Landlords, would you consider this if your tenants asked?

[DesperateTenant]

I have rented my current home for 13 years. I am a good tenant, I keep the house in excellent shape and care for it as if it was my own. I have never asked for anything, rent is always paid on time.

Landlord has decided to sell and I only discovered this when someone knocked on my door wanting a sneaky viewing. They showed me the listing on Rightmove, complete with pictures I was completely unaware were taken.

I am shocked and desperate not to move. I came from nothing and I've made a life for me and my children here. We have a real community around us. I'm at the point where I'll be able to buy locally within 6 months and staying in the area is so important to me.

I completely understand that legally I am not entitled to be told when the LL is selling and have no rights to ask for anything from the LL and I don't know their personal situation.

But, for the landlords out there, in these circumstances if your long term tenant asked if you would consider waiting 6 months and offered to pay more rent (currently pay £850, would offer £1150) would you?

Would it be completely unreasonable for me to ask this?

In 6 months I'd have enough to buy the house I'm in and would do so in a heartbeat.

Make LL an offer, at least 10% below asking price, you can always increase offer..no to rent increase.

Even if he issued a sect 21 today, you ve many months before you'd have to move.
He has effectively broken into your house by going in and taking pictures, he has zero right to do this without notice.

With no Gas Safe report, any sect 21 is invalid, he needs to provide all the right paper work and a broken gas fire means no gas safety.

A house sale with a sitting tenant wont be easy so your re in a strong position.

Ask - but unless the landlord is looking for a slow settlement don’t be surprised if this isn’t attractive to them.

Or make an offer with a 6 month settlement and see if they are interested.

If you’re happy with their asking price, talk to a broker and see if you can buy it. You might find that there’s an option with a smaller deposit, especially if you are that close to being able to afford it now. Another option to explore you might be about to take a personal loan to make the deposit and although expensive still be financially ahead over the cost of moving and finding a new place.

If they’ve a high price on it, relative to market, then you might be able to offer less too

I think it's a bit sneaky if him to take photos & list without telling you. If you have been there 13 years you have pretty much paid off half what he owes already. Yet he didn't think you needed to know about potentially moving out.

I would offer to buy & don't offer more rent. It would take him 6 months to get it all sold anyway. So I think he would be silly to turn you down. You would need as much extra cash as possible to do the house up.

I’d ask for definite, you’ve got nothing to lose. I think it’s pretty bad of him not to tell you and he should not have entered the property to take photos without your consent. Good luck x.

Our housing market is very different, it’s slowed a lot recently but tenanted houses still sell quickly. Not so long ago they were selling within days of being advertised.

Although here tenants are required to facilitate access for sale. You can’t photograph personal belongings, but you can’t prevent open homes.

If the fire was condemned, it means it’s not in use, which would have been necessary for the ll to get the gas safety certificate. As for this and the rest, it really does paint a picture of ll, who doesn’t care about their tenants.

Edit - to add, I’m presuming this is the case. And op would have been within her rights to expect a replacement as the property is let with a gas fire in situ.

He may not have any choice but to wait. Landlords cannot have their cake and eat it by trying to sell and draw rent at the same time!

There’s no harm in asking the question. It depends on their personal circumstances. In your shoes though, I’d try to get the deposit together quicker - can you get a bank loan, borrow from a family member, or put it on a credit card and pay it off over 6 months? My ideal seller is one ready to move with the money in place and no chain. You’d be ideal if you could mobilize now, but if they need to sell urgently (and lots of accidental landlords do) then 6 months would be too long.

All this.

By all means enquire about buying direct, don't mention extra rent - you're appealing enough as a buyer (chain free, motivated) that you don't need to offer an incentive.

Has he kept your deposit protected, provided the right certificates etc?

Plus as PP have said, you could scupper any sale by being difficult. You don't have to allow viewings before the end of your tenancy, if you do you could be there and point out all the things that are wrong.

