I am aware that the ‘No Fault Eviction’ in Section 21 has been discussed to death and all the information on the www were from a tenant’s perspective. As a Landlord I’m more concerned about how the legislation will affect me if and when I need to sell my property to release cash. I have nightmares that I won’t be able to sell my property at all when the legislation kicks in. Am I over reacting?
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Personally, I think it is a case of checking on amendments to the White Paper as it goes through the House of Commons and the House of Lords. At the moment it looks as though it will be some months at least before new tenants gain security of tenure, and a year longer for existing tenants.
I think there will be many Section 21 notices served in the coming months.
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The white paper includes a proposal for a new section 8 ground for landlords selling up.
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That is absolutely true, but it will be interesting to see what amendments are made to that ground as it passes through the House of Commons.
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@Lilian & @David, Thanks for your feedback. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. My take is that surely the Government cannot take away one’s right to sell one’s property? Are we living in a Communist State???
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as said in Dads Army . Don t panic . Don t panic.
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You will be able to sell your house, but a sitting tenant would greatly reduce its value. The Government is saying at the moment that if you want to sell your house, that you will be able to give the tenant notice to quit after they have lived there for a period of time. There may be strings attached to doing that - we shall have to see.
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Mmnnn. What do they mean by ‘after they have lived there for a period of time’? I guess there are thousands of landlords out there so I’m not alone. I think I will sell up when my tenants leave.
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The proposal at the moment is that after the tenants have lived in the property for six months, the landlord could give them notice that they wish to the sell the property, but this could change as the proposed legislation passes through the House of Commons and House of Lords.
The proposed penalty for not selling after using that ground to obtain possession of your property is that you will not be able to market or relet your flat for three months. However, that proposal may change. The Government wants to encourage landlords to sell with sitting tenants. They have said:
“We encourage any landlord who wishes to sell their property to consider selling with sitting tenants which may provide an easier and faster solution”
The rule in Scotland now is that if a tenant thinks that they were misled into moving out, they can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for a “wrongful termination order” If the Tribunal gives the order it can award up to six months rent in compensation.
Landlords in Scotland also have to provide evidence that they intend to sell up such as a letter from a solicitor or estate agent.
The other point to bear in mind is that Labour has suggested that they could give tenants the right to buy their private rented accommodation at a discount from Landlords. The next election is due to be held on 2nd May 2024, although I believe that the Prime Minister now has powers to call an earlier vote. Latest odds apparently do suggest a 2024 election.
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Thanks again for the very useful info. I can sleep a bit better now that I know I can sell my property all be it, subject to conditions.
Worth noting, too, that in Scotland, the right to regain possession if you wanted to sell the house was originally mandatory, but it is now discretionary. This means that the First-tier Tribunal (Housing and Property Chamber) can use discretion. They’ll consider all circumstances of a case when deciding whether or not to grant an eviction.
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I read that if you are selling you can give them notice. If given plenty of notice I dont see why they complain anyway. I gave my tenants 2 months notice. They were fine with it. They left sooner so went on the market earlier than expected.
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Simply outrageous. How on earth can they impose such conditions on a private property owner, or do they propose to make up the difference between the discounted selling price and realistic market value.
It gets worse…!
This just shows how desperate the government is to need to control the PRS to such degrees.
If they keep this up, the PRS will eventually disappear.
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If my tenant wants to buy the property I would probably give them a small discount, say 1% or something reasonable. However, I fear that landlords may be forced to give the same discount rate the Council. I’ll definitely sell my properties or move to AirBNB.
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For over 20 years, private landlords have purchased a major portion of lower price property. Meanwhile, immigration, both legal and illegal has massively increased the population to over 72M, causing a severe housing shortage. This incompetent government is unable to find a genuine solution to those two problems. Consequently, as usual, they will pick the easiest target to manipulate the figures in their favour. These new laws will make landlords sell up in droves, releasing a swathe of properties onto the private market and thereby reduce prices. Additionally housing associations will fold when, under new laws, they have to sell homes to tenants at knock-down prices. These sell-offs will be recorded as affordable new homes. The government will take credit, then pass the buck for rental shortages onto local councils, who will have to raise taxes to provide additional rentals. Private landlords are the easy target, and will once again be a future rarity.
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google how much housing assoc. are owed in rent !!
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