Tenant and house sale re rent

[PennyDreadful66]

Hi all,

I have an unusual situation I need advice on:

My mum and dad has lived in a property for over 20 years, the landlord went to Spain and has barely looked after the property. My dad did all the repairs and whatever as landlord was useless and a gas servicing hasn't been done in over 5 years, obviously my mum and dad choose to stay in a property with a landlord like this and that was their choice.

My dad sadly passed away in March and a week later the landlord got in touch with my mum to say she wants to sell the property and she has until the end of April to move out, notice was never served despite me asking for it so we could prove the landlord was asking her to leave to see if we could secure a housing association or council house as my mum is on a very low income.

Anyway a chap on her street has spoken to my mum and said he'd buy it, he's sort of a monopoly man and is buying all the houses on the street so my mum sorted it out between the landlord and the man so the landlord didn't have to put it on the market or anything like that.

Once proceedings started my mum stopped paying rent, I know it's not okay to do that as it is the landlords property but she felt that the landlord has been useless (they have), hasn't done anything in the property that should have been done and well sort of told her she needed to leave her home straight after my dad died and whilst I don't agree with her not paying rent, I can understand it (they've never missed a payment in the 20 years they've been there actually they were a couple of days late with one payment because of something and the landlord sent a bloke to look through our windows!).

But now the landlord is saying she won't allow the sale to go ahead without my mum paying the rent, she doesn't have the amount up front as she used some of it for my dads funeral etc and I don't know where we stand - should we allow eviction proceedings as when the new owner takes over he's going to let my mum live there anyway or is the landlord being awkward? (She owes about £1200).

I know my mum shouldn't be withholding rent but with everything that's happened I completely understand it, the house is in a state it's mouldy, black mold, damp, dated etc she didn't even put a new boiler in, they asked my dad to pretend it's his house and he got a boiler for being over a certain age on that scheme a few years ago, a gas service hasn't been done since 2016, the list honestly goes on and on and like I appreciate my parents put up with it but that's not an excuse on the landlords part.

Your mum needs to contact citizens advice or Shelter for advice. In short the landlord cannot evict her without giving proper notice and given they haven’t complied with landlord responsibilities this will be very difficult (notice will mug be deemed valid). Getting an order for eviction would take 9-12 months even when notice is valid. HOWEVER the rent arrears will remain as a debt to the landlord abd she’s been stupid to stop paying. She should try to start paying this debt down. And change the locks so the landlord can’t let themselves in.

In the meantime she should start talking to the Council Housing office to see what her options are for social housing and most importantly whether they require her to be legally evicted to avoid being deemed intentionally homeless

There processes to follow for repairs that need doing or haven't been done if she hasn't followed them in the past it doesn't really help her case.

The LL is in breach with gas cert and think there is some new electrical requirement they could be prosecuted I'd try and use that as leverage .Not saying it's the right thing to do but may help move the situation on.

Stopping rent is the wrong thing to do it's not going to help her.

Your Mum can’t legally be evicted without a gas safety certificate, amongst other items.

Shelter. CAB. There’s a tenants rights group on Facebook that is really useful too.

I appreciate her stopping her rent is the wrong thing to do but I'm not sure what the alternative is - the man whose buying the property is happy for my mum to stay there so even if current landlord evicts her then once the sale goes through the new landlord will let her back, it just seems like a whole lot off messing around for the sake of £1000 when you're going to get £60,000. My mum can't pay it back and can only offer a repayment plan but it'll take awhile to pay off and apparently the landlord wants to sell.

Does your mum know what rent she will be charged by the potential new owner, long term can she afford to stay there?

She does need advice and to communicate formally with the LL.

Did your mum and dad pay a deposit to move in. The landlord can get fined for not having gas checks also they need EICR certificate for the electrics. They also have to give you notice in writing. Tell your mum to tell the landlord to evict her and they will have to go to court which costs the landlord. I normally don’t agree with people not paying rent but for the landlord to behave like this towards their long standing tenants it is wrong as the landlord hasn’t played by the rules either.

@Fireflygal

Does your mum know what rent she will be charged by the potential new owner, long term can she afford to stay there?

She does need advice and to communicate formally with the LL.

Yes, he's knocking the rent down actually. He's a well off gentleman, he owns half the street haha.

He's going to speak to his solicitor regarding this tomorrow and I will contact shelter or another body tomorrow to see where we stand.

Landlord hasn't served proper notice and so your mum cannot be legally evicted. Look up the section 21 procedure. Tell her to stay put!

the man whose buying the property is happy for my mum to stay there so even if current landlord evicts her then once the sale goes through the new landlord will let her back
I really really wouldn't count on this. He might be happy that she stays there on the assumption that she is a good paying tenant. This is totally different to let the property to her after she's been evicted for not paying rent.

