AIBU to give tenants notice so I can sell house

[Maggie178]

I didn't want to become a landlord. I bought a little one bedroomed house just before crash so was in negative equity. When family grew couldn't afford to sell and make up the short fall so rented out our house and rented somewhere bigger.
Currently have tenants in. There's always something that needs fixing, the mortgage interest rate has gone up, the tax bill has gone up, more regulations likely in the next couple of years. We want to get another mortgage but that mortgage will impact on what we can borrow. But I also feel bad giving someone the stress of finding somewhere else to live.
YABU - wait until they move out then put it up for sale
YANBU - do what's best for my family and tenants understand that's a risk of renting

In general money and being reasonable talks - explain your wishes and give a likely timescale so that they have lots of notice to find a new house, agree to refund them any rent if they find somewhere and want to move out early.

Depending on your tenants it might be a good idea to offer them an incentive to allow the estate agent to photograph and show people around in the last few weeks of their tenancy. Also give them two or three dates where it will be open for viewings and ask that they are out on those days, again offer cash incentives!

Just be nice and work with them going above your legal duties really!

@sirfredfredgeorge

But realise of course that you're going to have months of empty property between them leaving and the sale completing. No purchaser other than an investor who'd rather the tenants were still there will want to proceed without vacant position, so you need to be financing months of zero income from the tenants to pay the mortgage.

Also of course remember that simply giving notice doesn't actually mean they'll be out at the end of the notice, they don't legally have to leave at that point.

Also remember if you haven't provided the statutory details, your notice will likely not be valid, so make sure you have before doing it.

I bought a house that was owned by a landlord with tenants. I insisted on the property being vacant before exchange. They had two months notice from when we had the offer accepted. They moved out about 2.5 weeks before completion

@Nanny0gg you can sell with tenants in situ and the new owner becomes the landlord.

Make sure you do everything the legal way.

Don’t be an arse if they can’t vacate by the end of the S21 - there is a huge private rent crisis at the moment, because a lot of LLs are in your (or similar) position and are selling up with vacant possession, meaning far less properties for rent.

Absolutely normal.

I rented for years and twice had the landlord sell. The first time, it was sold to buy-to-let landlords so we stayed on. The second time, we bought. I knew both times there was a very real chance we'd have to move out, and to do so very quickly (especially the second time, when if the sale hadn't gone to us we'd really have been getting our skates on!). But it's a normal risk of renting. I agree with those saying that as long as you're courteous, and recognise they're not obliged to do viewings if they choose not, you're fine.

[quote crochetcrazy1978]@Nanny0gg you can sell with tenants in situ and the new owner becomes the landlord. [/quote]
Ah. Ok. Must limit your pool of buyers though

Depends on the property.

OP get the property values and then talk to your tenants before you do anything else.

If they are in a position to and want to buy it you can agree to a price that reflects savings in time and agent fees.

Then talk to the agent, see if they think it would sell well with tenants in situ.

If not then they will have as much informal notice as you can give.

But don't feel bad about it, it happens. All the moaning about the housing situation won't change that.

Not sure what will, but moaning about it won't.

Your property. Your choice.

You are not responsible for the failure of successive governments to build more homes.

If they've been in for a year or more then I think perfectly reasonable, otherwise I would be inclined to leave it until they've at least had a year. But honestly you have to do what makes the most sense, and it seems like selling is that for you. As everyone else said, give them plenty of notice, don't take the piss with viewings and generally try to be decent about it if you can. But you shouldn't hang an albatross around your neck for other peoples' benefit.

Sell it with your tenants in situ. A family member of mine has just done that (very similar situation to you). They would have probably made another £10k or so on the asking price if they'd sold it vacant but they decided to take the hit as they felt they could afford not to get top dollar for the house, and it meant the tenant could stay as the new LL took over.

Normally it can be tricky and take longer to sell somewhere with a tenant in situ, but now is a good time to do so as there aren't many properties on the market. Speak to an estate agent and ask them for a valuation with and without the tenants in place, and work out if you can afford to sell with them there.

Yanbu as long as they are employed. If one has just lost their job then please wait.

My brother got made redundant, and then his landlord coincidentally gave him notice, because they wanted to sell the flat he was renting. Then no other landlord would rent to someone with no income (despite him having enough savings to cover rent for a few months). So he had to move in with mum in a different area and my niece lost her school place etc etc he is getting depressed and in a nasty downward spiral.

If they have had anything fixed or need anything fixing you have to wait 12months after it's been fixed or they could sue you for revenge eviction. Best thing to do In this is the case is pay them to move out.

