Landlord wants full notice even though selling property.

[gnomeathome]

Our landlord is selling the house we live in, he has given us until 31st August to move out. We have seen countless properties, put offers in etc but most are listed as 'available immediately' . We have lost out on 5 properties so far because we can't move immediately as we have a months notice to give. I have asked him if we can move within 2 weeks because of this issue and he said no, he wants the full months notice (or we would have to pay the difference in rent which we cannot afford to do).
We have had to have potential buyers looking at the house whilst we are still here and the landlord had the gall to say that we were making the house look small by being there whilst buyers and agents were coming around (we are a family). So could we 'pop out' during all viewings!

AIBU to think that not letting us leave early is just plain greedy? At this rate we wont find anywhere to move to that lines up perfectly to the eng of August. Do we legally have to give a months notice if they are the ones who have given us notice?

Are you being serious??? For all we know he might be an accidental landlord and cannot afford to let his tenants leave without the full month’s notice that they are legally obligated to give. I’m a (accidental) landlady and certainly couldn’t afford to lose out on two weeks of rent.

None of this is a tenant's problem. We're not a charity

Honestly, stop allowing viewings, you are not obliged too.

If it's one of these accidental LL who cannot be arsed to look into the legalities, then chances are they have fucked up the notice they have given you as they are very precise in how they are detailed.

Don’t allow viewings

Has he given proper notice?

Make it as difficult as you can for him

I would stop allowing viewings if he's going to be a dick about the notice.

You don't have to let anyone into your flat for any reason except an emergency, regardless of what it says in your contract.

@Caffeinatedmonstergirl accidental landlord is irrelevant. She has rights as a tenant. You don't have to allow any viewings because you have a right to quiet enjoyment. So stop allowing them.

Your landlord's a bellend - you don't have to allow viewings and you don't have to tidy for them! I would start asserting your rights and stop allowing him to take the piss!!

Tenants have a right to peaceful enjoyment of the property. The tenant has every right to not allow viewings. The tenant and landlord do have to give proper notice too. Bring an"accidental" landlord does not mean you can ignore the law. I am concerned though that you ASA landlord have so tight finances if you are letting. What if there is an urgent repair?

@BashfulClam

Stop letting viewings take place. Don’t tidy up especially either if you need to allow them in the final month. It’s not your place to help him.

I'd do more than that. I'd be cooking fish, curry or something to make the place smell, and leave the lav unflushed, the bath uncleaned etc.

He sounds an absolute scrote.

In fact if he's being such a dick about it I'd exercise my right to change the locks which you can do, then provide the letting agent with a new key. Don't allow any more viewings. If you didn't leave in August he'd have to go to court to get you evicted, there is a 4 month minimum to see a judge at the moment because of the covid backlog.

Before anyone comes for me, tenants who are given notice by landlords and need to be housed in council or temporary housing cannot leave the house until after they are removed by bailiffs so after at least 2 court hearings because they will be found intentionally homeless and the council won't house them. So stop allowing viewings, it goes both ways, if he's being a difficult person about the notice, no more viewings

Has the landlord actually issued you with a S.21 and on what date?

If the landlord wants to insist on the rules, then so should you.

They cannot end the tenancy on a date they choose. To end the tenancy they have to go through quite a complex process and it can only be ended by the court under very specific circumstances. Read the MSE house buying forums (this page specifically: forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/67759913#Comment_67759913).

At best it is going to take many, many months for them to end the tenancy if you wish.

Want to be more difficult, check the date they registered your deposit - if late, you have a pay day from them :) Gas safety cert done ? How to rent book issued ? Whole bunch of ways to play hardball back. Again - check the MSE forums.

Stop allowing viewings op

You do NOT have to move out on 31st august
Stop looking for someone to move to now and start again on 1st august. Take the first place that meets your needs that is available after 31st august. Inform landlord of your moving date and stay where you are until you are ready to move to new place. Try to move on or just before 31st august if possible to avoid landlord attempting to pursue you for another month rent but if you can't, pay him pro rata amount between 31st august and whatever date you actually vacate on.

We really are accidental landlords. We did wake up one morning suddenly owning a property because DH’s grandmother died and her home had tenants in it (she had moved into a care home).
We don’t want to be landlords and, indeed, DH’s sister also now owns half the house so it really does have to be sold.
We have given the tenants 8 months notice and will not hold them responsible for any rent once they find somewhere else and we will not start marketing the property until they have left - even though this will mean trying to sell a vacant property in the winter.
It is possible to be an accidental landlord.
I don’t see why any tenant should afford additional courtesy to a landlord that is not extending any latitude to them though. It seems 🩳 to me. It could take him longer to sell if he can’t market the property fully until they vacate.

Don't allow viewings. Your LL is being unreasonable.

You've had some good advice. At themoment you seem to be trying to make your LLs life easy, to be doing as you ar etold. That's not how it works and he has no right to do any of what he seems to have done.

