Help us solve messy rental issue!!

[Peppermintpatty56]

Sorry this is long, I've tried to break it down into bullet points! Any advice would be so gratefully received as we feel stuck!

Moved into house last year assured it was a long term let and LL had no plans to sell. 12 month fixed term ended in August 2024.

•	 July 2024- call from the managing agent -  LL had received an out of the blue offer from a developer whose clients want to knock down and rebuild on the plot. LL wants to “explore” offer. 

•	Landlord, buyers, buyers agents, developer and architect meet at property - nothing is divulged to us. 

•	LL agreed verbally to the buyers offer. asks us to sign a 6 month tenancy agreement. LL states she doesn’t want to “disadvantage us” by having to leave at short notice but also states that she doesn’t want to end up with an empty property should the sale fall through. Buyers are unhappy as want us to vacate asap. 

*LL requests we sign a contract with the buyers agent. We challenge this, as we know they will have the buyers interests at heart for obvious reasons. We suspect this is so the buyers have control with access to the property during surveys etc. LL agrees to stay with current managing agent.

•	We ask for a rolling contract or “wiggle room” about leaving the contract early due to the over saturated rental market in our area  because we find being here during surveys etc upsetting, especially for our SEN kids who don’t want to leave their home. We are offered only a 6 month fixed term, wiggle room agreed verbally although our requests are in writing. 

•	sign 6 month contract on 8th August. 

•	We agree access to the council conducting a a bat survey. During this the buyer, her family member and their agent turn up, walk around our home freely including letting themselves in. We contact the managing agent saying we feel this is unnecessary and intrusive. He and the LL agree. 

•	We tell the buyers agent we are unhappy intrusive visit. She says they had the LLs permission. She also tells us the sale is progressing “at pace” and that the buyers have offered us 3 months rent to vacate early. 

•	We look at other properties and decide we will take the buyers up on offer. We tell their agent who says she’s instructed their solicitor. We also tell the managing agent and LL who state that they are unaware of any of the above information. They say the sale isn’t progressing at pace at all, in fact it’s still little more than a verbal agreement. 

•	LL states she wants us to have no further contact with the buyers agent who is “scheming” and that she wouldn’t want to break the 6 month tenancy until contracts are exchanged. She isn’t even confident this will happen at all. 

So, the buyers want us out but the LL want us to stay as insurance incase the sale falls through. We have a family and children to provide stability for. We feel our LL wants us to sit in limbo. We’ve been lied to and used as a pawn.

Can we get out of our contract?

What can we do?

Shocked that people are advising the OP to stick to the agreement she has that is legally binding and make plans on that basis, not the basis of verbal offers from someone who isn't in a position to fulfil them? What do you think people should say, 'get out of there' is ridiculous, the landlord wants and expects them to stay until the end of the tenancy, and will only break that if it's in their interests which it isn't likely to be. Being realistic in advice shouldn't be shocking to you or anyone.

Well if the buyer is offering enough to cover the remaining rent period, the costs of moving and some extra for your inconvenience then go for it, why not? But I doubt you'll see that money in reality.

I honestly don’t know if we’d see their offered money not and to be honest we would have been thinking about moving anyway because we just wanted out of the stress and a fresh start. We didn’t want to move till this all started, but now it has, everything just feels soured.

We honestly didn’t expect the offer at all and it is in no way a deciding factor, although it would have helped. They are REALLY keen to get us out though, mainly because if we are still in the property when they exchange then they become our new landlords and have to honour the tenancy agreement for the remainder of the 6 months. It’s a lot more complicated than if we’ve vacated.

We are thinking in her best interest. Your advice to just speak to the LL and “get out of there”.

This is a LL that has made vague verbal promises of “wriggle room” but all that is in writing is a firm six month contract.

Unless the LL agrees IN WRITING to release them from their lease with no charges for lost rent or reletting, only then should OP accept the rental they applied for if they are offered it.

Any verbal comments from the LL are not trustworthy. OP could indeed “get out of there” and then be paying rent on TWO places until Feb 2025 plus reletting fees- they likely get another tenant- but that won’t stop the estate agent from charging marketing fees to the OP.

Given the LL has been untrustworthy, she is not at all likely to release OP and OP should really just shelve this and move at the end of the current six month contract. It’s best for her peace of mind.

@LoremIpsumCici i totally get what your saying, I think what @Sunshineandtequila was alluding to, and where my head has been is if we leave, we’re out. We can tell our kids something definite (the limbo is really affecting our SEN kids- our DD16 with learning difficulties is really distressed. She doesn’t understand how we don’t know if we’re moving or not) and we get a fresh start.
Obviously we can’t do that without being liable for costs without our landlords say so. I wish we’d insisted on a rolling contract, but we can’t change that now.

Regardless of the house we saw and loved, we still will need to discuss the potential of wiggle room with the LL and get it in writing if she agrees because the rental market around here is crazy and looking in December when we’re likely to be served notice is going to make it all the more difficult. We need to live within a certain radius of our dis’s SEN school to get transport for him to attend and he has an assistance dog- Our choice of suitable houses is minimal to say the least. We are looking to buy eventually so we don’t have these issues again, but it’s just not doable in this 6 month timeframe.

I doubt they will be able to complete until you've moved out regardless. Unless they are cash buyers or getting a BTL mortgage their mortgage company would demand vacant possession before they complete.

I agree. Do not engage with those buyers or their agent. They are nothing to do with you at all. And they certainly shouldn't be entering the property without notice. Do what suits you. Don't be bullied. Just do not respond to any messages from the buyers. Or respond by saying no comment.

@PeriIsKickingMyButt they are definitely cash buyers. This isn’t the only house their family has re built on our road.
Their agent only deals with high value “luxury” property. You can’t even view the houses she sells online because you have to request special access. Our house currently doesn’t have that kind of status at all (and we could still never afford to buy it) but the one they are building will.