To NOT leave rented house when I said I would?

[WaitingForLifeToGetEasier]

Been in current rented house for 9 years. Landlord is a company with 30+ properties.

Tenancy is generally renewed every year as LL puts rent up.

Last year, less than 6 months into our latest year long tenancy agreement, an estate agent contacted me out of the blue saying he'd been instructed to sell the property so I needed to agree to a time for them to value and take photos as well for viewings.

I was shocked as LL has not said anything and it transpired that the letting agent has added a 6 month break clause into the tenancy agreement. There had never been one In previous agreements and I wasn't made aware.

I made it clear i was not going to allow anyone in the property until the end of the agreement and if the landlord wanted to sell, I'd leave at that time.

Tenancy is up in early March. I had expected to get a Section 21 in early January but nothing.

We have been looking but properties are either not available anymore or agent doesn't get back to us so have not found a property yet. Rents seem to have gone up £3-400 a month which is going to be impossible.

Not sure if LL is just expecting us to leave or what but I am not intending to leave in early March and will stay as long as possible - await section 21 etc.

AIBU?

SPEAK to your landlord! Get clarification!

At the end of the day you are out be in in March or six months later, you will still be out. Rents are still going to be high and scarce eitherway. Initially I felt for you but you have not come across extremely obtuse and unpleasant.

OP hasn't been served notice so she doesn't need to do anything. I wouldn't contact the EA or LL. just let the contract become as rolling one. I would look out for new places in the meantime, in case something comes up that is in the same current rent range.

This country is fucked regarding people's homes, and I have every sympathy with the OP.

You’re right. I’ve misunderstood because you can’t use it to evict tenants before the term is up.

What batshit is this she needs that s21 legally and no she doesn’t need to contact the landlord

oh and s21 are recorded delivered so you can’t say you didn’t get one

@Babyroobs

No, I'm not out of touch at all. The usual reason for people not being able to buy a property for themselves these days is usually due to several reasons.

Often the young adults are simply not willing to drop their own 'standard of living', as they don't think that they should ever go without a nice mobile phone/nights out/annual holidays abroad/new designer clothes/ nice car etc etc.

Young adults seem to 'expect' all these things as well as being able to get onto the property ladder, but not in a tiny studio flat or anything, they seem to expect to be able to buy at least a 2-3 bedroom property ffs ??? As well as expecting their parents to be happy for them to continue to live a fully subsidised life while continuing to live with them too ??

Because it's to 'expensive' to try to save while you're having to pay bills/rent/food etc ! Well 'No shit Sherlock' ! But that's what their own parents had to do, so why isn't it 'good enough' for the young adults now ?

I'm old enough to have worked and saved until I COULD buy my 1st dingy, tiny studio flat, which was furnished with second hand furniture donated by helpful relatives. No luxuries like holidays, central heating, nice furnishings or even a bloody TV, but it was mine, and I was PROUD to achieve that.

Very, very slowly, by doing without things like a car/TV or anything else that wasn't actually 'essential', I managed to replace the furniture with nice stuff and eventually managed to buy a 1 bed flat. It's taken years and lots of 'doing without' to reach my goals, but I've got a lovely 4 bed detached house, with all mod cons etc and a nice life WITH the all luxuries that I can now afford.

And by the way, the 'recession' that the UK was in when I left home was every bit as bad as where we are now. If you want it, you'll work for it. But if you simply bleat on about how 'impossible' it is to make progress towards your goals, while refusing to actually sacrifice any comforts to facilitate the change, then YOU are the author of your own inevitable failure...

I hope the bottom DOES fall out of the rental market, as Landlords buy up the houses that first time buyers would normally afford.

How is it petty not to allow viewings? I work from home, have a disabled DC at home and another one with a life threatening health condition who needs regular hospital checkups

Why should I have to deal with appointments for viewings and have strangers coming into my HOME for the landlords benefit when it wasn't even in my tenancy agreement?!

Batshit, seriously!

@WaitingForLifeToGetEasier You don't "have to" deal with viewings. However, I think you would be doing yourself a favour if you could get over the idea that the LL is somehow your adversary and has deliberately set out to make your life difficult. The house will be sold regardless, and you will have to find somewhere else to live regardless. I know you are anxious about having to pay a higher rent elsewhere, but it will likely have gone up again by the time you have dragged your heels where you are, so you won't gain anything by staying. Especially if you end up with a poor reference. If I were you, I'd try to make the whole process as painless as possible, and - for me - that would include allowing viewings at times that fit in with your children's needs. FWIW, my reason for becoming a LL involved having a DC with a disability, so you never know what people are going through when you judge them for owning more than one property.

