Tenants making viewings difficult

[areweonabreak]

We have a flat that we rent out. It was my DH’s flat before we met. It’s been rented out for 10 years now (by only 2 tenants) but we’re now in a position where our own house needs a lot of money spending on it and we want to free up some capital.

we do feel bad for the current tenant, we offered them first refusal to buy the flat (it’s on the market for £90k) but they cannot afford it (even though a mortgage would probably be cheaper than the rent but they’d another thread)

we’ve had a few viewings now but all the feedback is that the tenants have told them that they don’t want to move so they’re put off as they don’t want the hassle.

we live about a 40 minute drive away from the flat so the agents are sorting out all of the viewings. The agents have suggested that it might be easier to sell if it’s empty.

We’re really not sure what to do, they’re on a rolling monthly contract at the moment.

has anyone else been in this position before?

would anyone else recommend selling as a vacant property?

But not everybody can afford to buy a property,not everyone wants to buy a property ,given the lack of social housing where are those people supposed to.live?
Also the Op isn't hoarding property she is trying to.SELL.it

THIS. @PlaitBilledDuckyPuss is talking a lot of sense. I wouldn't want to be a landlord either, even if I won the lottery. A few months ago we left a rental where the shitty landlord had a dodgy boiler that was constantly breaking down. The various different plumbers he sent round all refused to deal with him in the end, because he wouldn't pay their bills. When we left he then tried to take most of our deposit for no good reason, luckily the Deposit Service took our side.

He and his equally awful father were a typical family of 'property hoarders' . He drove a very nice car and was very proud of himself for being a landlord, as he frequently stated. There are too many bad landlords like that.

(some of you will say we should have moved sooner, but you have no guarantee the next landlord won't turn out the same, plus I knew it was only for 2 years, it is also expensive to move besides all the upheaval).

Is it petty? They have paid this couple's mortgage for 10 years. Presumably been decent tenants, otherwise they wouldn't still be in the property. A decade of looking after someone else's investment, of course its going to be a kick in the teeth when they suddenly want you to let strangers in your home with a view to kicking you out

They have paid an agreed rent for somewhere to live .

Which is not only beneficial to them..it has allowed an income for the owners for a decade whilst also taking care of a future investment. Why wouldn't they be annoyed ?

Your tenants are being extremely reasonable to allow any viewings. I wouldn't.
If I was buying, I wouldn't look at any properties with tenants in situ.
Give them notice, and market it once they've moved out.

It’s not looking after someone else’s’ investment, it’s renting a home to live in, with the understanding that it still belongs to someone else. Some people in life can afford to buy their own home. Some can not. It’s a fact of life. It doesn’t mean that all landlords are ‘property hoarders’. Given that we all need a roof over our heads and that renting property out is such an immoral practice, what’s the answer then ?

When we bought our current house 3@lots of tenants lived in it. We would have liked to keep 2 parties but couldn’t due to mortgage? Weird thing where it is hard to keep them on. I was quite upset as I would have been happy with previous arrangements. Landlords aren’t spawns from hell. They try and make a living too! But may be easier to sell it once it is empty as we found this to be the case when we were buyers!

I'm baffled by the number of comments saying the tenants are being 'kind' to allow viewings etc and that making the property harder to sell is their right! They might have lived there a long time but ultimately they don't own it, it doesn't really matter if they 'want' to leave or not as long as OP isn't acting unlawfully? They sound like they're going to be the kind of nightmare tenants you see on those bailiff shows where you have to get a court order to get them out and then they leave the place a tip. I have no idea how adults can be so childish.

If you’re renting a property you’d have to be either very naive or very stupid not to understand that you would have to vacate it if the owner decided to sell. I really don’t understand the issue with so many of you. The OP needs to sell, she’s given the tenants first refusal, now she needs to sell. If they’re openly trying to sabotage viewings then she needs to serve them notice, and follow through to eviction if they won’t vacate. A lot of people ignoring the fact that if you choose to make a landlord evict you, you’re not going to find another property easily if word gets out.

