Landlord selling, but won’t sell to me

[Flora73]

After 11 months in the house, my landlord has issued a section 21, my contract rather conveniently contained a break clause so he can do this earlier than the 12 month mark.

I have a mortgage in principle, I’ve been looking for somewhere to buy but he has rejected this and said I still have to leave as they want to maximise the sale price. He has even said that I move out and he will let me know which agent it is on with so I can purchase it that way. It just seems utterly bonkers.

And before anyone lays into me I am fully aware that it is his house and he can do what he likes, and I have no rights, but I can’t work out why he won’t sell to me. We’ve had a good relationship to date with no issues.

Can anyone thing of reasons why this would be?

He’s told you why he won’t sell straight to you. He wants to maximise the sale price. He wants to put it on the market and see if he gets any better offers.

Greed? He wants the highest price and he's more likely to get that without a tennant.

You could point out to him that a sale to you would mean it all went rather quickly and no chain.

You need to leave before he puts it on the market, as otherwise it’s being sold with a ‘tenant in situ’. That’s why he’s saying you need to move out and then can buy it later. I would do the same tbh

He thinks you will try and stay in the property and use it as leverage to get it for a reduced price, I presume.

He's already told you why. He wants to get as much money for it as possible, which means selling on the open market and competition between buyers.

But surely the sale price has an upper threshold which an estate agent would tell him. And he has to counter that with not getting any rebate income whilst it is empty?

Because if it falls through with you he would need to start a s21 notice later and under the proposed reforms although he can still serve notice to get you out to resell the anticipated number of court cases means it would take far longer.

Potentially your rent doesn't cover his outgoings. So he isn't taking the chance that you mess him around and he is stuck trying to sell later than he wants/needs to.

Put an offer to him with prove of mortgage and deposit and he may change his mind.

Potentially the proceeds of sale are needed for something else more important to him.

He doesn’t want to have a tenant in situ for viewings? It sounds like he/she wants to do some work to the property before listing too if they’re talking about maximising the sale price.

Talk to estate agents in the area re length of time places are taking to sell and what the market‘s like. If he is actually selling rather than just wanting you out then you might have a way to bargain as then he won‘t lose your rent for void period

Greed - or sound business sense bearing in mind this was an investment property. Why wouldn't he want to maximise price bearing in mind he has to pay CGT upon sale.

Hardly!

These are interesting responses, thank you. I do tend to see things very black and white so it does help to get another perspective.

The problem with your plan is that unless you offer him something he doesn’t think he will achieve on an open market he is going to be better off marketing it. You’d need to offer to pay over the odds for your plan to be a good one from his perspective, which makes it a bad plan from your perspective.

He’s told you the reason already. He wants to maximise the sale price. It’s easier for people to view the home if it’s empty - the more people view, the more likely he is to get a higher offer.

I personally wouldn’t take that gamble as a landlord, but he must be confident the property will sell, and isn’t worried about it sitting on the market for months with no offers and no rental income. It may work in your favour, you may find something nicer or you may end up buying your current house at a knockdown price (if it fails to sell).

I’ve tried the latter part. Most properties seem to take a while to sell.

Unless it was a private rent it could also be that the agents he let it through have something in their contract which says if a sitting tenant buys the property they have to pay a fee to the letting agent for “finding” the tenant. We have something similar in the contract for our rental property.

It is much harder to sell a house with a tenant in situe.

He needs you out or he won't get as much interest.

He could be saying he wishes to sell but in fact, just wants to raise the rental price significantly which I think he is unable to do for existing renters. I think there's a cap. Either way, his choice. Annoying for you though.

It was a private rental so this wouldn’t be an issue.

The value an estate agent would tell him just now would be lower, as there is a tenant in the building. That will restrict the number of people interested in purchasing.

If you leave, the property becomes vacant, and then he will be able to properly judge value and interest from there.

Yes its a gamble, but if he were to sell to you, he's potentially taking a lower offer than he could make from the sale.

Of course he wants to make the most profit as he can, why is that greedy? He's not a charity...

Do any of the PPs on the thread calling him greedy go to your employer and offer to take a reduction in pay? Of course not..

@Viobioscore48 I thought this and offered to pay more money to stay here, the thought of moving again so soon is quite upsetting.

But wouldn’t an estate agent be able to give him a price as it is, and a price if it was empty?

It's hardly greedy to want to get as much a possible for a house when you sell it, pretty sure most people would be the same!

Can you afford to offer a decent price? It might worth suggesting he get it valued on basis of vacant possession & just asking what he wants for it.

Offer to do a massive tidy up to make it look its best & show you are helping him identify the right value.

He wants to end the tenancy first and then market the property. Makes perfect sense.