to want to go outside and slash down the SOLD sign outside our rented home?

[rocket74]

I am so so upset. Our happily rented home for us with 2 small children has been sold and we will have to move out. We wanted to stay here indefinately. Been here 3.5 years but never realised when we moved in our rent was paying for the owners care home fees and that when she died it would be sold. Thought they meant it when they said long term rental.
So gutted. Some couple came round with their kid and dad who was obviously putting up the deposit for them. Alright for some!!
ABSOLUTELY bereft - we have tried looking for somewhere new - but we need an extra £400 month to get somewhere even vaguely similar as rents have gone crazy in this area - Brighton and Hove.

I just want to scream and slash the sign because if I don't I will end up slashing something else - which won't help issues.
Our little boy loves this house - he has autism - and the garden is big enough for him to run and do his laps - as is the living dining room.
I just want to be able to provide him with a home to suit his needs but I don't see how. I'm just crying all the time and feel totally hopeless.

Will I be done for criminal damage if I do smash down that fucking sign?

I hope you find somewhere soon. It's very sad that the owner of your house has died and that you have to move. Rent prices in Brighton/hove/portslade are ridiculous. We are in the same boat, we cannot move anywhere bigger because in just 2 years the rental prices have jumped. We don't drive and I'm currently tied to my job. I earn a decent wage but feel like I'm still on student accommodation. There seems to be no help available because of my wage but it doesn't cover anything. I don't know why Brighton and hove doesn't have a similar salary weighting to outer London areas.

Op my parents came to view the last 2 houses me and dh bought. They didn't put up a penny in deposit, we wanted their opinion! You are being awful about the people who are buying it - this has nothing at all to do with them. It is unfortunate your landlord has to sell - perhaps the relativecwas not expected to die. but that isn't the fault of the buyers.
My ds has asd, I can see why this is a disaster for you but you need to get through it. It's not like somebody has been out to get you- it's circumstance.

Sorry about the thread hijack to have a moan!

Hecate: Not sure what it is there but here we are required to give tenants twelve weeks notice (signed by both parties) before they have to move out. If the property is sold, the new owners are obliged to honour that and can only move in after that period. No one is saying she can't treat a rental property like her home ( and she is entitled to during the term of her lease) but the fact is that she does not own it. If another young family has bought it and would like to be owner occupiers rather than landlords, she has to move out.

No Heidi you didn't say YABU, you gave her an unexplained biscuit.

As I said in my post, constructive criticism/disagreement is absolutely fine. And I think the OP did not phrase her dilemma in the most diplomatic manner with regard to the circumstances under which the house is being sold, and the financial arrangements of the buyer.

However, for me the OP is extremely worried, has an SN child, and is about to be made homeless. I think in that situation you focus on the bigger picture and perhaps offer advice or sympathy.

But as you say, this is AIBU and you can say what the fuck you like, especially if her inverted snobbery pissed you off.

It is a really stupid rule. It causes terrible stress all round.

But if it's a choice between that and homelessness - you have to do it.

I've been there. It is awful.

And it isn't always as simple as finding somewhere to live.

When we lost the home we owned (the business we had at the time went under and we lost everything) we couldn't find a private rented to touch us! And we looked everywhere! We were living down south at the time and we applied for private rents in such places as norfolk, suffolk, lincolnshire and derbyshire! Anywhere! Everywhere! nobody would touch us. Credit score, you see. Our business going under, us losing everything = don't touch us with a bargepole.

Finally we found somewhere where they didn't do scoring. They said they wanted long term tenants. We paid on time, every month, were model tenants. Less than a year later they decided they wanted the house back.

There we were again, nobody would touch us with a bargepole. We again looked at anything, anywhere. We also went to the council who told us that if we moved out before being physically evicted - they wouldn't help us because we would have made ourselves intentionally homeless!

We were looking at foster care for the kids when the business went under! We were that close to being on the streets! When we got the private rent and they then wanted that back, we got taken onto the council list, but they had nothing and insisted we stayed put. Or they wouldn't help! We were offered something eventually 10 miles from where we had been. We took it. Gratefully.

It isn't as easy, always, as rent somewhere else and go.

mimi - she has to move out in accordance with the law.

There are very well set out laws on this. Which the landlord or the people dealing with the estate must follow.

here

What is a stupid rule?

Hecate, and what about the new owners? How do you know that they aren't being forced out of their current home and need to move in to the new one? Is that ok, just because the tenant who, presuming she has been legally advised of her need to move, hs decided she doesn't feel like going?

I hate the attitude that those who rent should be cap-dothingly grateful to have a place to live and just accept that they are always 2 months away from homelessness. Isn't it shocking that if she agrees to leave the council can blame you for your lack of housing and refuse to help? Of course the council do this because they have so many housing applications and can't help everyone.