That would make me go right back to the beginning of your tenancy and check he has done everything properly

• full inventory
• deposit certificate and required paperwork within 28 days of tenancy start
• Gas safe certificate; smoke and CO alarms
• Electrical certificate, became law last year, has to have been done by now.

• S21 paperwork . When did he give you notice?

On or after 1 June 2021 it has to be 4 months Between 29 August 2020 and 31 May 202 it should have been 6 months.

So unless he gave you notice back in January or March he has only made a request, which you can refuse until you receive the correct paperwork, - and that will take you up to November, Christams even.

Those viewings, tell him no more. You absolutely have that right. he had 2 choices: do it all propery and help you move out or to act like a twat. He has chosen the latter!

You could baragin with him, tell him that you will be out as quickly as possible if he releases you from the 1 month constraint or you will have to wait until the very last moment as you cannot afford to move at the moment. And all viewing will have to stop.

Most landlords who want to sell understand that they need to have a more relaxed attitude to notice periods and final payments. He is being odd, as someone else said, want to have his cake and eat it.

@caffeinatedmonstergirl if you can't afford to be an accidental landlord why don't you sell the rental property?

Best thing to do is contact Shelter for advice. They are the experts and will be able to talk you through your options.

You can leave early - you just pay for rent. When we moved out of our rented flat into a bought property, we did have a cross over between the two. Having that period was a life saver actually, minimised the stress and meant we didn’t have to rush!

Are you being serious??? For all we know he might be an accidental landlord and cannot afford to let his tenants leave without the full month’s notice that they are legally obligated to give. I’m a (accidental) landlady and certainly couldn’t afford to lose out on two weeks of rent. I also rented myself for years before owning a property and accepted that these things can happen. I certainly wouldn’t have made life difficult for my landlord by refusing to give access to the property for viewings, that’s just vindictive and spiteful .

It’s unfortunate that he wants to sell the property and the tenants will need to find alternative accommodation, but that’s life. One of the things you have to accept may happen when you rent.

Sell your property if you can't be a decent landlord. It's not the tenant's problem if someone has gone into a business unprepared and can't afford to stay in that business.
Tenants have rights in law and the landlord's personal circumstances have no bearing on those rights whatsoever.

[quote BarbarianMum]@Caffeinatedmonstergirl how exactly are you an a accidental landlord, did you wake up and find you unexpectedly owned a second house one morning? If you cant afford to lose 2 weeks rent then you can't afford to be a landlord at all.[/quote]
Quite. Some people seem to think that being an "accidental" landlord somehow means they have no obligation to comply with the law.

We hear this phrase quite a lot on here, but I'm struggling to think of a scenario where someone has no option but to rent out a property they own, especially now when houses are selling like hot cakes.

Ooh! Forgot. Do you have an EPC? That has been a legal requirment for a while now too!

Check here

www.getagent.co.uk/epc

@jellybeansforbreakfast

You've had some good advice. At themoment you seem to be trying to make your LLs life easy, to be doing as you ar etold. That's not how it works and he has no right to do any of what he seems to have done.

That would make me go right back to the beginning of your tenancy and check he has done everything properly

• full inventory
• deposit certificate and required paperwork within 28 days of tenancy start
• Gas safe certificate; smoke and CO alarms
• Electrical certificate, became law last year, has to have been done by now.

• S21 paperwork . When did he give you notice?

On or after 1 June 2021 it has to be 4 months Between 29 August 2020 and 31 May 202 it should have been 6 months.

So unless he gave you notice back in January or March he has only made a request, which you can refuse until you receive the correct paperwork, - and that will take you up to November, Christams even.

Those viewings, tell him no more. You absolutely have that right. he had 2 choices: do it all propery and help you move out or to act like a twat. He has chosen the latter!

You could baragin with him, tell him that you will be out as quickly as possible if he releases you from the 1 month constraint or you will have to wait until the very last moment as you cannot afford to move at the moment. And all viewing will have to stop.

Most landlords who want to sell understand that they need to have a more relaxed attitude to notice periods and final payments. He is being odd, as someone else said, want to have his cake and eat it.

Excellent post ^

As I said I’m a ll. I’ve had tenants, who gave 2 weeks notice and left. My agent and I discussed this. Tbh it is difficult to pursue the missing rent so I let it go. But I wouldn’t advise you to do this op.

So you could take a chance at getting something else and give a month’s notice now. Then if you don’t have anything lined up in time, you could ask for permission to stay on for x number of days (from a legal perspective you’d actually be staying on for another month and then asking to be allowed to leave early). The ll may say no to leaving early and you’d then be liable for the next month’s rent.

A decent ll would help you out tbh. Maybe you need to be a bit more sneaky. Once you have found something, you could serve notice, get a ll reference and then only pay for the number of days you’ll be staying. Once you’ve moved out, you’ll get your security deposit returned and pay the ll from that.

Ultimately the ll is exercising their legal right to your money. You really should exercise your right to peaceful enjoyment of your property and refuse all future viewings.