Exchanging contracts with tenant in situ: why vendors unwilling to provide tenancy agreement?

lb00

Hi everyone,

I’m in the process of buying a leasehold flat. There’s a tenant currently living in the flat, and we’ve agreed to exchange contracts now with completion conditional on vacant possession when the tenancy expires in October. This means that after a date specified in the contract, I can walk away at any time and get the deposit back.

We are very close to exchanging contracts, but the vendors have repeatedly refused to satisfy my solicitor's request to see a copy of the tenancy agreement. We naturally require this to understand the type of tenancy and confirm the tenancy end date specified in the agreement. Given that we are committing a sizeable deposit which will be held by the vendor's lawyers, we believe this is crucial information.

The vendors have responded by stating they don’t see why they should provide details regarding the tenancy since we are completing conditional on vacant possession, and they consider the agreement to be private information.

However, my solicitor insists this is essential information, and we also believe this is a very reasonable request. The vendors' reluctance to provide the tenancy agreement is making us uneasy.

What’s your advice?

Thanks!

user1977

When you say the contract will be "conditional" on vacant possession in October, do you mean you (and perhaps the seller) would be entitled to walk away if vacant possession isn't achieved? Or would the seller be locked in and be in breach of contract?

I don't see the tenancy agreement as being "essential" information, however interesting it might be.

Hoenir

Personally I wouldn't be exchanging contracts until the tenant has vacated the property. Nothing to be gained by doing so any earlier.  

eddddy

Essentially, it's your choice whether you (or your solicitor) want to see the tenancy agreement.

Seeing it might (or might not) help you judge the likelihood that the tenants will move out.

But, for example,

• the landlord might have offered the tenants a big lump of cash to move out - irrelevant of what the tenancy agreement says

• or the tenants might have no intention of moving out in October - irrelevant of what the tenancy agreement says

or many other possibilities.


Maybe a more useful thing to do is talk to the tenants, to ask them if they're planning to move out - and judge whether you believe them.


  

lb00

user1977 said:

When you say the contract will be "conditional" on vacant possession in October, do you mean you (and perhaps the seller) would be entitled to walk away if vacant possession isn't achieved? Or would the seller be locked in and be in breach of contract?

I don't see the tenancy agreement as being "essential" information, however interesting it might be.

This means that after a date specified in the contract, I can walk away at any time and get the deposit back.

Yes but I am still getting tied in this transaction and paying a big deposit. That's why I would like to review the tenancy agreement to confirm that the end date is indeed in October, as the estate agent mentioned verbally during the viewing. This is to ensure there's a realistic possibility that the tenant will vacate as expected.

Marvel1

Exchange contracts once they leave, if vendor does not want too, why?

lb00

Hoenir said:

Personally I wouldn't be exchanging contracts until the tenant has vacated the property. Nothing to be gained by doing so any earlier.  

However I've had my offer accepted with these conditions so it wouldn't be easy to renegotiate this now unless I have grounds to do so, which my solicitor believes I could if they don't show us the tenancy agreement.

Also there is the chance that I might get gazumped if I don't exchange now.

Alderbank

There's GDPR for a start.

Some, but not all, tenancy agreements do include a clause where the tenant gives the landlord permission to share the tenant's personal information with third parties, but not all.

You don't have a legal right to any personal information about previous residents of a property you own, however long they lived there.

The vendor might agree to provide you with a blank copy of the agreement they used. Would that do? I can't really see what you plan to do with it.

There's nothing in law to stop you visiting the tenant and asking politely to see their tenancy agreement. You could also have a chat about how you will be happy to forward any mail to them at their new address, etc.

The reception you get from them will probably tell you much more than seeing the tenancy agreement. Never forget that a tenancy can only be ended by the tenant themselves or a court. Don't place any reliance on numbers written on a bit of paper.

PRAISETHESUN

Without seeing the details of the tenancy agreement we can't say for sure, but I'm fairly confident the tenancy won't "expire" in Oct as you put it. Most likely there is a fixed term which ends in Oct, but that by itself doesn't require the tenants to actually leave the property. If they choose to remain, they will automatically move onto a periodic tenancy agreement, as dictated by law, and they continue on the same terms, with the same rights they had initially.

The current LL can't unilaterally end the tenancy, only the tenants themselves or a court can do that. If they refuse to play along then there is a potential for a long and costly eviction process. I personally wouldn't commit to buy a property I intended to actually live in until I could verify for myself that the property had vacant possession.

Ksw3

I could be wrong (hopefully soemone wll correct me), but I don't think the tenancy agreement will have any end date, or at least not one you can rely on since the end of a fixed period does not mean the tenancy ends, it could become a periodic tenancy. Even if you saw the S21 notice that would just be an intention to go to courts. 

I cant see how seeing the tenancy agreement will provide any more security that th tenant will leave than you already have. 

user1977

lb00 said:

user1977 said:

When you say the contract will be "conditional" on vacant possession in October, do you mean you (and perhaps the seller) would be entitled to walk away if vacant possession isn't achieved? Or would the seller be locked in and be in breach of contract?

I don't see the tenancy agreement as being "essential" information, however interesting it might be.

Yes but I am still getting tied in this transaction and paying a big deposit. That's why I would like to review the tenancy agreement to confirm that the end date is indeed in October, as the estate agent mentioned verbally during the viewing. This is to ensure there's a realistic possibility that the tenant will vacate as expected.

Surely the fact the seller is negotiating with you means there's a realistic possibility? Or do you suspect they're actually wasting everybody's time?

The tenancy agreement end date doesn't necessarily mean much - the tenant could cling on for months after that. Or conversely they could be contractually entitled to remain for another year, but informally have agreed with the landlord that they'll leave in October.