Can I let the Sellers stay in the house for 3 weeks?

Rugby_Girl_2

Hello,
I'm looking for some advice please. I had an offer accepted on a house on 21st Feb... this was before the Stamp Duty Holiday extension was announced on the 3rd March, so we initially never expected to get any Stamp Duty relief.

Our sellers are emigrating to America in mid-July, once the school term has finished and were upfront that they wouldn't want to move out before then. However, with the opportunity to save £15k on Stamp Duty, could I ask them to complete at the end of June, but let them stay in the house for 3 weeks until they emigrate? (We are currently in rented, so it would be fine for us).

I know there are issues around leaving the house in "Vacant possession", which I asked my mortgage broker to contact the lender about. The lender implied they would be OK with it for a few weeks, however they wouldn't be able to put anything in writing.

If anyone has experienced anything similar, or has any advice, I would love to hear! 

Thank you.

FaceHead

What if they don't leave? Their purchase falls through, job falls through or any number of personal circumstances in someone else's life we can't even imagine. Where would you live while you go to court to try to get them evicted over the next couple of years, and pay your mortgage too?

I can't see a lender being happy with that - if you are buying a property with a tenant in situ they would usually want you to have a buy to let mortgate, for which you might not qualify and will be more expensive. 

After the stamp duty cliff, the house will be less valuable, so you should let them know that if they don't complete by the stamp duty deadline, your offer is revised to x.

They can decide if they want to move, accept the offer, or remarket in the knowledge their house is now worth less. 

Edit: or perhaps your offer is if they do complete by the stamp duty deadline, then your offer is increased to y. 

hippocrates1

No don’t do it. Plus your mortgage won’t allow it. They have no obligation to leave if you let them stay.

dimbo61

For 3 weeks they can stay with family or rent an airbnb.
They need to get rid of anything they don't want to transport to the USA and will have to pack the rest into a storage container for shipping to the USA.
You need vacant possession to complete and your solicitor and Lender would tell you this.
Push for completion before the stamp duty holiday ends 

AdrianC

FaceHead said:

What if they don't leave?

^ This, with bells on.

What are the odds that the Coronavirus situation prevents their move proceeding as expected? High. Even if it's as simple as a postal mess-up meaning they don't get test results within the required pre-flight window.

Are they US nationals? If not, what about a hiatus because of their visa status?

You cannot easily get shot of them. If you work on the basis that it's an assumed AST, then you cannot issue six months s21 notice until six months after completion, and then there's a year or so queue for a possession hearing. And the notice will fail because you haven't done all the start-of-tenancy paperwork.

Then you face the reality that you are in a sale-and-rent-back situation, which is an FCA regulated activity. Basically, it's illegal.

Meanwhile, having refused to put anything in writing, your mortgage point out that you are in breach of your terms.

If this all goes pear-shaped, that £15k SDLT bill will look like the easy option.

theartfullodger

Clearly you can (it's possible) but please don't, 'orrible legal situation likely.  Don't!

Rugby_Girl_2

Thank you everyone for the quick responses. This place is brilliant! Based on your responses, it's very clear that it's not an option to let them stay in the property. It's a shame that they aren't leaving in June, but c'est la vie.

GaleSF63

Paying for them to stay in a Travelodge/Premier Inn/airbnb or similar for 3 weeks would cost you a great deal less than what you would lose on stamp duty relief.

Scotbot

GaleSF63 said:

Paying for them to stay in a Travelodge/Premier Inn/airbnb or similar for 3 weeks would cost you a great deal less than what you would lose on stamp duty relief.

Rugby_Girl_2 said:

Thank you everyone for the quick responses. This place is brilliant! Based on your responses, it's very clear that it's not an option to let them stay in the property. It's a shame that they aren't leaving in June, but c'est la vie.

Tell them you want to complete by end of June or you will reduce the offer by the stsmp duty amount. That will gain their attention pretty quickly, they will be concerned about not completing before they leave the UK 

Suseka97

Rugby_Girl_2 said:

Our sellers are emigrating to America in mid-July, once the school term has finished and were upfront that they wouldn't want to move out before then. However, with the opportunity to save £15k on Stamp Duty, could I ask them to complete at the end of June, but let them stay in the house for 3 weeks until they emigrate? (We are currently in rented, so it would be fine for us).

They say they 'wouldn't want to' but have you checked whether they would do, or as has been said, revise the price downwards?  Of course I don't know if the property has been priced with a premium due to the SDLT freeze, if not then they are not likely to reduce.  You can only ask, but as you said you were looking at a time when you didn't expect to benefit from the SDLT holiday, if you really want this house then perhaps be prepared to pay it.  They don't have to agree and you can of course continue to look elsewhere.

With that said, we would have preferred to tie our sale in with our purchase - but that wasn't going to work for our buyers, so we sold and moved in to an Airbnb for 3 weeks, so its doable for them if not desirable.

martindow

I would say that for someone going abroad, moving out a little earlier is easier than for most people.  Their belongings are going to need to be packed into containers for transporting or put in storage here if they are leaving stuff behind.  It is not an extra expense as it normally would be and it is most likely that an employer is covering the cost in any case.