Agent seems to think tenants unlikely to leave. Is this normal?

[Oricolt]

I own a house, which I would like to sell.
I live overseas. An agent manages the rental.
I have spoken to the agent about my plans, and he is immediately talking about legal action to remove the tenants. It all seems very aggressive. I asked if we couldn't just give reasonable notice, etc., and he says yes, but there's no guarantee they'll leave. Is this normal?

Yes.

Asking them to leave is not a legal requirement for them to leave. Only a court can enforce that.

If they are unable to find another private rental and need to ask for social housing then if they leave before being evicted the local authority will say they are voluntarily homeless and will not help them.

If someone needs social housing they cannot leave before you formally evict them.or the council will not help them and they will be homeless.

This may not apply in places where there is a lot of available social housing but most areas have you practically waiting until the court bailiffs show up to throw you out

Oh, and even serving them notice is a legal proceeding. I'm not sure when the section 21 (no fault eviction) ends but its going to be damned hard to evicted tenants after that.

Yes, it’s nonsense.

Just follow all the legal instructions from your agent, it’s still possible to sell, it can just be long and protracted if they refuse to move.

You need to sell before you can’t.

They can't leave if they have nowhere to go.

Don't landlords sell rental properties with existing tenants in situ?

It's legally possible, and fairly common these days for tenants to be unable to leave at the end of the s21 notice period. That doesn't mean you'll necessarily need to take legal action but it's a possibility.

Okay. This isn't what I was expecting.
I rent in the country I live in, and a few years back my landlord served me notice for the same reason - he wanted to sell. Sucks for me, but I looked for and found a new private rental. I moved.

Surely there's a chance my tenants will do the same?

It seriously reduces the potential buyer pool and many landlords are selling up now due to changes to tenancy law. Not many landlords in the market to buy at the moment.

Yep. Highly likely. Getting another rental is so hard now. If they can't they aren't eligible for emergency accommodation until they've been evicted and made homeless. If they leave of their own accord without having somewhere to go to then they won't qualify.

So all the advice they will get is to stay until forcibly evicted. So you may as well start the process now or you will have to do it anyway at the end if they are unable to find alternative rental property

It just how the system is screwed up that much.

Of course there is a chance. What do you know about their financial circumstances?

Yes, they may do. Hopefully they will be able to.
But if they dont or cant then it can be a long process to remove them and with the new renters rights stuff probably going to be more difficult.
Just begin the process and hope things go well.

A correct notice needs to be served and a possession order obtained before the tenant has to leave. Even then it's legal for them to await a bailiff attending to evict them. Without knowing more about the tenants, if they are going to rely on the local authority housing them then they will await the legal process.

I know very little about them.
I know they have been the most vocal of all my tenants, asking for decoration, new lights, changes to the garden etc, and I know that they requested a 1-month rolling contract (which applies to them leaving, but not to me as a landlord.)

If I serve them notice and they don't leave, will they still pay rent?

Are there lots of similarly priced rentals advertised in the area?

The tenant and, for that matter, the landlord need to keep to all the conditions of the tenancy until the tenants leave.

Generally, if someone wants a rolling contract like that, they are looking to buy, so it might be ok, especially as you're looking for sell.

You need to clue yourself up on the Renter's Reform Act.

It is not unusual these days for Landlord's to financially recompense their tenants to vacate the premises by the required date - using the required notice periods, obviously.

Is the rental in the UK?

It’s up to them to find somewhere to go.
Why do you imagine it’s so impossible to go from one rental property to another? Op’s house can hardly be the only one available.

If your property is fairly large/expensive and at the level where the existing tenants are not likely to want/need to apply for council housing then they may leave without any issues if they find something else.

We sold all three rental properties in the last 18 months, due to the upcoming renters bill changes. All tenants left without issue, although one requested 8 extra weeks to bridge moving to a new property which we agreed.

Agree with PP that the one-month rolling request is a good sign they had their eye on the exit at some point anyway.

Good luck.

Yes. But I am not

Are you for real? Have you tried to rent a property lately?

Has the housing crisis passed you by?

You put it so much better than I did 😂