Legal eviction

[strawberryblue]

Legal Eviction -

I wanted some advice please from a property lawyer etc or anyone who has anything valuable they can add would be so grateful! Stressful situation

Tenanted property- tenant has lease till Sept 2024.

There is a small amount of damp/mould in property (second storey flat), contractor has been round recommended vents etc in the meantime tenant has been to the council (environmental health).

Tenant weekly has many many many issues with flat over the last year which coincided with a small rent increase (which have all been resolved if deemed to be an actual problem by external contractors). Lone adult
Tenant.

The situation now is becoming really stressful with daily emails and alot of money being pumped into the flat so decision has been made to sell flat asap.

My questions are-

Can the lease legally break broken with the understanding no rent would be expected from them for a couple of months till they find something new? Or do we have to wait till September? I think tenant would be agreeable to move possibly due to the issues they keep raising but unsure

Can the property be sold on with a full survey to show the small damp/mould issue in the interest of full transparency or should this be fixed prior to sale?

Thank you for reading anything you can add that could help me going forward would be great.

You have to wait until the end of your fixed term. You cannot give notice until the appropriate moment in your fixed term and you will not be able to evict a tenant at any point in the tenancy, fixed term or not, if you have an outstanding repairs issue with environmental health. It will be thrown out of court (actually it won’t get there in the first place).

You need legal advice from someone who specialises in landlord and tenant law as you obviously don’t have a clue. That sounds harsh because it is, you shouldn’t be a landlord if you don’t understand your obligations. Have a look at the government recently updated damp and mould guidance, it’s very eye opening about how mould will be viewed by the inspecting authority.

Have the council given an improvement notice for the work required?
Is there a break clause in the tenancy agreement?

No council
Are aware of intention to sell as we had proof of this (given to lettings agency)

Not sure about break clause need to read tenancy agreement x

@Flangeosaurus I don't know everything does anyone? Hence I am asking- so I can do the right thing by the tenant and legally, I have many properties and I haven't been in this position before, sometimes unhelpful words are best kept to yourself but thank you for the little bite of helpful that you did advise

You might be better off going to the Landlord Zone forum (if one exists) for this, OP.

Or you might get advice from a lawyer over on Legal.

Good luck.

Thank you @KievLoverTwo

My heart goes out to your tenant.

You need to fix the mould not try to evict them for being vocal about issues. Damp and mould are seriously bad for people’s health.

You need to focus on doing the necessary repairs promptly.
You can only give notice to the tenant prior to the end of term - you can't move them on early unless they agree (which they might if you offer them a worthwhile cash incentive towards moving costs, deposit and hassle ?)
By September 2024 it's likley the value of the property will have fallen and if you haven't completed the necessary damp repairs by then expect that to become an issue. It's not that you can't sell with the issues - but that it will likley reduce the price more than the costs of remediation. It doesn't make any financial sense to delay or ignore the contractors recommendation for vents to be installed. Quite appart from the fact that the Tennant is morally and legally entitled to a swift resolution.

Sounds like what you are after is a surrender of tenancy. There are two types - express and implied and you will want an express surrender. You will need legal advice to create a deed which is signed by both yourself and the tenant.

In terms of part two, you can sell a property in pretty much any state you want, though whether anyone will buy is another matter.