Looking to sell house with tenant on 12 month AST agreement

Melthelandlord

Hi Guys....

We are looking to sell our let tenanted house which is currenly 6 months into a 12 month AST contract. The contract that was signed on our behalf by the letting agent does not appear to have any break clauses included. We've always had good, albeit arms length, indirect relationships with our tenants - sending them Christmas cards with vouchers and other goodies that hopefully set us apart from other landlords. We're happy to guarantee the current tenant at least 2 months notice - in writing - when we find a potential buyer, but can anybody advise the legal situation.

We would prefer to market the property with vacant possession to improve the chances of selling it.

Or is it simply that the only way of moving forward on this is to come to an agreement directly with the tenant.

Any constructive suggestions welcome.

:cool:

Gorgeous_George

Melthelandlord wrote: »

Any constructive suggestions welcome.

:cool:

Beware of trolls.

GG

RHemmings

Gorgeous_George wrote: »

Beware of trolls.

Even if the original question is or is not meant in seriousness, we can still discuss it.

If prices start going down, and that's a big if, there are going to be a fair number of landlords with properties they want to sell that have tenants. What happens then?

The OP might first want to discuss things with the tenant. That would mean that:

The tenant has warning what is going to happen. Less chance of bad feeling.

The OP will have some idea as to the tenants thoughts on the matter, helping with planning.

There is the chance to negotiate a flexible end to the tenancy. E.g. allow the tenant to start looking.

The tenant might be interested on offering on the property.

The tenant may have other suggestions.

SouthCoast

I would buy the current property I am living in, but I don't think that my LL and I could ever agree on the price!

Gorgeous_George

Well, in that case, a 12 months tenancy is a 12 months' tenancy. You can sell with a sitting tenant but the market may be limited.

GG

sammy452

I think you should definitely be up front with the tenants and let them know the situation, as mentioned above, you never know they might want to buy the property. If nothing else they will appreciate the way you have gone about it may be more helpful in showing your property to prospective buyers.

bandraoi

So the tenants have six months left?
Are you in a hurry for a sale?
Six months isn't an exceptionally long time from start of marketing to completion of contracts.
Your main problem might be organising viewings.

tbs624

I'm in agreement with Sammy & RHemmings - talking to the Tenants should be your first step.You cannot bring the AST to an early end without their consent, unless you have specific grounds on which to apply for possession such as non-payment of rent etc.

RHemmings

Gorgeous_George wrote: »

Well, in that case, a 12 months tenancy is a 12 months' tenancy. You can sell with a sitting tenant but the market may be limited.

Any contract can be broken by mutual consent. If I bought a fridge and the supplier then couldn't supply, they'd be in breach of contract. But if they offered me £50 compensation, I'd happily take it and go buy somewhere else.

In terms of the rental, it's easier to find a new place to live if you can move out any time you want, compared to if you have a tenancy ending on a particular day. With a bit of a sweetener, perhaps something can be done.

Benefits_Blagger

you need to talk to the tenants, because unless they agree, there is nothing you can do.

the best way to get them to agree is to offer them some kind of incentive.

i think the fairest is if you are willing to give them 2 months notice, is to give them those 2 months rent free.

that would not only give them time to find alternative accomodation, but should help them in moving financialy aswell, especially if there is any resistance to moving it will more than likely be because of the financial implications to them.

lil_me

6 months left is a really short time to find a buyer. Depends where the property is but I know property up here is selling VERY slowly (years not months)

As far as I am aware legally (when I asked for info about my 12 month tenancy) without mutual consent the tenancy could not end until at least the 12 months had passed. The landlord would still need to give 2 months notice also in the 10th month. I agree you should be honest asap with the tenant, however they can also refuse to show possible buyers round etc.

To be honest if my LL did that to me I'd be very angry as we took out the tenancy after agreeing verbally to a long term lease but the EA would only do a 12 month contract. They did say however with the high deposits paid to move in, agreed on the basis that the tenancy was long term, we'd have a good case if they chose to terminate after the 12th months, it was the reason they accepted us and we accepted the landlord. If I had to move and move my sons school again, no doubt that I'd take them to court to reclaim some of the huge cost of moving in, £1800 inc the massive EA fees, we wouldn't have paid it just to spend a year here.