Allowing potential viewings

CardiffCrank

Our landlord is selling up and wants to take photos and, presumably carry out viewings. I've checked our lease and there's no obligation on us to allow anyone in to take photographs. The language about viewings is a bit ambiguous though. Just to emphasise - I haven't decided I want to be awkward! I just would like to know in advance what my rights are. Among the tenant responsibilities are:

Within the last two months of the tenancy to permit the Landlord ... to enter and view the Property with prospectives tenants or purchasers, having first given the Tenant 24 hours' notice.

What is "the last two months of the tenancy"? We signed an assured shorthold tenancy agreement for a fixed term, which then rolled on into a periodic tenancy. Surely you couldn't know when the last two months were until the tenancy was over?

Thanks!

movilogo

Check your agreement carefully. It may be written on a way that you have been given fixed 6 months and after that instead of rolling off, it ends. Landlord can serve notice to vacate anytime after the initial period is over unless it is written in a way that notice served already.

Thrugelmir

Work with the LL to give an outcome that's mutually beneficial. Little point in cutting ones nose off to spite ones face. 

CardiffCrank

movilogo said:

Check your agreement carefully. It may be written on a way that you have been given fixed 6 months and after that instead of rolling off, it ends. Landlord can serve notice to vacate anytime after the initial period is over unless it is written in a way that notice served already.

I don't quite follow this - what would I be looking for? The fixed term ended years ago, in case that's relevant. We've been rolling along for ages. So no matter what they intended, that's what happened. If it makes any difference, I know we're the only party who can actually find their copy of the lease...

Thrugelmir said:

Work with the LL to give an outcome that's mutually beneficial. Little point in cutting ones nose off to spite ones face. 

You think I can get them to knock a bit off the rent while this is going on in return for being friendly?

simon_or

CardiffCrank said:

Our landlord is selling up and wants to take and, presumably carry out viewings. I've checked our lease and there's no obligation on us to allow anyone in to take photographs. The language about viewings is a bit ambiguous though. Just to emphasise - I haven't decided I want to be awkward! I just would like to know in advance what my rights are. Among the tenant responsibilities are:

Within the last two months of the tenancy to permit the Landlord ... to enter and view the Property with prospectives tenants or purchasers, having first given the Tenant 24 hours' notice.

What is "the last two months of the tenancy"? We signed an assured shorthold tenancy agreement for a fixed term, which then rolled on into a periodic tenancy. Surely you couldn't know when the last two months were until the tenancy was over?

Thanks!

If there is a need to keep the landlord sweet or you want to avoid trigerring an S21, then it's worth co-operating.

If you don't care either way, then you have plenty of leeway to effectively disallow anyone entering your home other than for emergencies, irrespective of what the tenancy agreement says. The landlord can of course go to court to enforce access, but it's far easier / more likely he'll just use an S21 to start the process to get you out and get on with the sale.

CardiffCrank

simon_or said:

If there is a need to keep the landlord sweet or you want to avoid trigerring an S21, then it's worth co-operating.

If you don't care either way, then you have plenty of leeway to effectively disallow anyone entering your home other than for emergencies, irrespective of what the tenancy agreement says. The landlord can of course go to court to enforce access, but it's far easier / more likely he'll just use an S21 to start the process to get you out and get on with the sale.

Yeah, that's kind of where I thought we were. We are trundling gradually along towards our own purchase, waiting on vendors to respond to enquiries. LL knows we have an offer accepted.

If I were them I would wait until we were out, then get to work with photos of a nice empty house. If they don't want to wait, surely they should just give the S21 now and get us out. Nothing put us off, as buyers, more than seeing a tenant's stuff all over the place and a claim that the property was tenanted until the end of June.

I reckon they're getting ahead of themselves - might try to encourage them to see it my way! What's the point in trying to sell a house with the tenants still in it unless you absolutely need the cash?

Thrugelmir

CardiffCrank said:

You think I can get them to knock a bit off the rent while this is going on in return for being friendly?

Life is what you make it to be. Be confrontational and don't expect any favours at a future date.  Business isn't personal. 

simon_or

CardiffCrank said:

simon_or said:

If there is a need to keep the landlord sweet or you want to avoid trigerring an S21, then it's worth co-operating.

If you don't care either way, then you have plenty of leeway to effectively disallow anyone entering your home other than for emergencies, irrespective of what the tenancy agreement says. The landlord can of course go to court to enforce access, but it's far easier / more likely he'll just use an S21 to start the process to get you out and get on with the sale.

Yeah, that's kind of where I thought we were. We are trundling gradually along towards our own purchase, waiting on vendors to respond to enquiries. LL knows we have an offer accepted.

If I were them I would wait until we were out, then get to work with photos of a nice empty house. If they don't want to wait, surely they should just give the S21 now and get us out. Nothing put us off, as buyers, more than seeing a tenant's stuff all over the place and a claim that the property was tenanted until the end of June.

I reckon they're getting ahead of themselves - might try to encourage them to see it my way! What's the point in trying to sell a house with the tenants still in it unless you absolutely need the cash?

The landlord is trying to have his cake and eat it too.

If you're in conveyancing for your own home, you don't really need to worry about an S21 as that doesn't require you to leave. At the expiry of the S21 the landlord has to apply to the court to evict you and that will definitely take much longer than your conveyancing will.

Unless the landlord's been good to you, I'd just stay put, ignore any S21 and permit viewings only at my convenience.

Slithery

CardiffCrank said:

What is "the last two months of the tenancy"? We signed an assured shorthold tenancy agreement for a fixed term, which then rolled on into a periodic tenancy. Surely you couldn't know when the last two months were until the tenancy was over?

The end date of the tenancy is only fixed when one of two things happen. Either you give correct notice to end the tenancy or the courts grant a possesion order.

CardiffCrank

Slithery said:

CardiffCrank said:

What is "the last two months of the tenancy"? We signed an assured shorthold tenancy agreement for a fixed term, which then rolled on into a periodic tenancy. Surely you couldn't know when the last two months were until the tenancy was over?

The end date of the tenancy is only fixed when one of two things happen. Either you give correct notice to end the tenancy or the courts grant a possesion order.

By that reading, the clause in the lease says that if we give notice, then for the last two months of the notice period (or all of it, if we gave more than two months), we would be obliged to permit viewings. Or between the granting of an order and the date specified on the order for us to leave. Would you agree?