Is there any way to evict tenant before their contract is up?

[WhatABigYikes]

I have two tenants in a flat I'm renting out. They are 6 months into a 12 month contract. There is no break clause. Due to something very unfortunate in my personal life, it would be very very helpful to sell the property ASAP. I wondered if I could ask the tenants nicely if they don't mind looking for somewhere to move - is that allowed? Am I being ridiculous? This was the first time I've rented out my flat and they are the first tenants I have. They are a couple.
Many thanks in advance

and also then gave a point of contact for tenants and landlords if they weren't 100% sure of something

Ok - so if you got stuck on something you hadn’t anticipated or that the course didn’t cover or that you had forgotten - you could go and ask someone about it before you took action that might be incorrect.

Broadly what OP is doing here, then.

The point being with something like, or their own basic research, that the OP would have been aware that you cannot evict before the end of the fixed term before they got into renting.

Clarifying minor details shouldn't involve not knowing the basic legality of the tenancy you've offered

But why should people expect to get advice on this stuff for free from the Council, or Mumsnet, when they are making good money in rent? We live in a capitalist society where the law allows you to rent out an asset in exchange for hard cash. I don’t have an issue with that, but I do have an issue with those same people scouting around for free legal advice as if they were hard up rather than paying for it like grown ups. If you’re business like enough to make money off tenants, you should extend the same courtesy to the people who study and train to learn the law on this, or make the effort yourself. It’s hypocritical and tight fisted to expect others to do you favours when you’re making money from a business relationship.

It wasn't free from the council. It was a paid for course.

They decided to make it non profit to encourage more to go (which I understand - I'd have paid more to go, but many shit LL's wouldn't).

Be aware that the tenancy won't end at the end of the fixed term (it automatically converts to a rolling contract unless you issue a new fixed term or give notice) and you will need to serve notice in the correct way at the right time.

OP, I suspect that you're in E&W so the advice given here is likely correct but it doesn't apply in Scotland, where you'd be entitled to terminate the lease to sell or move back into the property. Just mentioning on the off chance that you're possibly in Scotland.

What happens if the property doesn"t sell quickly, can you afford the upkeep costs, double council tax in some areas etc.?

You still have to go through the courts if they don"t leave though?

They can refuse viewings, or make it difficult, do you really want a pissed off tenant sitting in the flat during viewings telling potential owners about all the negatives they have found in the area?

Given they posted 10 months ago, they may well have sold by now.

From 1st of May, new law, all tenancies become periodic tenancies meaning that after 12 months from moving in, you can serve notice, 4 months for LL, in your case 16 months. Tenants however only have to give 2 months at anytime

Nothing stopping you asking if they like to move out earlier and surrender tenancy at no extra cost.

Offer to pay all their moving costs and their deposit etc back early to leave now and see if they take you up on it?

Possibly, maybe they will update the thread?

I would let them know you won’t be renewing at the end of the contract soon as you’ll be selling. You can say that if they find a place early on then you can waive the rent/notice and offer to pay their removal costs? This might give them more incentive to look for somewhere earlier rather than leave it to the end of the contract.

Be prepared however. Not all tenants will leave at the end of the contract and you are then looking at possession proceedings and eventual court ordered eviction which can take a long time.

Hopefully you followed all of the legal steps when renting your property out (Inspection certificates, protected deposit, right to rent info)? You won’t be able to serve a legal notice unless these steps were in place at the start of the tenancy. Don’t rely on any managing agent to do this for you or take their word for it. You are the landlord and therefore are legally responsible.

If you can"t serve a legal notice how do you get the tenant out?

You do not need to give access to viewings, it's not a twatish thing to do at all, it's the law, and you can't give a bad reference for that.

Exactly, big problem for lots of landlords is that they can"t afford to run the property without the tenant there?

You can give no reference though

You can ask them to leave but they don't have to. You may have to buy them out if you are desperate.

Bit of a zombie thread.

Viewings depend on if there's a clause in the tenancy agreement...

But anyone reading this, it's all change with the new Renter's Reform Act coming very soon, which will apply retrospectively to all tenancies.

Why was this thread bumped back up after nearly a year?

It is utterly irrelevant now!

Anyway........

What happened @WhatABigYikes ??😬

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