They are being kind because they aren't obliged to allow viewings and therefore they are doing it as a favour essentially

@Rosscameasdoody They may have no choice but to refuse to leave and wait til it goes to court if they want to be housed by the local authority, as that is what they tell you to do, apparently. Leave earlier at the request of the landlord and you are making yourself 'intentionally homeless'.

Agree, @Rosscameasdoody

The childish spite toward landlords on threads such as this one is so unworldly.

Frankly it's becuase of the petulant attitudes such as those on display that we do not bother renting a family vacation home in the lakes. We seldom use it but decided that turning it into an income property was too fraught; we didn't want to end up fighting to remove destructive or obstructive tenants. So there's one nice bungalow that could be an affordable home for someone but instead is sitting vacant.

Tenants need to think about where they'd be WITHOUT landlords, and perhaps show a little gratitude.

I don't think that's being 'kind' though. It's just not being an arsehole. When I rented I always 'allowed' viewings, doesn't everyone? I have no idea why you wouldn't, unless they're very short notice/unreasoanble times/you're being weird and petty (like these tenants clearly are, given the comments they're making as well). I'm assuming that the property is nice, they like/don't mind the OP as a landlord etc to have stayed there for so long, so why make it so difficult for them to sell now? They have a valid reason for wanting to sell, it's their property, anyone renting should know that there is always a risk you will be asked to leave (again within the confines of what's lawful contractually speaking).

Has anyone actually tried to sue council for that? Because with this advice they are causing damages to business (and to the tenants by putting them under extra stress!). It wouldn't be tolerated in any other business like this imho

Given that we all need a roof over our heads and that renting property out is such an immoral practice, what’s the answer then ?

Social housing, where the rent is payable to the council, so any profits benefit everyone. The government need to start buying back all those properties Thatcher threw away on 'right to buy'.

I also think it's completely possible/compatible to be anti people having two properties/being landlords as a 'living' etc on the one hand, and accept that OP is not the cause of that issue, cannot solve that issue, and given they don't appear to be acting unreasonably towards the tenants, do not deserve such immature behaviour in return

Don’t be silly. It’s basic capitalism. You should be allowed to buy as many houses as you can afford should you wish to.

It’s nobody’s responsibility but your own to provide yourself/your family with a house, whether rented or otherwise.

Socialism doesn’t work.

presume the LL wants to avoid having an empty property sitting there not earning money for her. She's acting in her own interests, and so quite rightly are the tenants, I would also dig my heels in if a LL wanted to sell my home!
She is stuck and will have to decide which way to jump. The longer she leaves it the further the market will drop and the less she'll get for the house.

The tenants also aren't acting unlawfully..they're simply saying they don't want to leave. There'd no indication they're doing anything more malicious than just being honest.

And you think the people who bought them would be happy to sell them back, or are you proposing it’s compulsory in some way ?

They don't have to buy back those same physical properties (and before you ask, my own house isn't one of them) - just start buying back appropriate properties on the open market to repopulate the social housing stock.

Yes but they're giving the impression to potential sellers that they're going to be difficult in ending their tenancy etc. From the info given what has OP done to deserve that? Normal people go out and let viewings take place, I've never heard of anyone do otherwise unless their landlord is awful or the property is poorly maintained etc, and given how long the tenants have been there and want to stay/buy it we can safely assume that isn't the case.

Selling off affordable decent housing stock and making it so that all new social housing is in the form of undersized flats has massively exacerbated the current housing crisis and the government (s) are accountable for that.

when you rent, as I did for a number of years, you know it is to someone else’s profit / benefit and it’s not your house. The tenants are being childish and malicious. They could refuse viewings, that would be less petty.

when I did buy a house, one property I looked at had tenants who make it clear they didn’t want to move and I didn’t even seriously consider buying it. OP needs to evict them.

Nothing is black and white . Renting is not all about not being able to get a mortgage or being disadvantaged . Some people prefer to rent , some people need the flexibility of renting as they want to move about . Not all landlords are bad and not all tenants are perfect . This forum is good at picking out the minimal extreme situations and ignoring the median .