Urgent help needed -- Landlord a complete nightmare

Voyager2002

Please encourage your daughter to join this thread.

Firstly, if she is unemployed and seeking work then she should claim benefit (Universal Credit). Unless her savings amount to more than £16,000 she would have most of her rent paid; be exempt from some of her council tax and receive NI credits (count towards her eventual pension).

Secondly, it does not really matter what her tenancy contract says, since the landlord-tenant relationship is governed by law (and anything in an agreement that goes against the law has no force). The law gives her the right to refuse viewings in her home. The law does NOT give her the right to pass on the tenancy to someone else: the landlord indicated that she would allow this but is not legally obliged by this.

As for the landlord's rather strange behaviour over "assigning" the tenancy to someone new: evidently she would prefer to sell the property and realises that if there is a new tenant then it will be far more difficult to sell the property with vacant possession, but still wants to receive rent until the moment when the property is sold. Your daughter could easily make the sale impossible (if she tells the estate agent marketing the property that she is the sitting tenant then the agent will not bother marketing the property).

steampowered

The landlord does not have to accept a break of the tenancy.

However, your daughter does not have to co-operate with the sale. Your daughter has a right to "quiet enjoyment" of the property which overrides anything in the tenancy agreement. 

I would simply refuse to show potential buyers around the property unless a break is agreed. 

canaldumidi

Dougalina said:

Hi thanks for replying.  Her tenancy states that she is obliged to show viewers around as long as there is 24 hours notice.

The thing is,the contract says she can leave early as long as she finds a replacement tenant at her own expense, which she has done, but now the LL wont sign it over to new tenant. 

If she does not agree to the viewings, then would she get evicted?  And if she is, then would that mean she did not have to pay the remaining months rent?  If so, eviction would be a good thing!

1) Unenforceable. She should change the locks and not permit access for estate agent's photos, viewings, survey etc.

2) Please quote the exact words regarding leaving early.

3) No. The LL's only recourse would be to apply to court for a court order making her comply with the contract clause and permit access. The court would not make such an order since the tenancy has another 5 months to run so it is unreasonable to interfere with the tenant's right to 'Quiet Enjoyment' of the property. The LL would have to pay the court costs and the tenant's costs for defending the application. Whilst judgess decisions can never be 100% predicted, in this case (5 months left on tenancy) it is 99% predictable.

If she were evicted (won't happen) then rent would not be due.

This is how easy/cheap it is to change the lock:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXAo7zSN-9o

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=+utube+how+change+mortice+lock&t=ffsb&atb=v1-1&iax=videos&ia=videos&iai=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIPyqtOmprE

GDB2222

I agree with the others that the clause requiring your daughter to allow viewings is unenforceable. However, even if it were enforceable, I doubt that the clause also requires her to wear any clothes during the viewings. Boiling fish (smoked haddock, in particular) is a good tactic. Making love on the sofa is good, too. 

However, as others have said, change the locks, and refuse to allow viewings. 

I'd like to know more about the clause that allows the tenant to choose their own successor. That's pretty unusual. Could you type it out, please? Normally, I'd expect the LL to have a right to vet the new tenant, but there's an implied term that the LL will act reasonably, which this LL does not appear to be doing.

Your daughter might be wise to spend some money on a solicitor to have a look at the contract and send a suitably strongly worded letter to the LL. It may be that the LL has broken the contract, and your daughter can simply stop paying rent and leave.

Schwarzwald

LL not obliged to accept the alternative tenant.

Your daugher not obliged to assist with the sales process and viewing.

LL wants to sell the property. Typically takes 4-6 months.
Remaining tenancy is 5 months.
Your daugther indicated that she wants to leave the property asap.

LL seems to simply trying to keep her rental income for as long as possible / as close as possible to selling the property. Say it completes in 6 months, and your daughter pays rent for another 5 months, she only has one void month with apparently very little risk that your daughter stays in the property. She indicated wanting to move.

Accepting a new tenant therefore worsens the LL position, at least it increases her risk that the new tenant does not move out at the end of the 5 month tenancy.

From a commercial perspective, it seems not unreasonable for the LL to act in this way.

However, as others pointed our, your daughter has leverage and power by not assisting with the sale, i.e. not to allow the viewings.

Probable course of action I would take: make sure the Landlord understands that there will be no further viewings until the end of tenancy is being brought forward to lets say in 1-2 months.

Landlord can then decide to pause the sale until end of tenancy in 5 months or agree to shorten the tenancy, lose 3 months rental income but can proceed with the sale as your daughter will allow viewings.

Good luck