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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not move out of rented house until I'm ready?

378 replies

longtermsinglemummy · 13/09/2016 11:41

I have rented my current home for 5 years. I've looked after it as if it were my own and we've been really happy here. The landlord lives abroad.

In April I had a phone call from the letting agents asking for the property to be valued as the landlord was looking into selling it (huge shock as you can imagine). To cut a long story short he did decide to sell the property and we were given 2 months notice on 21st May, which was then extended by another 2 months expiring on September 22nd as it was still unsold.

In this period I have complied with their wishes. I have had people view the property (which was galling as it feels like our home), and then a mortgage valuation and survey once the house was sold (they only told us it was sold at the end of July). Since then we have looked at so many houses both online and in person but there were none that we really liked or that were suitable for us. I also have legacy credit issues which have stood in our way.

I have finally found a house that we like, and they will have us Grin

But am I being unreasonable in saying we are not able to move out by the 22nd? This date would put so much pressure on me as I couldn't get my head around moving until we had somewhere to move to, so still have loads to do. There is no chain, the buyers aren't selling their house and my landlord is abroad and has a home there. I also have to get my daughter back to university which wipes out one weekend. My ideal scenario would be to vacate the house on Monday October 10th, 2.5 weeks after my notice runs out.

I just feel that I have been a really good tenant over the years, I have been compliant during this horrible shitty period when I could have been obstructive had I chosen to be. The letting agents are saying it has to be Sept 22nd and it's not possible to go past this date, contracts have been drawn up etc.

Surely another 2.5 weeks couldn't be that much of an issue?

OP posts:
Queenbean · 13/09/2016 15:12

Naïve maybe. Selfish no

Very selfish OP.

Waltermittythesequel · 13/09/2016 15:17

Naïve maybe. Selfish no.

But you are being selfish about this.

I'm not really sure why a presumably capable adult can't pack up and move to a different house.

And the reality is that much as you felt at home, it was never your house so your feelings don't really come into it.

The law is the law. Rules are rules and such is life when you're a tenant.

chilipepper20 · 13/09/2016 15:18

Naïve maybe. Selfish no.

no, it's selfish. it's "inconvenient" to move at the stated time for you (it's always inconvenient to move). Not impossible, but child in uni, you are having trouble getting your head around it (despite the long notice) etc etc etc. The cost of you delaying, for what seems to be not great reasons, is potentially thousands, if not tens of thousands of pounds to someone else.

I wouldn't do it just because you don't do that to other people. The extra inconvenience of moving early isn't worth thousands of pounds of trouble to someone else.

bibbitybobbityyhat · 13/09/2016 15:19

Being generous, it sounds like op might not have much (if any experience) of the house buying process.

When you say "it's only two weeks" op, you are making out as though this is a trifling thing and doesn't matter at all and you think your LL is being unreasonable for refusing. But house sales and purchases hardly ever happen in a single transaction - the LL's buyers might have a chain behind them, if not a chain of purchasers then a chain of renters, in a similar situation. Because you are only looking at how this inconveniences you (and tbh you have had 4 months to get packing/storage organised!!) then I would say that yes, you are being a little selfish.

DogsAndCatsAndThings · 13/09/2016 15:20

OP you still haven't offered up a legitimate reason why you are refusing to leave the house apart from "getting your head together" Grin

Wonder how that will go down in court?

Unicornsarelovely · 13/09/2016 15:21

I wish landlords would actually read up on the law around tenancies. It's nice to have the extra rent, but the tenant is allowed to stay put until there's a court order requiring them to leave.

A sensible not greedy landlord should serve the section 21 notice before he markets the property to be absolutely sure there's time to actually get the tenant out before exchange.

Unicornsarelovely · 13/09/2016 15:23

It doesn't matter how the op'd response will go down in court. The court will rubber stamp the order requiring the tenant to leave and the tenant will be liable for the costs of obtaining the order.

The problem for the landlord is the time for getting to court in the first place, and longer if he needs to get bailiffs out to actually remove the tenant.

BlurtonOnKites4eva · 13/09/2016 15:30

I'll get flamed for this but I'd strongly consider just staying the extra 2 weeks to be honest.

I'm generally a very good tennant but I've been done over by so many landlords that I just have no sympathy for them. I wouldn't give a fuck if their sale falls through. I know that makes me selfish.

You could have told the prospective buyers that the neighbours were trouble makers and drug dealers.

GingerbreadCake · 13/09/2016 15:31

To be fair to the OP if she's never owned a property and is a lifelong tenant it's understandable maybe that she is so incredibly naive about what buying a house involves.

OP a couple of weeks to you is a legal and financial nightmare to your landlord and the new buyers. That's why everyone is calling you very selfish, because your actions will have an incredibly negative effect on other people and really there isn't a reason for you staying longer. Really it's just a tantrum about leaving a house you don't want to leave isn't it?

Just get some boxes and pack up and stop playing silly buggers. You're not a little child. Take responsibility and move when you should unless you are happy to cause severe misery and worry to others and a lot of financial grief for yourself.

