AIBU to think she should consider backing out of house purchase

[PracticalLady]

My DD is in the process of buying her first property. It's taken 5 months already and she's just found out that the tenant, who should have vacated on 23/1/25, is still in the house as "she can't find anywhere she wants to move to". Now, while I have some sympathy as she is a single parent with a toddler and an older teenager still at school, my daughter is desperate. She had to give up her rented room, she wasn't given any choice and has the majority of her belongings in a storage unit, with the rest in her car and also piled up in my house. She works from home, which is proving difficult atm as she is sofa surfing between us, her stepmother and a friend, all of us living an hour apart in different directions. The Estate Agent obviously tried to play down the situation. She mentioned a solicitor's letter (not happened yet) and that another tenant was recently given only 14 days to vacate by the court. The problem here, I believe, is that as the tenant has a toddler , if it does go to court, she will most likely be given a much longer period to vacate and anyhow, how long will it be before it goes to court? I can't help but think DD should start looking at other properties, despite the fact she will lose the money already spent on the survey, searches and solicitor's deposit. AIBU to panic?

Dont panic! This is house buying jeopardy. Sounds like she needs to keep looking.

My DS pulled out after a survey. Sunk costs are part of the risk of house buying. He chose to not offer where tenants were in situe and would ask in the end before viewing what the situation was. He still got caught though with renovation work with no BR (done poorly). He realised after he could have checked the BR side before offering although the issues of its quality needed a surveyor/someone more experienced to notice.

Annoying for her but she'll have presumably saved more money waiting for 5 months?

When does her mortgage offer expire and what rate was it?

The tenant is likely holding on for an actual eviction notice as they can then be rehoused by the Council. Your daughter's estate agent/solicitor should be asking what stage eviction proceedings are at. It's taking around 3 months after the section 21 has expired to get a court order and eviction date in most parts of England. This all depends on the correct legal notices being served otherwise it's back to square one. This will be a stressful time for the tenant too.

Personally, I'd have looked elsewhere if I'd known the property was still tenanted or been prepared for a long buying process.

That’s a tricky one as no one knows how long it will take for the tenant to leave. It could be soon but it’s the unknown that is concerning.

It wouldn’t hurt for your daughter to start viewing other properties. She could instruct her solicitor not to run up any more expenses re this one. Who knows, she may find a property she prefers.

It doesn’t look like things will be moving quickly. I’d also advise backing out.

I'd want to know what the timeliness is for eviction - I appreciate that in order for the tenant to be rehoused she has to be made homeless, by the owner. So I'd want to know what the dates are for this all happening.

If its not an acceptable timeline, I'd back out.

She has two sensible options - say she wants to progress but will not exchange until the property is vacant or back out.

I would instruct the solicitor to do NOTHING else at this time and look around for alternatives while she thinks.

Rather than pulling out now, why doesn’t she start looking at other properties? This property may become vacant in the meantime, but if not, she might find another place she likes without wasting too much more time.

Absolutely look at other properties, had a friend in similar and when they eventually got in, the tenant who hadn't wanted to move left the property in horrendous condition.

If she goes for a different property she may be able to get insurance to cover her if the purchase falls through

Agree with a PP that the tenant may be holding out to be housed.

I had this with late MILs house, which had tenants put in when she went into a care home, to help towards the care costs.

Probate obtained, house went on the market (the tenants were fully aware that the house would be sold whenever MIL passed when they first moved in - they were there about 4 years) - they accommodated viewings, were kept up to date at all times, continued to pay their rent etc.

Sale agreed, formal notice given. They kept claiming they were looking for alternative accommodation, but notice date came and they decided they wouldn’t move out ‘because the council would then house them’. It took 5 months from issuing proceedings to bailiff appointment to evict them.

Lost the original sale during the legal proceedings period, but luckily got another buyer pretty quickly.

To be fair to the tenant, it sounds like a desperate situation for her, and she will absolutely be advised to stay in the house until the last possible day to access any sort of emergency accommodation. An awful lot of woe, money and court time could be saved if it were possible to find a way round this current way that councils work. It does mean that once there’s a court date there is some certainty around the eviction date though.

Personally I’d be looking around while staying in the purchase for now, to see what else was out there at what price.

Agree with others that she should start looking again.

Personally I would never offer on a property that still has a tenant in, precisely because of this kind of situation. It’s widely understood that you should get vacant possession before trying to sell, not after.

Yes but in some parts of the country (London I know for a fact so assume it's true for some other cities too) so many flats for sale have tenants in situ that they are almost impossible to avoid.

What normally happens is the tenants are given notice & leave at some point during the home buying process. But occasionally you get problems such as this where the tenant says they will leave then refuses to at the last minute as they can't find anything suitable to move to.

Notice to leave doesn’t mean they actually have to leave at that point though. And while it’s ok waiting around for this if you’re, say, renting on a periodic tenancy, in OP’s daughter’s situation it’s probably best not to risk waiting around for another property where the same thing could happen again.

Yes I agree.

I was responding to your comment that you would never offer on a property that had a tenant in with the observation that in London for example it’s not that simple as so many flats for sale have tenants in that FTBs have little choice.

We sold a house that was tenanted when it first went on the market. We knew for a fact the tenants would leave on the dot as it was a short term rental between selling their house and moving abroad to take up a job. But we couldn’t sell it at all until the tenants had gone. Covering the mortgage and our own rent where we had relocated was brutal but I could understand why people wouldn’t take the risk.

Don’t go by what the agent says
Get solicitor to find out exact situation with eviction process
Start looking for other properties
Don’t go for a tenanted property

Not directly relevant I know but my ds and his mates were moving from one London rental to another, arrived on moving day to find the new flat wasn't vacant. Not even the previous tenants but a friend who had been sofa surfing and was now squatting "so he could be evicted then housed by the council". As a single lad in his 20s we didn't think there was much hope of that (other than a hostel.perhaps) but ds and pals couldn't wait around to find out. Ended up somewhere pretty grotty and overpriced but they were pretty desperate obviously. Luckily the place after that had just been freshly if cheaply done up so no lingering sofa surfers that time. The housing shortage sure causes a lot of misery though

@PracticalLady the vendor should really have taken steps to evict the tenant a long time ago. your daughter needs to buy the house with vacant possession not tenanted! might be better to bow out of this sale rather than proceed. if daughter proceeds to buy while tenant is still in the flat then there is a huge can of worms for her to open! she then becomes an unwilling landlord and all process have to be started again!!

I think people are getting confused.

The daughter will not be buying with the tenant still in situ because their solicitor wouldn’t allow it. Properties have to have vacant possession by exchange of contracts. Unless the buyer is a cash buyer (no mortgage) who intends to be a LL themselves.

I agree with this. No need to back out at this stage but yes, definitely start looking at other properties.

House buying in this country is an absolute joke.

This is why you never buy with a tenant in situ. This is factually that womans home not your DDs and she has no where to go with children, the only way she can legally be provided for is if she stays put until legally made homeless.

Its common knowledge that this is how the system in England works, it why tenant houses are usually cheap and no one buys them. Did she not do basic research this before spending 5 months on this?

Unless you pull out and buy at auction (with 28 day turn around) then anything is going to take another 3-6 months to complete likely so shes best off renting somewhere.

The other issue might be the state of the property after the tenant leaves, particularly if she doesn’t want to.

My son and DiL moved into a house that had been tenanted. We had to throw out carpets, the broken dishwasher and various amounts of rubbish. If she goes ahead, make sure it’s left in good condition. I’d suggest looking at other properties too and finding out where things are in regard to the eviction process.