Landlord wants to sell

[ShiningforLeeBertie]

My landlord told me a couple of months ago he wants to sell and if I am interested in buying. I may have been at the start however he wants too much money and the house has several issues.

My partner and I found somewhere else and have an offer accepted so are just going through the mortgage application process now.

My LL has now been messaging to say he wants to market the house asap but needs vacant possession, and if we can agree a date to end the tenancy. He put the end of July. I have told him I cannot agree a date as I dont know how long the buying process will take, but of course will keep him updated.

I have been here since Sep 2009 so from research a notice to quit has to be a minimum of 12 weeks.

If he issues a S21, I believe it would fail as the house is not compliant. He had a elec safety check done in 2021 and the house failed, with some faults listed as "dangerous". He has not done the work needed to make it compliant. There are also other issues but none where he has failed to meet his legal obligations. I believe the GSC from 2024 has also expired and he has made no attempt to have that checked at all.

I don't want to be an arse about it, but I'm also not prepared to make myself homeless just so he can sell. He said he doesnt want to miss out on another property but tbh thats not my concern, he shouldnt have looked at others until he had vacant possession of this place.

There is no agent involved, no deposit as he didnt take one (hes my ex-wifes ex boss, she moved out in 2017 and I stayed here).

I have said I will give him dates as soon as I have them, I dont want to be here any longer than I have to be, but I can tell that he will keep trying to pressure me into leaving earlier than I need to.

I just want to know my rights as a tenant, and also him not fulfilling his legal obligations (which I have reminded him of constantly and have evidence of him saying he knows he needs to sort it etc). My tenancy is just something he downloaded from the internet and makes no mention of notice periods etc.

Thank you

I am a landlord.
You’ve nothing to worry about. A S21 will be invalid as he has failed in his legal duty as a landlord to keep the property safe. In the 4 years since the safety check, he has put you as the tenants at risk and the neighbours too as it sounds like you were lucky to not have had a fire!

in regards to the GSC- that can land him with severe fines or even a custodial sentence.

If I was you, just continue to live there and pay rent as normal and then give notice once you’ve got a confirmation date… He can’t do nothing to evict you.

He will just have to wait and market the house once you have left (which seems like no more than 4 months) - I mean he could put it up for sale - there’s nothing stopping him - but buyers will most likely be put off that there is a tenant in situ….. Complexities of them refusing to move out….
When I’ve sold tenanted properties, I’ve always made sure that the tenants have found another property (if not sold to them) and that they’ve vacated and I’ve been able to give it a lick of paint / new flooring to freshen up.

Seeing as you have been a tenant for 16 years almost, he is being a bit of an arsehole!

But there's nothing you can do about any of it so I don't know why you are tying yourself up in knots about it. You can't give him a day so he ll have to go the formal legal route and it ll either not be upheld and he ll have to get it sorted to start the process again, or it will and you ll be given a date at that point to move out. Unfortunately you have not control over any of it,

This is wrong.

Yes, I believe you are right about a S21 failing if it went to court. When I was a landlord I wanted to evict my tenants due to non-payment. Due to the non payment (for a long period over Covid) I couldn't afford to fulfill some of the statutory requirements. The legal advice I got was that I would lose in course due to this.

So what are the statutory requirements for a valid s21 for a pre 2015 AST that ops landlord has failed to follow?

I'm going to play devil's advocate here and say yes, I understand the landlord hasn't done everything by the book. But - by your own account he's barely increased the rent for years, if at all. You have potentially saved many thousands from his more relaxed approach.

So, while you are legally within your rights to prolong your stay as long as possible I think ethically it would be nice to agree a date, amicably, and if necessary rent an Airbnb for a month or so if your purchase is delayed, using some of the considerable money you've saved by having an easy going landlord.

she mentions the failings in her OP

I believe the question is because it's a pre 2015 tenancy, I have found conflicting info whether a s21 would be valid because of the missing info.

What about Section 41(1) of the 2015 Deregulation Act and the subsequent Court of Appeal decision in Minister and Hathaway?

You are a good example of why we need lawyers.

How's it going @ShiningforLeeBertie

Out mortgage application has been accepted, we are looking st roughly 12 weeks so middle of August before completing hopefully.

Landlord has booked an electrician to come on 2 June, I know the house will fail any test. No S21 has been received yet, so at the moment it's looking hopeful for me to be out by beginning of Sept, I will give one rental period of notice as required so that will be done at the start of Aug.

No mention of any gas safety check or anything like that, but I'm starting to sort and pack where I can so it's not all done at the last minute.