Flat leasehold ending soon but landlord wants to sell

vacheron

AlphaCentauri said:

........The problem here is that a new landlord would want to increase the rents to market rate which would be much higher than what we pay presently.

AlphaCentauri said:

They've been trying to evict me for years but due to my resistance and their inaction, the situation has been stuck in a stalemate; they refused to carry out upgrades to the property and so the rent remained low.

This is the catch 22 situation you are in. You have admitted that the rent is below market rate because the property is "below standard", but you also want the landlord to improve the property to "standard" but keep the rent at the below standard rate.

In this situation, neither party are incentivised. You are not incentivised to pay the higher rate if living in an improved property, and the landlord is not incentivised to improve the property when the tenant only wants to pay a substandard rent, plus what is the point of risking paying for improvements to a property which only has 3 years of lease remaining (and he will probably have known about this expiring lease for years)!

I'm assuming that since he agreed to carry out the boiler and insulation works that the flat is no longer an EPC G property?

EssexHebridean

If the property WAS improved to current rental standards, could you then afford the market value rent? If the answer is no, then this needs to inform how you proceed from here. 

born_again

eddddy said:

One possibility is that the landlord wants to offer you a chunk of money to persuade you to voluntarily move out, so that they can sell the flat empty.

(Or if you want, you could suggest to the landlord that you might voluntarily move out, if the landlord pays you 'compensation for the inconvenience'.)

Or could even be wanting to see if given the time they have lived there, that would they like to buy the property?

AlphaCentauri

Since about 2018 (or earlier even) I was trying to get the landlord to repair the leaking roof, which resulted in a damp, mouldy environment and, with the lack of central heating, made the place unpleasant for the winter months.  As stated, it was an endless tug of war between me and the landlord over rent increases and property repairs.

In 2020, I applied for the Govt Warmer Homes scheme to get GCH and insulation installed.  I qualified. The surveyors assessed the property and gave it a 5G EPC rating, which is practically non-existent.  Obviously, the leaking roof and mould factored into the assessment.  Also, no boiler but a very old, expensive water heater for hot water.  Only electric oil heaters for warmth.  Consequently, the scheme refused the installation citing that the landlord needed to upgrade the property to a D rating in order for me to qualify for the install.

So, early this year 2025, I tried again to apply for another scheme, for which I qualified.  The only issue was the leaking roof, which had to be fixed for work to proceed but the other issues would be upgraded as part of the scheme.  As previously stated, the landlord refused to agree for the scheme to go ahead with the work.  I then contacted the council explaining the situation and they contacted the landlord, who then eventually agreed for the work to go ahead.  This was essentially a dispute over disrepair.

The landlord initially refused to pay for the roof repair and so I had to borrow money to get the work done (£5K).  After the roof repair was completed, the scheme went ahead and installed the GCH and wall/roof insulation.  The landlord did eventually refund me for the roof repair.

AlphaCentauri

FWIW, it's 2 flats above a shop  and we've been here for 20 and 30 years respectively.  The other party recently had a stroke and is now disabled.  Needless to say, he/she doesn't wish to relocate.

AlphaCentauri

We're due to meet the landlord later in the month.  We don't know exactly what they'll say.  Presently, they've only stated 'discuss options'.

GDB2222

One option might be for you to buy the rest of the lease, for which I guess the landlord would want roughly the rent for that period less outgoings like insurance. If so, could you afford it? It would possibly affect any benefits you receive. So, a useful thing to do before you meet is to research that aspect. 

You could also check what rent you would pay if you moved elsewhere, and how you could afford it, perhaps with some help from benefits. 

Apart from that, I can’t really think what preparation you can do for the meeting. 

jimbog

AlphaCentauri said:

We're due to meet the landlord later in the month.  We don't know exactly what they'll say.  Presently, they've only stated 'discuss options'.

Whatever the options don’t be harried into making a decision at the meeting itself

Emmia

born_again said:

eddddy said:

One possibility is that the landlord wants to offer you a chunk of money to persuade you to voluntarily move out, so that they can sell the flat empty.

(Or if you want, you could suggest to the landlord that you might voluntarily move out, if the landlord pays you 'compensation for the inconvenience'.)

Or could even be wanting to see if given the time they have lived there, that would they like to buy the property?

As it's a lease with 3 years left that'll be very expensive overall for the OP, as unless the lease is extended, the property reverts to the freeholder