just bought it?

If your LL doesnt sell for a long while and you don't find somewhere to buy for a long while too, will you continue to live there and put up with the neighbours?

Speak to the LL, allow viewings to take place as it sounds you want out anyway so make it easy for your LL to sell

hopeitwill

Suseka97 said:

You say you want to leave, looking to purchase your own home - so I don't see why this can't be relatively straightforward.  It would be different if you were not willing to leave of course.  Now you've pulled out of the purchase, noting your previous thread on this topic, are you looking at other properties?  Perhaps have that conversation with your LL and work with him to agree viewings (at your convenience/discretion) and be clear that the sale will need to tie in with your onward purchase.  

I'm not sure why this would need to go down the 'eviction' route if you are actually looking to leave anyway - perhaps I misunderstand the issues.

No no, you're not misunderstanding, it's the timescales I was wondering about. Because if we could not complete on a house before the new owner of this place would like to, then what would happen? Landlord is really eager to sell. And in any case, of course we would like to move, we're avidly looking at the moment.

numbercruncher8

Most likely nothing would happen, unless the notice was issued correctly and a court date was set for possession.

A lot of things are stacked in your favour at the moment - the notice you have to give to legally get out is much shorter than what the landlord would have to give.

That being said if you don't have anywhere lined up it would be best to assert your rights early. Personally I think the landlord has gone down this route unaware of their obligations. Seen a few times on the forums where some want to get paid rent right up to exchange of contracts.

The landlord being really eager to sell is not your problem, as the sale pretty much will have to complete at your pace assuming you don't take years to buy a new place.

Mutton_Geoff

hopeitwill said:

Thank you all, as I said we really don't want to make this difficult any more than it can be. It would probably feel like extortion, settling for money from the landlord, that would be a last resort for us if at all.

Why would it feel like that? Years ago, I was in a rented flat and the landlord owned the whole building and wanted to sell it for conversion back to a single family home. I was the last "sitting" tenant. The landlord happily refunded me all of the rent I'd paid in the last 18 months I'd been there to get me to leave. It was purely a business decision from their point of view.