Tenants in a property for sale

[Paragon6]

I just wondered if anyone knew the common practise or have been in the same boat.

We're in the process of buying a flat which has tenants in at the moment, we were told they need 2 months notice to move out which is fair enough but at what stage would they be given notice?

We've asked the estate agent twice who has avoided the question and our solicitor has asked the sellers solicitor and not had an answer.
I completley understand not giving notice as soon as an offer is made as things can go wrong, but we're pretty much good to go our mortgage is approved, searches back and paperwork signed. Surely if they're waiting for us to complete before giving notice that's quite a big delay they would have to tell us about? Or am i just a FTB being niave?

Thanks so much for any help!

yes - and your solicitor definitely won't let you exchange until it has happened. When we purchased the estate agents themselves (agents of the purchase) were also in favour of this, mentioning that their professional reputation was at stake.

Also, check with your solicitor how near you are to exchange: you can say that if notice has not been served you'll pull out

• *equally if the people are still there pre-exchange, definitely you can choose to either pull out or renegotiate a lower price *

I wouldn’t it’s so hard to find rentals now and they’ve been there ten years, possible pets and children in the mix? If they don’t have anywhere to go the eviction process can take 7-8 months at least.

We are in exactly this situation and I would agree mostly with what @PiedATerrace has said except on one point - it IS possible to exchange before the tenants leave with a completion set for just after their notice period. I know this because I was placed under a lot of pressure to agree to this by the estate agent. However it is not prudent at all and your solicitor should already have advised you that you should absolutely not agree to exchange until the property is vacant. In our situation exchange is also when we give our own notice so it’s a precarious time. As already mentioned you should do a viewing again once vacant to check all is in order.

It is a stressful situation but it is relatively common and in our case the tenants have found somewhere and are departing earlier than the two months. I think it’s worth making sure the seller has told the tenants that, should they find somewhere, they are allowed to leave sooner. Hope that helps!

Yes, advice from my solicitor is to remain in the rented property until I have completed on my new home. This is perfectly legal, I am only legally required to leave the property if ordered by court or by my own choice.

It is apparently standard advice for people buying new builds to not make any significant changes to their personal circumstances such taking out new credit agreements or changing address between exchange and completion as this could impact our mortgage offer, resulting in our property purchase falling through.

My landlord knows all this, it's is their best interest to keep things amicable as they know I do intent to vacate so they don't have to worry about starting a lengthy court process, I'm happy to accommodate any updates to the property and the disruption of viewings - which I am within my right to refuse

Absolutely don't exchange contracts until the tenants have left and you have viewed the flat again ( you can't pull out of the purchase once you've exchanged without penalties, so could be waiting 6 months for tenants to be evicted ) .

It's not his/ her home. It's the tenants home. That's the point and the law supports this.

Oh god what a mess!!

I know, i'm worried maybe the landlord hasn't put the rent up that much in the last 10 years so they may struggle to find something similar now for the same price, it's on the South East coast so not exactly a cheap area. I do feel for them if that's the case bit it's not really my fault the seller is choosing to sell.

It's not illegal. Cleared that one up for you.

Of course it's not your fault at all. It's the landlord's fault for not planning this early enough and giving notice in plenty of time. You don't want to be embroiled in something that could turn into a very lengthy process and, at worst, owning a property with tenants in it.

As someone who will shortly be on the other side if this problem, I have been advised not to give the tenants notice at this point. It is my preference to sell to another landlord with a sitting tenant (best for everyone. Neither landlord loses income, and no disruption for the tenant) but obviously I can’t control who will make viable offers, and it’s largely the buyer and their financier who will control the pace (there being no upper chain)

I obviously don’t want to evict perfectly good tenants for a flaky buyer, though. I don’t know what (if anything) exists to help you give the landlord confidence.

well... eviction, court order and bailiffs forcing you out, all perfectly normal? I guess I move in different circles.

And please note I am not seeking you 'clearing things out for me', if I were to seek your services for clearing, cleaning or other little jobs I will let you know.

Op I need to see my property next year which has a tenant in it. I’ll be giving notice and the day they move out I’ll get the estate agents round. Maybe if they are super nice and it works for me I’ll let them stay a little longer, but I doubt it. I’m taking the hit on rental income as I don’t think it’s normal to do viewings with the rental tenant in place. And I want my place to be an attractive option for a quick sale. Maybe I’m the naive one here, but that’s the order of events that makes sense to me.

I need to sell 🙄

We were left homeless when five days before exchanging contracts and completion we found out that the tenants were refusing to leave.

The seller wanted us to complete and evict the tenants ourselves!

We had to put everything into storage, which cost a bomb, and sofa surf, living out of one suitcase.

We bought a new build so there was no chain and it took the owner of the house we were going to buy another four months to get vacant possession, even though proper and legal notice was given when he decided to sell.

Never buy any property that has tenants in situ.

@Paragon6 I wonder if it's my flat
I'm south east coast and my landlord is selling, as far as I know it's been marketed for the buy to let market and we've only had a handful of viewings.

@Sellorkeep I think you're right and that is the way to do it. It's annoying you'll loose out on some rent but i've learnt a lesson and certainly wouldn't do this again, and seems like no one else here would either.

@lollipoprainbow Wouldn't that be strange! You're not in Eastbourne are you?

@Paragon6 no !! Phew I was worried then !! There just seemed so many similarities I've been here nearly ten years and never had a rent increase.

There are changes coming down the track. Section 21 is being abolished so all will come under Section 8. Landlords will be able to give a Section 8 notice in order to sell, but not for "no fault evictions" in order to improve tenant security. There will still be a legal framework for landlords to gain possession.

Do not exchanged contracts until tenants have actually moved out. Inform your solicitor this is what you are insisting upon. Seller will need to give tenants 2 month's notice but they still might not move out.until they get a bailiff at their door. That could take 5 months. I bought a house last year with tenants Insitu and I refused to exchange until after they left. I had to wait a further 4 months before they left.

I am in Midlands and there was a backlog for evictions but courts are catching up now. Where I am currently 14 - 15 weeks from section 21 to baliffe eviction. Evicted tenants have to go into another private rental or council emergency accomodation cheap hotel room.

I had to wait a few months as well. My initial viewing was done with the tenants watching so it felt slightly odd. When the tenants went, I viewed the flat again to make sure it was completely empty and was pleasantly surprised to see all the walls and ceilings freshly repaired and painted and it had obviously had a deep clean We then exchanged and completed in 3 days. I did get a bit jittery thinking the tenants could still have a key and get back in during those 3 days! As soon as we got in we obviously changed the locks. You are right though op, I would imagine a large percentage of blocks of flats are tenanted.

I always tell my tenants that when selling give they have the option to stay until exchange if they want. Three left before I even accepted an offer.
Your sellers should have served notice when they put it on the market, and certainly now they have accepted an offer. The tenants can always go on a rolling tenancy if they haven't accepted an offer by the time that notice is up.

I didn't say it was 'perfectly normal'. I disagreed with you and said it wasn't illegal as you had suggested.
You asked for things to be cleared up so I did so. I'm sorry but I am not a professional cleaner so won't be offering any cleaning or clearing services to you or anyone else. You will have to search elsewhere.
@JosephineGH - I doubt the landlord will secure an eviction order before December with backlogs of at least 6 months. It wouldn't make sense to do that anyway as she is buying and planning to move out.
There is a very helpful poster on here call @wombat something who is an excellent landlord. Perhaps she might come along with advice before long.