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Landlord selling property - I cant afford to move out
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HI All
I was hoping to get some advice as I just found out that the property I am renting is about to be sold and I have been given 2 months notice to move. The problem is I cannot get my finances together to afford a new deposit and to hire a removal company to move in this time period and don't know what to do.
As a bit of background, I have been renting this house since September 2011. The owner was an old lady who was in a home and her family member had power of attorney to rent it out (to me) via an agency. My contract has been a rolling contract since September 2012.
Last week the owner died and the property was left to 2 family members. They have decided to sell and want it vacant to decorate and sell asap. I will need to leave by end of April.
I spoke to the agent about perhaps extending by another month but it has been refused and I explained although I work I cannot get 2 months rent and removal costs together in this time. I asked if I can get my deposit back early (as I have regular inspections and the place is being decorated in any case and everything is fine) but was told the earliest would be on the day I move out.
They did say if I took another property with them I may be able to transfer my deposit but they are a small agency with not many properties and none of a similar size and price to what I have.
What are my options?
If I could get the deposit back early I could probably afford to move but the only way I can think is to not pay the final months rent and ask them to use the deposit - my fear is that they may take a CCJ on me (they have all my details of employment, passport photocopy etc)
My friend said if the landlord sells its their responsibility to re-house me but Im not sure if this is true for a rolling contract.
I am so worried as I do not want withold rent but if they want me out this quickly it is the only way I can do it.
Thanks for advice in advance
I was hoping to get some advice as I just found out that the property I am renting is about to be sold and I have been given 2 months notice to move. The problem is I cannot get my finances together to afford a new deposit and to hire a removal company to move in this time period and don't know what to do.
As a bit of background, I have been renting this house since September 2011. The owner was an old lady who was in a home and her family member had power of attorney to rent it out (to me) via an agency. My contract has been a rolling contract since September 2012.
Last week the owner died and the property was left to 2 family members. They have decided to sell and want it vacant to decorate and sell asap. I will need to leave by end of April.
I spoke to the agent about perhaps extending by another month but it has been refused and I explained although I work I cannot get 2 months rent and removal costs together in this time. I asked if I can get my deposit back early (as I have regular inspections and the place is being decorated in any case and everything is fine) but was told the earliest would be on the day I move out.
They did say if I took another property with them I may be able to transfer my deposit but they are a small agency with not many properties and none of a similar size and price to what I have.
What are my options?
If I could get the deposit back early I could probably afford to move but the only way I can think is to not pay the final months rent and ask them to use the deposit - my fear is that they may take a CCJ on me (they have all my details of employment, passport photocopy etc)
My friend said if the landlord sells its their responsibility to re-house me but Im not sure if this is true for a rolling contract.
I am so worried as I do not want withold rent but if they want me out this quickly it is the only way I can do it.
Thanks for advice in advance
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Comments
Sorry but your "friend" is talking cobblers. Your landlord has NO responsibility to re-house you if they give you legitimate contractual notice to leave for WHATEVER reason (selling or otherwise). Housing yourself is YOUR problem, not theirs ....
Issue is I cannot put down a deposit on a new place until I get the deposit back from this place so cannot move out until I have that money back - everything in the existing place is fine and is being completely rennovated in any case.
Unfortunately a loan is not an option as I already have a £20k loan and maxed out credit card. If I could have had a bit longer I could have sorted some financial arrangement out but 2 months is just not enough to organise this.
So from what I take it there is nothing I can do aside from withold the rent for the next 2 months on the guarentee that I will leave. If not I will have nowhere to go and so cannot leave irrespective of whether they want me to leave or not. I have been a good tenant, never missed a rent and had inspections from my agency every 3 months so feel I should be given at least an extra month or 2 especially given these people inherited the house and just want the money from the sale.
Do you have the registration document, when the agency put your deposit in the govt. deposit protection scheme?
I think I remember this being done when I first moved in so may have it somewhere yes
I that you can contact the council if you are due to become homeless within 28 days. They can advise you what to do. You might even get quite high on the council housing list.
If you do that then you are breaking your contract and risk a) being taken to court and getting a CCJ that will mean you find renting again very difficult and b) being evicted even earlier for breach of contract. It is a VERY bad idea. I'm a landlord myself, and withholding rent is sure way of pissing me right off. If you want their goodwill then don't even think about it. Why should you get 2 months rent free???
Who has the deposit lodged - the landlord or the agent? If it's the agent then you could ask them to find you a similar property and see if they will hold-over the deposit to use against that. However if you you start playing games and withholding rent then no-one is going to trust you and help you out.
