Renters won't leave the house I'm buying, they 'can't find anywhere suitable'.

[wirldsgonemad]

But thanks to covid, a section 21 means people have 6 months instead of 2 months to vacate and this means I get charged £4,250 extra in stamp duty, plus mortgage application fees and survey of £1k plus my life being on hold for 6 months.

They are fully aware of my position, they know I'm a single mother of 2 small children and they don't give two hoots that they're actions are costing me £5-6k and months of waiting.

God give me strength to get through these next few months without attacking them on a regular basis.

What would you do in my situation???

@wirldsgonemad

I won't be pulling out, I love the house, it just means waiting longer.

I'm not entirely sure what advice you want, then?

And realistically...they could be there longer than that. If they refuse to move at the end, you could be looking at several months longer. Is it really worth all this?

Their landlord sounds like a dick if he just got new tenants before selling to you
or a clever dick who's found a soft touch to palm this problem off onto👀

Unless the vendor can cover all the costs of the delay then pull out. Put it in writing via your solicitor.

maybe OP just wants to be validated in her belief that if she loves something it was meant to be hers?

If you go through with this and the tenants become your problem, then it could cost you lot more to go through the eviction process if they refuse to leave. They could also trash the house before the go and costs you thousands more that way. Pull out.

What are 'their actions'?

I would insist lowers the price accordingly it's as much their problem as you'd

[quote TitusPullo]@CoffeeRunner - that’s assuming the landlord told them it was being sold? They may have signed a years lease with a 6 month break clause.[/quote]
Yes. I was assuming the LL or letting agent told them & they were given a clear 6 month contract with no probability of being able to extend.

Oh and if they decide to make you evict them, they will stop paying rent and you will be paying a mortgage on a house someone else lives in for free.

Don't exchange until it's vacant and reduce your offer.

You could buy with the tenants in there if you want the certainty o f owning it (tax advice on the stamp duty side of things). They could then be your tenants are the tenancy agreement is assigned - again your solicitor can advise you on that.

Offer more money. Everyone has a price.

Buy the house with the tenants in it? No idea of mortgage implications tho, and rent somewhere yourself for a few months. That way your tenants pay the mortgage and you don't pay stamp duty.

@Xenia

You could buy with the tenants in there if you want the certainty o f owning it (tax advice on the stamp duty side of things). They could then be your tenants are the tenancy agreement is assigned - again your solicitor can advise you on that.

They have already refused to leave. The OP would be mad to take on that risk. Do you know how much it costs to evict tenants?

@harknesswitch

Buy the house with the tenants in it? No idea of mortgage implications tho, and rent somewhere yourself for a few months. That way your tenants pay the mortgage and you don't pay stamp duty.

And if they won't leave and she has to evict them?

If the tenants were only just being offered a new tenancy when you looked at it, you must have known that the very earliest you could possibly have completed on it would have been 6 months later, and in reality probably significantly longer than that.

I'm a bit confused therefore why it's suddenly a problem that you'll miss the stamp duty holiday.... unless this has already been going on for more than 6 months?

I think the owner/landlord is being a bit of a CF - if the property was empty and on the market he should have kept it that way with vacant possession ready for a buyer. It sounds instead as if he has wanted to have his cake and eat it by getting rent in while it was on the market for sale. The current 6 month notice period and massive court delays for section 21 makes that a very big gamble.

I had this recently on home I bought - previous owner moved in temporary tenants 'as a favour' after accepting my offer (also during Covid when they can't be evicted)

It dragged on 6-8 weeks later than was initially scheduled to be completing but I dug my heels in and insisted on either £5K discount or threatened to pull out altogether if he didn't hurry them up.

His lawyer sounded thoroughly surprised that I meant it and I got completion date brought forward 3 weeks earlier than he wanted.

@wirldsgonemad

I won't be pulling out, I love the house, it just means waiting longer.

Well, waste money then. Your lookout is not theirs. You'll end up paying out a fortune, they can also appeal to the court and damage the place.

wirldsgonemad
The fact that they had only just signed their six month contract makes it even less likely that they would be happy to just move out! They will have put time, energy and money into finding somewhere to live and could reasonably have expected to be able to stay there! Putting it on the market whilst also renting it to new people shows that the owner is an idiot. You should have walked away.

OP, how far into the 6 months are the tenants?

I was assuming from your wording that they had come to the end but were now refusing to leave.

It can be very messy buying a house with sitting tenants. That’s why you’re getting negative responses. But good luck.

@bigdecisionstomake

If the tenants were only just being offered a new tenancy when you looked at it, you must have known that the very earliest you could possibly have completed on it would have been 6 months later, and in reality probably significantly longer than that.

I'm a bit confused therefore why it's suddenly a problem that you'll miss the stamp duty holiday.... unless this has already been going on for more than 6 months?

I think the owner/landlord is being a bit of a CF - if the property was empty and on the market he should have kept it that way with vacant possession ready for a buyer. It sounds instead as if he has wanted to have his cake and eat it by getting rent in while it was on the market for sale. The current 6 month notice period and massive court delays for section 21 makes that a very big gamble.

The landlord has been a LOT of a CF.

You asked everyone what they would do and most have said pull out.

If you don't want to pull out then there isn't much you can do.

Even if they are due to leave in 6 months it could take weeks / months after that to get a bailiff to remove them if they won't leave

Why can't the seller cover the cost? They shouldn't have installed tenants in the middle of a pandemic knowing the eviction rules if they wanted to sell. If you pull out, it's going to cost them heaps more to find a new buyer, so they should be paying or at least covering half.

I would pull out no matter how much I loved the house. It’s not worth the hassle. It could end up being a lot longer then 6 months in the long run and also you don’t know if the tenants are good tenants who are going to look after the house. You could find out a lot further down the line that they have ruined the house. Pull out now no house is worth it.