Landlord selling up and can't afford to rent elsewhere

[Freeasabird76]

Dont know the point of this post to be honest,just need to vent I think.
Have lived in this house with my 2 Dds for 5 years now and been very lucky with no rent increases,although the rent was a bit steep when j first moved in,it is now the cheapest in the whole area.
My landlords visited today to do an inspection and dropped the bombshell that they're selling up asap.
My dilemma is,equivalent homes are now £200 more than I'm paying now a month and at present only 2 available in whole area anyway.
How can if ve that I've lived here all my 46 years and now I can't afford a house here anymore.

You're.

@halfsiesonapotnoodle

Sorry are you the spelling police 👮🏻‍♀️

We've had issues with my child's student landlord. We pay a reduced rent during the summer, because child is not there, and we popped back to get something- the landlord's son was sleeping in child's bed and her television was switched on!

We gave notice as that was the final straw, after repairs not being done and that sort of thing.

More regulation is needed. I don't know what the answer is at the moment. What do people get with an S21? Two months notice to find somewhere?

@lonelydad2022 you're confusing shit LL who don't operate properly with ones who do.

The OP hasn't said their LL has done anything wrong. If you're a tenant with a LL who has done things properly and has served notice, then if you want to stand a chance of getting another decent private rental then it's shit advice to drag things out through the courts. You do realise the tenant will end up responsible for the LL costs when the LL has acted properly? And that they'll end up with a pretty shit reference too?

Just because you've had a bad experience with LL, please don't give bad advice to tenants. You're really not helping them.

My parents are landlords and were like you, haven't increased the rent for any of their tenants over the last how many years. Unfortunately they've received no rent off one of the tenants since December, despite a fb stalk showing she's still living life to the max with holidays, weekends away. It was her daughters prom the other week and she had a very expensive car to take her. She used to plead poverty to them yet fb proves otherwise. My parents have done everything right in terms of the eviction and we're around 3 weeks off the bailiffs arriving so they can get possession of the property back. In total this has cost around £5k including the unpaid rent. They've treated her well (even reduced her rent during the first lockdown which was never paid back) and this is the thanks they've gotten. From now on rents will be charged at the market rate and when the letting agent recommends future rent increases they will be doing it. No point whatsoever playing nice if tenants think you can be trampled all over.

Who on earth would be a landlord with all of the hate they receive?

The government has absolved themselves of providing social housing by not replacing the council houses that they sold off. They now expect private individuals to offer the same that councils used to offer; ie high standard of housing maintenance, greater security.

I believe that’s what good tenants deserve.

however they’ve made it so bloody difficult for landlords, there’s no incentive whatsoever to buy property and let it out. we need people with the financial means to invest in properties and let them out.

I hear so much vitriol directed towards these people. If they pull out of the sector, those slagging them off are of course welcome to replace them/purchase the property themselves, however it seems they cannot. Which is why we need landlords.

And so it goes on.

I am sorry you are in this situation but you need to move to a different area you can afford. Simple as that.

There is little social housing available and you might be on a waiting list for months and end up housed in a B&B and much later in a not so nice home...

Do you work? Can you find ways to increase your income? do you have a partner who can help with the cost?

The reality is that the landlord is selling so you will have to move eventually. The people suggesting to stay put and wait for a court order: all you are going to do is lose a reference from your landlord and you will still have to leave in the end.

Better to get on with finding a new home for yourself.

Nothing helpful to add, we have just been in the exact same position. It's terrifying. We're now paying £400 more for a smaller house and the process of securing it was so stressful. It's been the only suitable let here in months. I'm so scared it's going to happen again. 4th time in 7 years. It has cost so much to move each time too. Feeling very anxious about the years ahead when they make landlords keep houses at a higher ecp rating. Makes me wonder if this landlord will sell then too. You will find somewhere. Just keep looking constantly. We're paying 2k for a three bed now and we can't save any more our own deposit. Devastated I totally understand the situation from both sides. It's so messed up. We need landlords to keep their houses but the government aren't making it easy. I hope you find somewhere asap. The uncertainty of it all makes you sick to your stomach. Totally understand. X

@lonelydad2022 When you obtain the possession order you normally ask for costs plus arrears (if any) and request the judge make a money judgment that can then be registered as a CCJ on the list. So yes, unless that money judgment is satisfied within 28 days it goes on your credit rating. Unless using the accelerated route, which is questionable that its accelerated due to the court backlog. But you can still ask for costs to be awarded and that to be entered in the register.