Waltermittythesequel · 13/09/2016 15:34

I know that makes me selfish

Also a bit silly. You could get yourself a bad reference for such carry on.

chilipepper20 · 13/09/2016 15:34

I wish landlords would actually read up on the law around tenancies. It's nice to have the extra rent, but the tenant is allowed to stay put until there's a court order requiring them to leave.

is that really the law? I don't think you are "allowed" to stay put. You are supposed to leave, in this is part of the process of physically removing you.

BlurtonOnKites4eva · 13/09/2016 15:34

And surely the cost of the court fees will not be that much different from having to move twice in two weeks and storage in that period. And far more convenient. I'd risk it.

kittyjewel · 13/09/2016 15:34

Even tho you made the house your own & it felt like your house the reality is it isn't your house. You're being very selfish to the landlord & buyers. We just bought a house and I would have been very pissed off tbh if some tennant was still in there once we had a move in date. The exchange of contracts is pretty much the hand over of the house, move in date is a couple of days from there, maybe even 1 or 2 days. Regardless of if it's inconvenient for you or not, not your house so you can't dictate rules.

chilipepper20 · 13/09/2016 15:37

*I'm generally a very good tennant but I've been done over by so many landlords that I just have no sympathy for them. I wouldn't give a fuck if their sale falls through. I know that makes me selfish."

LLs are not one person. Some are shitty, and some are great. It really sucks to punish a good landlord for the acts of bad ones. Just like it sucks to punish a good tenant for the acts of bad ones.

I have been lucky not to be screwed over by a LL, and from everything the OP has said, the LL in question has been fine.

Myredrose · 13/09/2016 15:38

Even if not, it is not unreasonable for the landlord to expect prospective buyers to view the property, and it doesn't breach the quiet enjoyment obligation to do so. (Maybe different if there are scores and scores of viewers.)

I disagree completely on this, in my opinion it is unreasonable, the tenant is paying full rent for exclusive use.
These clauses always benefit the landlord rather than the tenant.
It's extremely intrusive.

The landlord should have issued a S21 right at the beginning.

Myredrose · 13/09/2016 15:39

And yes, you are 'allowed' to stay put until a court order is issued.

SaggyBaggyPuss · 13/09/2016 15:40

If the sale falls through because of you not vacating the owner can come after you legally - you do realise that don't you? It could cost you a lot of money in the long run for just 2 weeks.

Hysterical claptrap OP. Ignore.

DivorceBadger · 13/09/2016 15:44

Could yo offer to pay rent to the new owners?

BlurtonOnKites4eva · 13/09/2016 15:45

Chill I wouldn't actively punish an okay LL but I would err on doing the thing which is more convenient for my family.

I sound so horrible I know. I'm very bitter.

chilipepper20 · 13/09/2016 15:51

I wouldn't actively punish an okay LL but I would err on doing the thing which is more convenient for my family.

If I was stuck, I'd stay too. But the OP is not stuck, she just can't get her "head around it".

it's very different. There are reasons I would screw over other people, potentially for thousands of pounds, but they would be limited to very extreme circumstances. I wouldn't do it for a little of my convenience or waiting to get into the right head space. It's just plain selfish.

Perhaps this is the society we live in now.

WaxyBean · 13/09/2016 15:52

Morally you should go as you've had notice. But I would ask again for leniency, placing emphasis on the fact that you have allowed the landlord to go above and beyond their rights in allowing access to buyers etc.

kilmuir · 13/09/2016 15:52

Get your arse in gear and bloody move .
You sound a right selfish twat. He told you in May!!! Plenty of time to move on. He should have given you just the 2 months, sold or not.

welshgirlwannabe · 13/09/2016 15:55

Wow the OP is getting a hard time! Surely it would have been more responsible for the ll to ensure vacancy before trying to sell the house? There is always the risk that the tenant can't or won't vacate in time. Why would you risk that other than greed?

We just bought our first home and the IFA advised us to steer clear or houses with a tenant in them for this very reason. No way would I buy a house with a possibly disgruntled person still in it who potentially has ni incentive to leave and no where to go.

The problem with renting in this country is that there are too many small scale landlords who cannot afford the risk, such as allowing a period of vacancy when selling.

OP, for the sake of an easy life you know what to do but the ll is lucky. He or she should have taken steps to ensure the house sale went through smoothly and not taken such a silly risk.

DownInFraggleRock · 13/09/2016 15:57

I'm trying very hard not to be 'hostile' (aka tell you exactly what I think of your behaviour), but you realise that out of pure spite and/or laziness the people you're really jeopardising are the buyers? If I was buying a house (I wish) and found out the old tenants wouldn't move out, I'd be totally panicking that all the money I'd spent on solicitors/ surveys etc would be wasted. People's mortgage offers are time limited, so they could have to restart the whole process. Why on earth would you want to do that to people who have never done a single thing against you? It's so incredibly selfish that I can't even get my head around it.

BlurtonOnKites4eva · 13/09/2016 15:57

Chilli I misread the OP and was under the impression that she would have a 2 week gap with no where to actually live!

In this case I wouldn't be such a cunt, I'd just move now.

I don't think my attitude is representative of our society now, I reckon I'm just a bad apple Grin don't lose faith in society yet.