Landlord has sold our house.Advice please!

Tenant Discussion
1

So we have lived in our current house for 4 years . Our landlord told us in July that he is selling the house. Gave us the section 21 notice with the 4 months notice.
The next week, estate agent valued the house, couple days later viewings started. I had to arrange all the viewings with the estate agents & got kicked out my own home when people came to look round.
I had 3 viewings in 1 day & then 2 the day after.
(This was really bloody hard for me as we LOVE our home so much & I’m heartbroken having to leave)
One couple came for second viewing a day later. They have now brought it so the house has sold & we now have 2 months left to find somewhere which is proving incredibly hard & really rubbish.
Last week the people who have brought it wanted to come again with extra family members too. I said no just because we had just had a no about a new house & I was really struggling. I told the estate agent that they couldn’t come anytime soon… they turned up anyway with the estate agent!! She said the landlord told them they could come anyway !
So today I’ve had another call from the estate agent about the new owners mortgage calculation survey & how it’s my responsibility to arrange with them when they can come & do it! Is this right???
I’ve got to rearrange my day to help out all these people that are making me, my partner & 3 kids homeless???

Also what is the process IF we haven’t found somewhere to live before the date on the section 21??

2

I would not have let them in with other family members,the cheeky beggars. Tell the surveyor he will have to make do with an outside survey

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3

So:

No, it’s not your responsibility to arrange, let in, show around or view the place. You are obliged to allow reasonable access, with notice. Normally, you would give the agent a few times when you are happy for them to come and they would follow that.

You are well within your rights to say no to any more viewings from the buyers. They have viewed it twice, no more is necessary. Definitely not with family members. This breaches your quiet enjoyment of the place.

Give access to the mortgage survey guy. You are not required to lose any pay or have expenses for this. The landlord must reimburse you and should really have made arrangements with you.

Good thing for you is that your tenancy will follow with the house, i.e. if your are still in situ the new buyers will be your new landlord. You don’t need to be in any hurry as they cannot evict you until it’s been to court. However, if you find a new home soon you can make an arrangement with the landlord (whoever that is) to possibly help with moving costs, deposit etc.

Don’t stop paying rent!

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Landlord has already complained to my partner about me “making things difficult & if she carries on, I’ll make your lives more difficult” this was to do with me letting slip to the estate agents he has been ignoring my next door neighbours calls about a dispute about a fence. Which they had no idea about.
I feel I’ve been more than fair with the viewings etc. This surveyor pushed me over the edge today! Telling Me I have to watch a covid video, open every window in my house & they can’t tell me a time they will actually be here. Again, I’m stressing about something that’s nothing to do with me!
We certainly won’t stop paying rent & we are doing everything we possibly can to find somewhere but as I’m sure you all know, it’s sooooo tough at the moment. We’ve applied for 6, only got the chance to look at 2.
We did get accepted for the 2nd one but we HAD to turn it down as it was far to expensive for a crappy house to be honest & in the wrong area for kids school & my work.
I really feel the landlord & new buyers are not expecting any trouble or hassle from us but if we haven’t got somewhere else to live then what choice do we have!?
The landlord obviously wants nothing to do with any of it & is just waiting fo the house sale money to turn up in his bank account.

5

So, I’m a landlord myself and I think it’s always best to get along with my tenants and talk about things. Give and take.

You should start recording/writing down everything you have been asked to do, when, where etc. Do not accept the LL complaining about you to your partner. That is not acceptable and breaches his responsibilities.

I would write to the landlord directly, possibly cc the agent in, and outline that you will be home these three times, X and X and X and that is when he should arrange the surveyor for. If you’re not happy to watch the video etc. and follow their covid guidelines then don’t. I think you should as it keeps you and others safe, but you have no legal duty to do so. Also outline to the LL in writing that no more viewings will take place as you have been through enough.

You must understand that it is not being difficult if you demand to be treated with respect. Don’t allow the LL to rush you to find a house/flat you don’t like - you have a lot of time before he can evict you (over a year at the current pace in courts).

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Thanks per!
I’m not trying to be difficult at all. This is all new to me & we are heartbroken about all this happening now.
We live in a 5 bed house with a huge garden for £875!!!
We’ve been incredibly lucky & looking at smaller houses, no garden, our kids having to probably share rooms for over £1200 feels absolutely brutal.
I absolutely will not allow any more viewings, they’ve been 3 times not each time with various other family members. It’s very upsetting. But landlord & agents don’t care!