@lauramaisyday

If they have had anything fixed or need anything fixing you have to wait 12months after it's been fixed or they could sue you for revenge eviction. Best thing to do In this is the case is pay them to move out.

Not true at all.

My LL was served notice of 10 pages of repairs by Environmental Health, my S21 that I was given a week after that is still valid.

I think some of the comments here are harsh! Of course you can sell. Give them appropriate notice and offer first refusal on buying it.

YANBU but.... Don't expect it to be quick.

Issuing a section 21 doesn't mean they have to move but you must issue one to take them to court for possession.

Some of the responses here are bizarre. Prior to this year myself and my family had been in a privately rented property for 4 years. We loved the house and it was both of our babies’ first home so will always be special to us but if the landlord had decided to sell during our tenancy we would never have thought he was unreasonable. I’m fancy we were expecting him to as he has said he was considering it around 2 years in. If you’re renting it’s no secret that you’re borrowing someone else’s house, it does not mean you become entitled to live in it forever more.

*in fact we were expecting him to

I’ve just formally served notice on my tenants. I gave them a month’s verbal notice before issuing the Section 21. However, they of course knew that the house was on the market so they have had plenty of time to find somewhere else. I did try to sell with sitting tenants but accepted a higher offer from a first time buyer. I also paid extra for the estate agent to do accompanied viewings to take the pressure off the tenants somewhat. Trust me, you are doing the right thing. My tenants have wiped over £20k in value from my house as they live like pigs, take drugs, moved in a huge dog and two cats without my permission, removed fixtures and fittings and have let my previously beautiful house and garden go to rack and ruin. I owe them nothing.

I had to do this as I was moving back into the house. They didn't leave at the end of the notice period and it took another seven months to get possession, and there was quite a lot of damage done.

Given the rules, or lack of, in the U.K., this is unfortunately something that does happen.

Just don’t expect them to put up with viewings while they’re still there, and assuming no trashing, just fair wear and tear, don’t try to mess them about with their deposit.
I say this as a LL myself.

[quote crochetcrazy1978]@Nanny0gg you can sell with tenants in situ and the new owner becomes the landlord. [/quote]
Yes, but the selling price will be much lower.

The OP needs to talk to a local EA about relative price, and compare that with mortgage costs over the untenanted period it could take to sell.

OP: be aware that there will be Capital Gains Tax.

God, all the guilt tripping of the OP!

She never went into this as a career landlord, it happened as a result of difficult circumstances for her. And since then she has actually provided a house to the rental market that wouldn’t otherwise have been there.

At considerable inconvenience to herself.

'She never went into this as a career landlord, it happened as a result of difficult circumstances for her.'

This shouldn't really be allowed, so many people rent their properties out as it won't sell or similar reasons, but it causes such awful insecurity for tenants. It should be law that people deciding to rent their properties have to allow that property to be rented for a minimum of 5 -10 years, and tenants should be made aware of the likelihood of their rental being sold at the end of it.

I rented for decades until we finally had the means to buy last year. I rented from 2 building firms and HA, as they were the least likely to ask us to leave due to needing/wanting to sell.

I also rented from an accidental landlord, and I can't tell you the stress we went through when he decided to sell after a year or so. It is not easy to find rental properties. At the end of the day it's the tenants home, usually their kids have friends there, they are at school and settled, often you can't find a house in the area if it's a village, quite often you've decorated and spent money on the property, despite knowing it's not yours, because it's your 'home'.

Having said all that, of course it's not the landlords fault, and you should sell in your situation OP if it makes financial sense, and I don't blame you for it at all.

Just wish more HA properties were available, and a lot less accidental landlords, who should really think long and hard before they decide to rent, given that they're highly likely to want to sell within a few years, or in some cases a few months. Definitely needs more regulation.

There should also be more regulation and swifter removal when it comes to nightmare, destructive tenents too.

Why would your name be mud if you give them proper notice? It can work either way. Would you consider their names to be 'mud' if they gave you notice to leave?

Follow the right procedures, give your tenants plenty of time and a good reference.
Being an accidental landlord with a mortgage is pretty thankless and not a path to riches! As a landlord with 2 properties (me and DH) I wouldn't do it with a mortgage. It's a better return than savings in the bank, but 2020 saw my previous tenant experience a catastrophic drop in her income due to Covid. We agreed she could pay half rent for 4 months and then her situation thankfully improved. She moved out a few months later as lockdown had also helped her decide to live with her partner! So, house was refurbished for the next tenant. I 'made' not very much money that year..
The demand for rental property is high though and I would be as helpful as possible to your tenants.