"If they don't give you a reference, you cant leave so they will put a stellar reference to see you go. "

Hahahaha at this particular gem from @lonelydad2022

Absolute bollocks that a tenant must have a reference before they leave a property.

And anyway, if the tenant does what @lonelydad2022 suggests and is still thick enough to ask for a reference after they've been evicted, the LL would write ' XX rented my property for XX years. They paid their rent but then forced me to go through the court proceedings which took XX months to gain vacant possession.'

A sure way to guarantee the tenant won't find anything else decent to rent.

If the judge gives you the costs, it is not the solicitors costs, but court fees. LL base their bullying tactics in the ignorance of the tenants.

Touched a nerve?

The preferable and least stressful course of action for all concerned is to find an alternative property to move to on (or, should it suit the tenant, for the LL to agree to before the) expiry of the S21.

However if that is not possible, of course the tenant should research the law, procedure, and any implications of legally staying beyond it. And the sooner they can do that the better - even if hopefully they don't ever need to apply it. They need to look after themselves - however philanthropic the business model, a rental is a business, and any business is not without risks or regulation. Any landlord should be aware of that.

Personally I think the biggest issue is 2 months notice is simply not long enough to organise such a massive upheaval of life - especially in today's rental market. I think they should kept the longer notice periods implemented for Covid. Giving a more realistic timeframe would save a lot of stress on both sides.

It’s very sad to be facing this situation but it is after all the landlord’s property and they are entitled to do what they like with it within the tenancy laws. I inherited a flat which is rented out but at some time in the not too distant future I will want to live there due to medical issues. The tenant will be given notice or should I continue to live in an unsuitable property to facilitate their lives?

Touched a nerve? Well, Hopefully my adult children who sadly have to rent because of insane house prices are bright enough to see that your advice is shit. My ds has recently had to move from his rental because the LL needs the property back. Not great for ds and his partner but they certainly weren't stupid enough to drag things out and end up with court costs and a crap reference.

But some tenants are vulnerable or not well informed or maybe even just stupid enough to take your advice.

That was, obviously, a response to @lonelydad2022

@lonelydad2022
Hahaha Yeap, fling a few personal insults around and hope it will distract from the bollocks you've spouted on this thread...

It is MUCH harder to find a rented place now than it was 10 years ago. Friends of mine were looking for a family house the first time in years and half the agents wouldn’t even show them a house because one of them was on an hourly rate, not a monthly salary. When they did eventually get somewhere ( fairly scruffy which put other prospects off)the hoops they had to jump through were insane. OP, take the best advice: go directly to your local authority and find out their specific process. If you get a section 21 it will take months for anything to happen. Follow the law but you are under no obligation to make yourself and your children homeless.
Also I do wonder where all these amazing mn landlords are who are constantly doing repairs. In 20 years I rented I think I had 1 landlord who EVER fixed anything or did anything at all other than collect rent.
Now I am a landlord of a small cottage I am prepared that I might have to cover costs if my tenant stops paying. It’s a risk of the business.

@Freeasabird76 your best bet is to work with your LL, who has clearly been incredibly reasonable in not raising the rent for 5 years, so that you can move out without risking the whole costly court case and lack of/poor reference scenario. My ds managed to negotiate an extra few weeks by being up front with his LL about the difficulty in finding another property. He and his partner ended up having to move further out from the city centre where he works but thems the breaks (!) and ultimately the property belongs to the LL who has a right to regain vacant possession.

I found myself in a similar situation a few months ago, I got a guarantor so I could rent somewhere, even though I can afford it on my own they have strict criteria on how much you earn.

Please think twice about waiting for bailiffs. What people don't tell you is that you are usually made responsible for their costs. And Shelter are so pro tenant anti landlord that their advice can leave you in the lurch too. So do double check anything they tell you, just in case.

There is little social housing available and you might be on a waiting list for months and end up housed in a B&B and much later in a not so nice home...

Some social housing is nice isn't it? It's not all bad? I don't want the OP to be frightened if that ends up being her outcome!

Stop paying rent, seriously?

I’m not a landlord, I used to rent before I bought, but I don’t think advising you stay put until you get forcibly evicted is that great, because you will cause yourself a lot of stress, your landlord sounds like they’ve been very good to you and this will ruin your relationship and reference and all it will do is delay the inevitable. I would get the landlord to issue a section 21 notice and then speak to the council, social housing is available, yes it’s very high in demand, but I know people who have been recently (in the past year) been given perfectly nice social housing who were in better situations than OP.