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?

It's not actually sensible he sells it with noone living there, but I get why he's doing it - he maybe wants to give it a lick of fresh paint and stage it.

If you think you might be the end buyer its worth considering moving into an airbnb for a few months.

Good luck, his strategy is all about greed. He could have a speedy sale instead and reasonable cash to invest...

@Flora73 why not contact some estate agents locally and ask them to come and value the house/ advise on what they think it could sell for?
and if you're really serious, get a survey done too?
then you can go to your LL armed with proper, up-to-date figures and make an offer that comes across as worthwhile to him?

I agree. He will register as living there so that he can claim the property to be his main (principal) residence and thus avoid paying up to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) of up to 24% on the sale of the property.

I'd check on NetHousePrices to see how much he bought the property for and the amount of gain he is likely to make. From there, calculate the likely CGT is will save if he lived in there for a period of time whilst refurbishing and refreshing it for sale to see if it makes economic sense for him.

The OP has said there is a break clause in the tenancy before 12 months therefore the landlord is exercising his rights already. If the landlord wants to sell the property without the Tennant siting what rights are you exactly alluding to?

Why is it greed to just want to get the best price for a house you’re selling? I’ve yet to hear of someone who markets their home at below what they’ve been told they can get for it, to avoid being ‘greedy’.

And how is any of that in any way going to change that LL wants her out?
Get a valuation on a home yiu don’t actually own to try cajole LL into selling for a price you want?

Or the place is a shit hole and needs massive upgrades, which he can do when it's empty, then sell for a decent price.

An agent will take a % plus he’ll lose the monthly rent for 6 months or so whilst it goes through. I’d make an offer based on this and he might think it over and say to save the hassle this is a good deal.

Yes, but she's disputing the valuation he stated he got over 12 months ago, and doesn't want to buy for 4/5 months until she is " in a better position to negotiate ".
She also been entertaining the idea on here of messing around with the section process to scupper the LL re possess his own house.

So in short, red flags everywhere... he wants to sell & her out, and she wonders why!? Like really!?

He's everything that's wrong with some landlords. Greedy as fuck.

She’s only got his word that he had it valued at £350k a year ago. Zoopla’s current valuation is £320k. Any prospective purchaser is going to check it out on Zoopla so he’s delusional if he thinks he’ll get his “valuation” figure.

FFS 😂 Read the comment directly above yours

When did zoopla become the all knowing ogre!? Is it better than an actual agent's valuation?? You know like a professional selling similar properties every other week who has been in&out of the property & carried out an inspection say???

The OP mentions it's a uniquely styled property with nice, tasteful decor & ~recently renovated kitchen & bathrooms & nice furniture. Does Zoopla account for that too!?

Regardless, it's solely the LL's perogative to have an opinion on his property's valuation that you consider delusional. Donncha think!?

He’s an absolute idiot OP and like most property owners thinks his property is probably worth more than it is - and it’s not even a good market for sellers!

one scenario is that you move out. He realises it’s not worth what he thinks it is, fends off a few crap offers then returns to you. Then you might get it for considerably less than he is asking.

not only that but it takes months to complete on a property during which time he receives no rent,

Wow, you’re so aggressive! Most people buying a property check the Zoopla valuation. I believe even agents use it as a guide, given that it’s based on algorithms using recent local sold data. The landlord could say anything, there’s no proof it’s had a recent valuation or if it has what the figure was. He could say it was valued at £1 million.

Sounds dodgy. He wants the house back for someone else would be my guess and wasn't expecting you to offer to buy it!

Zoopla is ridiculously inaccurate, especially where a street has a variety of different houses on it. The rental that I plan to put up for sale is worth about £220,000 according to the local estate agent, as I expected. Zoopla has its value at £300,000! No, that's what the next three houses in the row are worth, with their extra bedroom, extra reception, and en-suite.

Some of these posters are ridiculous. And so rude.

OP, I agree it's odd - I think, like others, he's not actually planning to sell at all.

Sod him if he is - at least it's confirmed to you that you're ready to buy a home of your own - best of luck!

That’s one property. I’ve never found it to be inaccurate, let alone ridiculously so. It has the value of ours spot on - unfortunately because it’s gone down about £30k in the last 18 months.

How would you know if you haven't tried to sell it?

Well I am with you @Flora73 I dont get it either.

Former DP (we didnt live together by choice) had this. His LL wanted to sell but wouldnt countenance an offer from him, he had to leave as she could get more money that way. So he did. Ended up getting a better house in a nicer area. About 6 months after it being on the market, the ex LL contacted him asking him if he was still interested in buying. He took great pleasure in telling her to jog on! 18 months of the house standing empty (hell yes, I did keep an eye on it!) it was back on the rental market. So not only did she lose out on a guaranteed sale, she also lost out on 18 months worth of rent.

This. Move out. Then if you want to buy it just put in an offer with the EA he is using.

If you bought it, he wouldn’t need to pay estate agency fees, which might be a good incentive for him to sell to you?

Yep. If I'd relied on the Zoopla estimate and tried to save money by selling without an estate agent, I'd have sold for 20% less than the price I actually got. Also, the estate agent was invaluable when my buyer tried to gazunder me at the last minute, then when that failed, he demanded all my white goods for free! And this was in 2021, when it was very much a sellers' market.

Sounds like he thinks can do it up a bit and make some more money on the open market as it his right. Move out and bid on it when it’s marketed.