All that said, the LL does need to serve the correct notice. If you genuinely haven't received it, I'd be chasing it up with the agent, just in case it has gone astray in the post (the agent will have a copy, if so). LL should have sent it recorded delivery, but might not have done - so I'd check if I were you, as 'but I didn't get the letter' would count for nothing if it turned out that it had actually been sent but you neither received it nor chased it up. I'd be worrying about this, if I were a tenant.

What batshit is this she needs that s21 legally and no she doesn’t need to contact the landlord
oh and s21 are recorded delivered so you can’t say you didn’t get one

S21 or not, contact him or not...she is still OUT! She can prolong it as much as she wants and stay put etc but at the end of the day she will need somewhere else to live. That is fact.

But she still hasn’t been served notice.

I’m seriously, seriously embarrassed for people claiming she has been

Where do you get this total bollocks from?

He's worth at least £50 million (in news). House has increased by £150k since we moved in and we've paid £140k in rent. Nice little earner huh!

It doesn't matter how rich he is, and frankly his financial affairs are none of your business, but the regs apply to him just as much as anyone else and that includes you

Basically if you've not been sent a notice to end the tenacy then the process hasn't been started so you don't have to leave yet. The obvious thing to do is ask what his intentions are so you're clear, but in the meantime I'd certainly be looking elsewhere so you're prepared

Oh, and any higher rents elsewhere aren't his problem either. I guess you could be awkward over leaving, but if you choose this route don't complain if future renting's made even more difficult/expensive for you

The updates make sense OP. If you haven't had a formal s21 notice then you would expect to roll onto a periodic tenancy at the end where notice period is a month. An eviction won't normally wreck your credit rating - but you won't get a good landlord reference and with housing in short supply you may need that in your pocket.

My advice doesn't change. Talk to your LL - the EA have to give you the LL contact details. Cut a deal to stay a bit longer, offer to facilitate viewings if you can bear it. There is a question about timing here, you might not want to have this conversation until toward the end of your tenancy...

I think she’s just expecting the landlord to serve notice before she leaves actually

I’m a landlord. If I wanted you to leave I would follow due process and agree the date for notice. If landlord hasn’t given it you aren’t obliged to move out. Either you have been correctly served notice or you haven’t.

How is she screwing him over exactly? He hasn’t served her notice.

The landlord isn’t being forced to do anything it’s a very basic, free and easy process they legally need to follow if they want to get someone out their property

Just a thought if the landlord has numerous properties pyramid style they may need to sell some to reduce loans so rattled everyone's cage. If say 30% quit in panic that maybe all he needs. Hence the lack of a section 21 . Devious but inexpensive

In most parts of the country it is well documented that it home ownership is increasingly out of reach due to the inflated cost of housing, not because young people spunk all their money on Latte. And OP has 2 children (?) so cannot start at the bottom of the ladder now.

Have you checked your contract regarding viewings?!?

Property in ''Real terms'' was significantly cheaper then.

Parents bought a house in 1970 for £10,000 that same house is two million now.

I too have my own house as couldn't bear renting and giving money to a landlord every month..It was ''Dead money''.

It wasn't easy to save for a deposit and still pay rent, BUT in real terms houses were cheaper in terms of salary compared to now, even in places like SW London.

Nowadays,I think without the bank of mum and dad, young people will find it hard to buy a house /flat in many areas in the South.

Bloody ''Air B&B's'' have made it almost impossible to buy a small first time buyer place in many rural areas.

Not till she gets the S21 she isn’t and that’s legally not March unless she’s served today which is highly unlikely

If anyone disagrees with the OP, she’s calling them names. It’s in black and white so maybe you’re not as informed as you think you are.

You don't have to leave until you are officially given notice, but
if/ when that happens, I don't see how you could justify staying. You would be in breach of your contract.

It was rubbish of the landlord not to point out the break clause to you, but at the end of the day it is your fault if you signed the renewal without reading it properly.

The title of the thread is quite literally:

AIBU NOT leave rented house when I said I would?

So she’s said she’s leaving, in response to having been asked. Formally or otherwise. Not sure why so many people seem to be unclear on what the AIBU is? If you’ve said you’re leaving then you should leave.