You need to dig it out, so you can contact them in case you get into a dispute with the agents.
I'd take the advice the other poster gave and have a word with your local council.
They run a deposit guarantee scheme, well many do, whereby they guarantee the deposit to a new landlord, it's not in the form of cash but most landlords will accept the arrangement.
I wouldn't hold out much hope in getting to stay in the house much longer, if they want you out, they will get you out, giving you 2 months notice is more than your lease demands.
You should try contacting the Job Centre for a crisis loan - they're not just for benefit claimants. So long as you have the means to pay it back they should be able to help and unlike other lenders you won't have to pay interest or worry about other loans.
Have a chat with the housing office at your local town hall (if the worst happens, and you haven't anywhere before the property sells you might be placed in a B&B for a couple of weeks/months but better that than in a doorway.:)
They have given you legitimate lawful notice. You have no choice BUT to leave. If you don't you're squatting and then breaking the law too.
It isn't squatting - to squat you need to have gained entry without the owners permission (and without breaking in) Staying past the designated date to leave is still a civil matter dealt with under civil not criminal law.
Technically, there is very little immediately they could do if you withheld rent or stay past your departure date. You need to be 2 months behind in the rent before they could start eviction procedures anyway, and if you stay put they need to go to court to get an eviction notice then back again for enforcement if you don't move out.
However, long term these can affect your chances of renting anywhere else. And pretty nasty to do to people who are grieving.
Have you tried calling Shelter to see if there are any short term loan schemes for deposits? Or see if you can negotiate with the landlords to pay the last month's rent late or for them to keep the deposit in return for the last month's rent. Council's housing officer has been mentioned and it is worth a call.
Otherwise, can you put your stuff into storage and go into a house share or stay with friends until you get yourself sorted?
I would refuse to leave on the date you have been given to leave, force them into issuing a section 21 eviction notice, issued by a court - you will be able to extend your current notice period by a further 2 months, this gives you 4 months in total and you can then negotiate a vacation date on the proviso you will receive you're deposit back when you need it.
Fair enough. I was just going from
https://www.gov.uk/squatting-law/overview
Seems the Section 21 notice is the way to go if that advice is correct.
(But then would this https://www.gov.uk/private-renting-evictions/accelerated-possession apply? )
Yes - I found that odd.
The house is part of the old lady's estate - and needs to go through probate before it can be passed to her relatives.
I can understand they might want it empty to do up/redecorate but they won't be able to sell it for a while. So why not leave you there renting - until probate is sorted?
Good luck - its tough being a private tenant. But that's the danger of not agreeing another long term assured tenancy - if you move to a rolling tenancy you can be thrown out at only 2 months notice at any time. Fine if you can be flexible - but not if you would find moving costly.
Is sharing an option - until you get yourself sorted?
One of the family members had power of attorney over the property and it was her who organised the rental through my agency - she wanted to continue renting it out to me but the other family member wants to sell it. As such that is why they are selling it - I just assumed that as it was on the will they could do what they want. Thing is the property was on the market for 2 years and empty before I moved in, so seems odd they are so keen to get rid but I guess whatever they get for it is free money. Unfortunately I smell an aspect of greed rather than basic human decency as there is absolutely no reason they could not have given me an extra month or so given it would be no extra effort for them (I pay the agency direct) and that is why I am reacting in this way
OP would need to challenge this and would get extra time if they could prove threat of homelessness which the court would likely be sympathetic too. I imagine they would order the return of the deposit to assist the OP in finding accommodation.
Thank you for all of the replies so far I will speak with the council and see what they say, only thing is because I am working I am not sure what I will be entitled to (my salary is OK but unfortunately it is managing my existing bills that is causing me a problem with the 2 months notice)
What happens to my stuff if I am put in a B&B though - would I need to put it in a storage unit?
Unfortunately I have no-one I can stay with close by
A section 21 notice is issues by the landlord - not the courts. It seems a valid section 21 notice has already been served so it would be for the landlord to apply to the courts for an eviction notice which, as Kyresa has linked to, may be much less than '2 more months' depending on how quickly they apply, how soon the application can be heard and how long the judge gives.
The landlords could then sue for any losses - something I forgot to mention in my previous post. This could include any lost rent (unlikely in this scenario), rent due, damages due to being denied access to their property, legal costs & costs of the bailiffs if OP does not move out on the eviction date.
As OP has a job, they may well come after him to recover their losses.