7

that is exactly why he wants to sell ,big house big money. If you were a landlord in his position you would probably do the same in the current market. However I would stand your ground , keep paying and stay put till you find another place

8

Sounds like a bloody liberty. Why didn’t you just say no from the beginning to everything. It is absolutely not your responsibility to do anything. You have enough on your plate finding somewhere to live. If anyone shows up again just refuse access. By the way, I speak as a landlord.

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9

the way to look at it is we had a great time for 5 years now we have to move on… It is difficult to get your head around it. I had to do the same in selling my place with a huge garden , a river thru the grounds, in a beautifull valley, downsizeing to a less lovely place… Sometimes we have to do somthing that we really do not want to do… If you keep looking , (took me a year) something will turn up and this will be a distant memory. As David says enough is enough

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Thank you David & Colin.

11

The Human Rights Legislation assures you of quite enjoyment of your home. You are not obliged to allow any one entry into your home until a court order for possession is granted. This would be required at the end of the section 21 Notice and so would give you further time to find somewhere else to live.
It is a pity that the landlord did not negotiate with you at the start of the process. You may now like to suggest negotiation now. If the sale takes place before an order for possession seek a negotiation with the new owners.

12

Entry for inspection and in connection with a sale is usually (and should be) a right reserved to the landlord in the tenancy agreement, and has nothing to do with possession which has very specific meanings at law.
Having said that, if the tenant refuses entry the landlord can only overcome that refusal by an order of the court because otherwise they would be open to an accusation of harassment.
If your tenancy is still running (and it is still running until the landlord obtains a court order - heaven alone knows how long that will take) the new owners of the property have absolutely no rights whatsoever to do anything to or in the house. Nothing. They can’t even come in to measure up for curtains. They have not bought the house. They have bought the landlord’s rights to the house which are entirely subject to your tenancy until possession is ordered by the court. All the new owners can do is look at the house from the street. You could try to negotiate a new tenancy agreement but if they won’t do that you should carry on house hunting and leave them to apply to the court. If they harass you give them this link: How to deal with harassment from landlords or agents - Shelter England

BTW I am a landlord (Oh how I hate that description).

13

Well there’s a lot of stress but the landlord has given you four months notice which is twice the normal the landlord has to give.

As stressful as it is and the market is not particularly good at the moment if you’re looking for nice places because all will have higher rents, you really have to bite the bullet and except that due process has been followed.

There is no need for you to be in when the surveyor comes. If they give you a certain time which is inconvenient. Then give them times which are convenient to you and let them work around you.

Yes it’s true you have to open all windows and to make sure that you actually protect your family as well by doing this.

The estate agent is being pushy because they want their commission of sale, they cannot force you to do anything and if people turn up on your door you you can refuse entry if it’s inconvenient.

Of course all the stress of people turning up during a sale is very stressful. As someone has said repeat visits to let the family see it is not acceptable once they’ve seen it twice that should be sufficient.

The reality is you will have to move and it’s down to how difficult you want to make it when you move, there are places available and if they’re more expensive, they’re all going to be more expensive unless you’re very lucky, so staying put and having an eviction order against you which is going to make it more difficult to rent another property is a consideration you need to take very carefully.

I know you don’t want to be awkward because it stresses you’re in finding a nice place that similar to the one that you’ve enjoyed,The reality is, The demand is great and hence the prices will be higher, it’s very sad situation when you have to move as colin has said, especially when you’ve got a place that you love but again as he said the reality is it’s going to happen and if it’s really is bad out there get a place on a six month rent until you find your ideal property.

I know it sounds hard what I’m saying but these are the facts of life and your choice now is how much stress do you want to add to the whole situation.

It may be that if you have found a place, do you want to get a good reference from your landlord, get it now to demonstrate you are looking hard and it may be that you can negotiate perhaps a months extension, if you can’t don’t get stressed and don’t use this as a buffer.

Get a place now before things get even harder, if you want a bit more security with the new place whilst looking get a 12 month term with a 6 month break clause.

I wish you luck and remember, The children feel the stress too

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