In england you can, a tenant has a right to a quiet and private enjoyment of the home, the LL can only have access by agreement & a tenant can refuse.

Down here S/W, LLs are selling up as per PP, the finances no longer make sense or they wish to retire.

I think I'd be more pissed off that they entered my home without my knowledge to take pictures and would make it as difficult as I could for viewings.

I'm sure the landlord would be more than happy to do a private sale with you. LL will save all the estate agent fees and have a completely hassle free sale. I'd ask if they'd sell it to you but wouldn't offer an increase in rent. The LL will be paid rent right up until the day you own the property if they sell to you. It would be a seamless sale!

I wouldn’t offer more rent but I would definitely ask. Given the poor condition of the home and the landlord’s shadiness, it probably is overpriced. What estate agent would take on a listing they haven’t seen or inspected the inside of? I would contact the estate agent and get as much background info as possible.

If he did want to sell to you, to avoid estate agent fees he'd have to wait a fair amount of time now anyway because they've advertised it. So you can agree privately to buy in a few months but he'd have to uninstruct the agents - and they'll have a clause saying they can get a fee for any sale inside their agreed period.

But do ask!

Absolutely thus.

Landlord has shown a complete disregard of your rights by entering your home and is perhaps an Indication if what little respect they have for you. Ask them what the hell they are playing at invading your privacy like this. I would not be allowing any viewings until your contract ends. Landlords like this deserve difficult tenants.

I'd ring the estate agents first thing and ask if they know that there's a sitting tenant who has not been informed about the potential sale, or given notice, and that the photos were taken without your knowledge and consent. It would be interesting to see what they have been told.

I’m not a LL so have no advice, just wanted to say I really hope yours does wait for you to have the deposit together, wish you all the luck and a very happy home

If you decide to buy still get a full structural survey done. If the report comes back with surveyors concerns then you have a bargaining tool. If he's not maintained the basics like the windows then goodness knows what else is wrong.

Your landlord is being extremely sneaky...

He should have told you that the house was going to be put on sale you had enough time to find alternative accommodation.

It sounds like he wants to keep receiving rent until the last minute.

Definitely offer to buy the place.

Also he might find that it is more difficult to sell a house that is still tenanted and that the market isn't great in many places, which might work to your advantage if you offer to buy.

Also remember that this is still your home as you haven't even been given notice and you don't have to allow viewings.

We bought after long term renting,in fact we managed to reduce the asking price . Ask!

If you’ve been renting for 13 years it possibly didn’t occur to the landlord that you would want to buy. I would choose your battles for now and make an approach to buy it. But it is probably also worth talking to shelter to clarify your rights as a tenant too.

If you can find a way to round up the rest of the deposit, you are a chain free buyer and in quite a strong position.

Do you rent directly or via agent?
You have a right to peaceful occupation of your home.
Equally they have a choice of a tenant who will help to sell the house or a tenant who will not. I have viewed houses with resentful tenants, no way would I have bought one.

I’m a landlord and would never dream of treating a tenant like this and would be over the moon if the tenant offered to buy the house. I wouldn’t offer any increased rent. 6 months isn’t that long in the context of a house sale.

There is no such thing as a sitting tenant. However your landlord can't complete on a sale until you've moved out. Talk to Shelter, they may be able to give you some very useful information.
A friend of mine is in a similar situation and yesterday we worked out that if she ignores the section 21 notice to move out, the landlord will be looking at a delay of at least 5 months to go through the process of getting her evicted.
We also worked out that he's never had an EPC done on the property (up to £5k fine) and he hasn't lodged the deposit in a scheme. That might prevent him issuing a section 21 until he has in some circumstances. It does mean that she can easily take him to court and could be awarded up to 3x the deposit in compensation.
If the property is in need of repair you could get quotes for the cost of that.
Plus, you haven't become aware of the sale via an agent so your landlord might be able to avoid their fees.

So if you get your facts straight, you may be in a very strong position to propose buying the property in 6 months time, with a suitable discount on the asking price.