It sounds that the reason she isn't paying is that she now can't afford it after your father died and is using the excuse of the past to justify it. What the new landlord will conclude is the reality, she can't afford it, and might very well still not being able to afford it even with the rent reduction.

OP, you need to tell your mum that she has to pay. She doesn't benefit in anyway not doing so. The sale of the property is excellent news to her if indeed, the new landlord is happy for her to stay in principle. Whatever happens, the debt will remain. She will have to pay. The alternative is that she continues not to pay, she does get evicted after months, the new landlord doesn't want to let to her with her debts, she ends up with a CCJ and not meeting the credit requirements for any property and therefore homeless.

I also wouldn't count on the fact that he will allow her to remain as a tenant. The sad truth is that if he is keen to buy your mum has been a help to him by persuading the landlord to keep it off the market etc, but he doesn't legally owe her anything, and often people look out for their own interests above others. If the property needs work on it to remedy the mould etc I can't imagine him reducing the rent is part of that plan long term- he probably doesn't own half the street by splashing the cash without a return.

I can see why she is withholding rent, but if she would need to potentially look for new places to rent, a blemish on a reference like that would make it very hard. That said, I echo the others to contact CAB and shelter and see what they can do to help.

How much does the £1200 rent arrears represent in months?

Does the potential new landlord know she's withholding rent??
Does the current landlord know that it will take a year or more to evict her???

If the property is as bad as you say and no services of the boilers I would get environmental health in 🤷

Her current rent is 420pcm, new landlord said he would reduce it to 400pcm. My mum can afford it, there's no excuse to not paying it, the reasons I said in my op are the reasons she isn't paying, new landlord is aware that my mum isn't paying rent.

Unfortunately your Mum has put herself in a very precarious position here and this will not be attractive to a new LL, whatever he might say about it now. He has no obligation to her whatsoever.

Presumably the new landlord isn't yet her landlord, so he isn't relevant.

Your DM needs to pay the missed rent.

If she and your Dad paid a deposit and it is not protected she can ask the court to make an award in this regard too 3 x deposit. If deposit is not protected the landlord will need to return it before she can even serve a s21 notice.

it just seems like a whole lot off messing around for the sake of £1000
So your mum's decided on the landlord's behalf that she should gift your mother £1000 plus?

Thing is though OP, there is nothing in place to hold the potential new landlord to that. If property is his business, I can't imagine him charging low rent as some sort of favour or whatever. I would be prepared that if the sale goes through she might need somewhere else to live, just in case.

Did she claims grant for the funeral?
www.gov.uk/funeral-payments

Was your dad under retirement age?
www.gov.uk/bereavement-support-payment

@Floralcoral

Thing is though OP, there is nothing in place to hold the potential new landlord to that. If property is his business, I can't imagine him charging low rent as some sort of favour or whatever. I would be prepared that if the sale goes through she might need somewhere else to live, just in case.

It's not his business, he has a job and rents properties on the side I guess you could call it, he's been friends to my family for the 20 years they've lived there but previous posters are right in that he obviously has no obligation to rent the property to my mother once the sale has gone through, I'll seek legal advice in the morning as mentioned in my OP the landlord hasn't acted correct and I'll see if environmental services will make a visit.

@20questions

it just seems like a whole lot off messing around for the sake of £1000 So your mum's decided on the landlord's behalf that she should gift your mother £1000 plus?

I guess it saves her the fines for not doing the gas service for over 6 years?

As mentioned I'll seek legal advice.

[quote MySecretHistory]Did she claims grant for the funeral?
www.gov.uk/funeral-payments

Was your dad under retirement age?
www.gov.uk/bereavement-support-payment[/quote]
They weren't married so grants were hard, she got £900 as a funeral payment but the funeral was £2657

The new landlord wouldn't be able to just turf out a sitting tenant anymore than the current one can.

The protection for tenants one reason that only landlords buy property with a tenant in place.

I would be careful here if your mum wants to stay in that particular place, the current landlord can just easily put the place on the market and sell it to someone else and legally evict your mum. If she doesn’t want to stay there, which it doesn’t sound like she should if it has all them problems, then the landlord will have to evict her legally , once she has to leave the council will have to house her but that could be anything from a bed sit to a BnB for a while, depending on your local council. If she wants to stay in that place and the landlord is saying she will only sell to the other person if your mum pays her missing rent then it’s really that simple, either she pays the missing rent or waits to be legally evicted. Are there any other places available for her to rent around the same price?