Landlord selling my home

marleneb1

I've rented my home for 27 years on a shorthold assured tenancy and am an exemplary tenant. Now myblandlord, who lives in Australia, has told me she plans to sell the property ASAP.  I'm now 71 years old and in poor health so this news is very worrying. What rights, if any, do I have and what should I do? Many thanks for any advice.

[Deleted User]

marleneb1 said:

I've rented my home for 27 years on a shorthold assured tenancy and am an exemplary tenant. Now myblandlord, who lives in Australia, has told me she plans to sell the property ASAP.  I'm now 71 years old and in poor health so this news is very worrying. What rights, if any, do I have and what should I do? Many thanks for any advice.

Shorthold Assured Tenancy?  You get Short Assured Tenancies in Scotland and Assured Shorthold Tenancies in England and Wales.  Can you confirm which you have as although they sound similar from a legal point of view they are completely different?

[Deleted User]

You might have an "Assured Tenancy" if the original agreement was signed before 28 February 1997 and not replaced with an AST:

https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Difference_between_assured_shorthold_tenancy_and_assured_tenancy

marleneb1

It's an assured shorthold tenancy 

AdrianC

Then your rights are the same as any other tenant on an AST. The length of your tenure, your age, your health are not a factor.

The landlord has to issue valid s21 notice, which is currently six months. They must have all their other paperwork in order for the s21 to be valid.

If you believe the notice is invalid, then your best bet is to keep quiet, and wait for it to expire. That does not mean you MUST move. You are still in the property legally.
The landlord will take steps to regain possession through the courts, which will take a year or more. When it reaches court, unless the notice is fully legal, you WILL win - and the landlord will be back to step one, having to reissue notice.
You remain in the property fully legally right up until the day the court grants the landlord possession, following correctly-issued notice.

marleneb1

Does it matter that I haven't had a tenancy agreement for the past 15 years? The landlord told me it was periodic from that point. His partner inherited the property on his death 5 years ago, although I still pay the rent into a bank account in his name!

easterbunni

Do you know if your landlord is planning to sell with 'tenant in situ'?

[Deleted User]

That just means that the agreement you signed 15 years ago is still in place, on a rolling basis.

If the landlord does sell the property, that doesn't automatically end your tenancy.  The new owner would become your landlord.   So ideally your landlord would sell the property with you still resident.

[Deleted User]

marleneb1 said:

Does it matter that I haven't had a tenancy agreement for the past 15 years? The landlord told me it was periodic from that point. His partner inherited the property on his death 5 years ago, although I still pay the rent into a bank account in his name!

You have had a tenancy agreement for the past 15 years.  You pay rent in exchange for exclusive occupation of the property ergo a tenancy agreement exists.  Furthermore, it is perfectly acceptable to have a periodic tenancy, either contractual or statutory, following the end of a fixed term. 

What is not acceptable however under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 S3 is for a new landlord not to write to you to inform you of his/her acquisition of the property within (usually) two months.  Failure to do so is a criminal offence so did your current landlord do this?

Your landlord is also required to provide you with an address for the serving of notices and that address must be in England or Wales.

As for your rights as a tenant then the sticky at the top of the board Tenancies in Eng/Wales: Guides for landlords and tenants is a good place to start particularly 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?

AdrianC

marleneb1 said:

Does it matter that I haven't had a tenancy agreement for the past 15 years? The landlord told me it was periodic from that point.

That is still a tenancy - the last one you signed has been in force for the last 16 years...

His partner inherited the property on his death 5 years ago, although I still pay the rent into a bank account in his name!

Then your actual landlord is going to find it very difficult to issue valid notice from beyond the grave...

One question - since your landlord is/was not UK resident, do you withhold the income tax from the rent and pay it to HMRC on their behalf, or are/were they registered under HMRC's non-resident landlord scheme?
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/paying-tax-on-rent-to-landlords-abroad

marleneb1

No I was simply told my landlord had died and left his estate to his partner. She has visited the property on a couple of occasions. When I voiced my concern about continuing to pay rent into a deceased person's bank account, she said it was for tax avoidance. 
I think she will probably try to sell with us in the property but I think that might be difficult especially in the current climate.