Hope it works out op. Sorry you are in this situation. It isn't really your landlords fault, tendency protection law in the UK is woefully inadequate.

The law is very clear on it.

If she follows the law, she is doing nothing legally wrong.

I seriously doubt she wants to be in this position. But she shouldn't be made to feel like she has to put her family out on the street.

She has to put her own family first. Not put them on the street in order to not have someone else's family homeless.

who would do that? Really? You prioritise a roof over your own children's heads.

midniteScribblers - the buyers' lawyers, if they are any good, should have advised their clients on the legal aspects of evicting tenants. It is not a concern in the slightest for the current tenants. Their only concern is to ensure they are not unlawfully evicted and therefore given appropriate notice allowing them to find alternative accommodation.

OP, firstly - your tenancy is unaffected by the sale and your lease will still run to the end or its notice period, the new owners become your new landlords. They do not have to renew the tenancy but you do not have to leave tomorrow.

second, vandalising things will mean you can whistle for your next rental, as well as being criminal and getting you a record for criminal damage.

third, you'll have to move a bit out of Brighton and Hove. If you were selling and buying you might have the same problem.

fourth, 3.5 years is a long time in a rental, especially at a much lower rent than market rate. That was kind of your landlords. You were obviously good tenants -so don't wreck your reference now.

and fifth, rentals pay landlords, who usually pay mortgages. Mortgages pay banks, who pay bankers. Everybody pays everyone else.

check your tenancy, confirm your position and get on to looking for your new home. Check the circumstances of the next place; if it is the landlord's home they may come back at some point, if it is a rental that they don't live in, you are much more likely to be there for a long time.

Midnite
I don't think anyone is saying it's a good thing that the OP would have to get evicted before seeking help from the council. It's a fucked up situation. But it is the situation. If they have no funds, nor access to funds, no family or friends to help and nowhere to go, they may have to refuse to leave. That's a last resort for anybody and not without a great deal of stress so if they can find alternative private rental then they should.

I'm finding the people who are advising her to 'know her rights' and 'wait to get evicted' unbelievable.
We rented out a house years ago.
We had a tenant who 'knew his rights' and did damage to OUR property when he eventually left.
When you're a tenant, you know the pitfalls.
You are prepared for the eventualities.
This situation doesn't spring up overnight.
I'm sorry this had happened op, but this happened to us twice when we were renting. We found somewhere else to live.
There will be somewhere else for you out there.

According to that link Hecate, the times for required notice are generally much shorter in the UK (around two months on average but only 1 month if she is paying rent weekly) unless she is paying rent quarterly and then it is three months. It is a stupid rule that you will only be considered for council housing if you have to be physically evicted though (presumably staying long beyond your notice period). Then you are almost guaranteed not to be considered by private landlords in the future.

And the new buyers would have been aware of the risks of buying with tenants in situ. If they are relying on moving in on a certain date then they are fools. They probably got a price cut for the inconvenience so we don't need to feel too sorry for them.

Yes. I agree. It is a bloody horrible rule.

But sometimes you have no other choice.

Hannah. I find the idea that someone should just leave if they have no home to go to, unbelievable. Are you suggesting that someone should put their family on the streets?

You should do everything you possibly can to find accommodation as quickly as possible.

Look all over the country.
Be willing to take anything - small, crappy area, anything!

But you don't make yourself homeless. You just don't.

mimi - by the stupid rule, I meant the fact that, if the OP is genuinely unable to afford something else, in order to get housed by the council, she cannot have made herself 'intentionally homeless' - which means, she can't just move out and stay with someone while applying for help with finding a home, she has to be evicted.

It is stupid to me, because it's not fair at all on a landlord, but the tenant doesn't have a choice either.

Oh, sorry, I must've not refreshed the page, ignore my post, it's all been explained.

Yes mimi, notice is that, but the procedure for evicting if you overstay must be followed and that takes more time.

Nobody is saying oh just stay, who gives a shit about them. But people have to accept the reality of it! What happens if you have nowhere to go. What happens if the council will only help you if you refuse to move voluntarily. What happens if you are looking and applying for everything, anywhere, and nobody will take you...

I did say that it was presuming they hve legally advised her. There is no indication by the OP that they hven't followed the letter of the law in advising her that she needs to vacate. If the law hs been adhered to, then she should do as required and vacate. It's not the new owners problem that she finds herself in this position.

Perhaps I'm still sensitive from having to live in my car with five dogs for four weeks after I did the right thing and vacated my rental, purchased a property and the tenant thought that the law didn't apply to them and they could just refuse to leave.

YABU

It is sad that you have been asked to move out. But 3.5 years is a long term rental. You have been "saving" £400 a month on this property, and you should look at that as a saving over the past few years, not as an expectation on your next place. If the Landlord was more proactive, they'd be well within their rights to increase the rent to the market rate during your time there. Its always difficult to move, but unfortunately as a renter they are well within their rights.