Vendor’s tenants refusing to leave

[Plancina]

Just posting for a rant/wild hope of any advice. We have been in process of buying a really lovely house that we totally fell in love with and have laid over £1000 for survey fees, solicitor fees and a survey. It was marketed as no chain but has a private tenant in it who was supposed to move out on the 5th July. The tenant is now refusing to leave - they own their own home but it is having work done on it and they aren’t willing to move into alternative rental accommodation until their home is finished. They are ignoring all requests from their landlord to leave and insisting they will stay there until their house is ready, they won’t give a timeline for this.
Our lease is up in two months and we’d have to commit to a 6 month lease at least to stay here. We are so upset and annoyed - can’t believe how selfish these people are being. The vendor is also annoyed as they don’t want to lose the sale and they had promised their son a portion of the proceeds to buy his first home and now he is going to lose that house also.
Our solicitor says it could take a year to evict them.

I find it a little odd that your own solicitor didn't warn you of the potential risks of buying a property with a sitting tenant. Because if they had, they would also have ensured that the liability for any snafus lay with the vendor and the vendor would have to recompense you for any loss caused by their (mis)management of the situation.

When I say "odd", I mean it's something that a solicitor would flag up to prevent themselves from being accused (quite rightly) of negligence.

Which piques my curiosity. I wonder what the OPs solicitor did say ? I can't believe they let it slide up to this point

@SpartacusAutisticus they were issued -S21 on 29 March (my fault as that terminology hadn’t been used so far in the discussions so I wasn’t aware of it, unintentional drip deed!)

@ProfessorSlocombe they didn’t really say anything, except saying we wouldn’t exchange until the property was vacant.

LL should have served notice. Just telling someone verbally isn't enough. You have only his/her word what was said.

Once the lease has expired then they are in the property illegally. I assume they won’t be paying rent to the landlord then?

Not true. Once the lease expires, it automatically goes onto a rolling contract. There are very strict set procedures to follow to end somebodies tenancy and even then they are not legally obliged to move out until an eviction notice is issues.

Can’t he just get a locksmith to change the locks when they are out? Surely the tenants wouldn’t have any legal recourse to counter that considering there is no lease and they shouldn’t be there?

This, on the other hand, would be illegal to do.

Hope that the new property passes muster, Op.

@DisobedientHamster they did serve notice on 29 March (my fault for not checking this and putting it in OP, unintentional drip feed caused)

@TheIckabog

Once the lease has expired then they are in the property illegally. I assume they won’t be paying rent to the landlord then?

Can’t he just get a locksmith to change the locks when they are out? Surely the tenants wouldn’t have any legal recourse to counter that considering there is no lease and they shouldn’t be there?

No, that is harassment and a criminal offence. The landlord needs to get a court order to evict the tenants and they cannot be forced to leave until he has done so.

This is why a sensible landlord issues the s21 before putting the house on the market, so there is enough time to go to court and get a possession order before completion. This landlord was being greedy and trying to be clever and has fucked up completely.

To echo those other posters who know what they are talking about, the tenants have done nothing wrong. The LL should have issued a s21 notice for the end of the fixed term of the tenancy.

Can the tenants give a timescale on when they will be able to move? Worth trying to find out before there's any outlay on another house.

@wowfudge no they won’t say when they will move, just “when their house is ready”. The landlord did issue a S21 (I just didn’t realise they had as am a first time buyer and they hadn’t used that term to me, but the agent has confirmed this now)

Of course the tenants are selfish fuckers. They are taking advantage of the covid situation to go back on their word.

I hope Karma catches them.

So sorry, OP.

[quote Plancina]@ProfessorSlocombe they didn’t really say anything, except saying we wouldn’t exchange until the property was vacant.[/quote]
Have a very careful read through all correspondence. I find it ... unusual that such a whopping red flag got casually waved though with no arse covering of the thickest kind from a halfway competent solicitor.

Mainly because the situation you are now in is almost textbook reasons for advising strongly against such a purchase.

Watch out for insurance too. Is the property actually insured now ? Because if the sitting tenant were to have an accident and burn the house down and the vendors insurance has lapsed (because they sold it) and your insurance isn't valid (unless it's specifically covering rental properties) then your problems could only just be beginning ...

Well my lease expired in March 2018. I'm still in my home. Its been on to a rolling tenancy since then. Even though its been said a million times on this thread some of you just aren't getting it.

I would blame your solicitors. They should have pointed out the pitfalls of trying to buy a house with tenants in it. I don't think it's wise at the best of times and with no evictions because of CV it's a huge problem.

Okay - so.the vendor needs to crack on and start eviction proceedings.

That's the risk a greedy LL trying to avoid a void period takes when they try and sell before the tenant leaves.

Your solicitor should have warned you much more strongly about the risks

OP could you speak to your landlord and ask to have a shorter renewal time? My partner and I were attacked in our home not so long ago by a neighbour, we were really shaken up. Usually we’d have to renew for 6months but they changed it for us and now we are on a rolling contract that we only have to give a month’s notice for. It’s worth asking as a back up plan.

The posters saying the tenant has done nothing wrong. Do you genuinely think every tenant is evicted at the end of a tenancy? Of course not. Most leave at the end of a tenancy because that's what they agreed. The tenant knew when the tenancy ended. They had seven months notice that it wouldn't be renewed. They are being selfish arses.

@Northernsoullover

Well my lease expired in March 2018. I'm still in my home. Its been on to a rolling tenancy since then. Even though its been said a million times on this thread some of you just aren't getting it.

You haven't had a s21 issued though, presumably?

If the s21 has been issued in March the landlord could change the locks and put their stuff on the curb. They could try and take the landlord to court but good luck to them! What complete and utter arseholes.