12 year tenants given 6 month notice

LightFlare

i think you def need to start making plans.

you have at least 6 months

if you dig in too deeply then expect the LL to Increase the rent to as much as he can, which then if you don’t pay or get Into arrears on will give him an easier route to getting a vacated property.

You’ve had 10years of no rent increase - I wouldn’t expect many more “freebies” from the LL

I do sympathise - but you need to start being proactive on finding solutions

Grumpy_chap

Sammythehammy1984 said:

 Sadly we haven't got the deposit together to be able to buy it which is so frustrating 

Do you have any prospect of saving the deposit in a definable timescale?
The LL may be willing to negotiate on timescales and / or price if selling to you is a path of lower resistance.

Bonniepurple

OP, you are very lucky to get 6 months notice-legally you only need 2.  Firstly, talk to the landlord.  Find out why they want to sell, and would paying market rent sway them?  You never know.  Keep them in the loop and you may find that they are flexible and will release you early or let you stay on for a short while if you’re waiting for someone else’s tenancy to expire.

FWIW, I’m autistic, as are both my daughters.  They’ve coped with a big move (different schools) and a more local move where, due to Covid, they weren’t allowed in the house until move day.  Involve both your children in the decision making, and make sure that they are prepared for the process.  

Bookworm105

LightFlare said:

if you dig in too deeply then expect the LL to Increase the rent to as much as he can, which then if you don’t pay or get Into arrears on will give him an easier route to getting a vacated property.

You’ve had 10years of no rent increase - I wouldn’t expect many more “freebies” from the LL

my sentiment too 

macman

But you haven't yet been given notice. That only starts when you received a valid S21: and very often they are not valid.
Notice cannot be given by way of a phone call from the LA. Only an S21 starts the clock.
Yu cannot seriously expect your LL to gift you a deposit: that would be in the region of 20K to 30K depending on the value? And, as you say, your rent is probably half of what it should be if no increase in 12 years, so you have already had the benefit of a susbtantial saving which might have gone towards your deposit.
The son's condition may bump you up the LA priority list for emergency housing if you decide to sit tight and wait for eviction, but not until then and you actually have a repossession order served, which would probably be a year away if you have been given a full 6 months notice.The length of your tenancy is not relevant to the notice period. Assuming you are now out of a contractual tenancy and into a periodic one, the notice required from service of an S21 is 2 months.

Mr.Generous

12 years with no rent increases? The landlord must be mad. Time to take some ownership I'm afraid. It's going to be down to you not the landlord. Hang on until eviction - and get stuck into temporary accomodation by the council? Be pro-active. Defo talk to the landlord. If its EPC worry, have a look yourself at the certificate and see what can be done. It won't be CGT - left it too late for that. If it's because they have let the rent fall so far behind and they feel harsh or awkward raising it maybe as R Hemmings suggested you could offer a substantial increase. Anything below market rate is a bonus for you. If they are retiring and just want out then they could sell to another landlord with a sitting tenant - but honestly that won't happen at 50% of market rent.

BonaDea

Perhaps you could approach the LL and see if you could buy it off him in a private sale, by instalments?  Instead of needing a deposit + mortgage you'd pay him a monthly amount over a number of years, to be agreed between you and secured by a contract.  Years ago I knew someone who did this (in Yorkshire, coincidentally).  

TheJP

BonaDea said:

Perhaps you could approach the LL and see if you could buy it off him in a private sale, by instalments?  Instead of needing a deposit + mortgage you'd pay him a monthly amount over a number of years, to be agreed between you and secured by a contract.  Years ago I knew someone who did this (in Yorkshire, coincidentally).  

Which is pretty much the same as the LL increasing rent, why would he sell the house this way. We don't know the circumstances of the LL and why he is selling, usually means he needs the cash or doesn't want to be an LL anymore.

BonaDea

TheJP said:

BonaDea said:

Perhaps you could approach the LL and see if you could buy it off him in a private sale, by instalments?  Instead of needing a deposit + mortgage you'd pay him a monthly amount over a number of years, to be agreed between you and secured by a contract.  Years ago I knew someone who did this (in Yorkshire, coincidentally).  

Which is pretty much the same as the LL increasing rent, why would he sell the house this way. We don't know the circumstances of the LL and why he is selling, usually means he needs the cash or doesn't want to be an LL anymore.

If we don't know the circumstances of the LL and why he is selling, as you say, why assume as you do that there's no point to asking?  Why would he sell the house this way, you ask - well, why wouldn't he?  Neither you nor I know what his intentions are.  

Myci85

Good advice in talking to your landlord to find out circumstances for selling. If there is a chance they could delay selling, how quickly could you save up a deposit? I'm aware we were very lucky in ending up with over 2 years notice from our landlady of her intentions to sell, but when we realised our options were to move into another rental and pay pretty much double what our rent was, or work our butts off saving as much as we could to buy our own place (we literally had no savings at that point) we decided to save hard. We'd been renting forever thinking we had no room to save, but it's amazing what you can put by if you really need to. Can you take on additional jobs? Do you have a skill/talent to give you a side hustle? You can earn a certain amount per tax year on this without even having to declare it. If you are under 40, open a LISA account with £1 ASAP, and if you can save £4000 per tax year, gov will add 25% on top. I did this spanning 3 tax years (but within 2 actual years) and that was our £15k deposit.