Sitting tenants’ rights
I had an email from a distressed tenant recently who said that she had a protected tenancy but that the property had recently been sold and her new landlord was trying to make out that her tenancy did not exist anymore.
Ha!
Far from it. Although it is certainly not unknown for new landlords to have unrealistic ideas about their rights over sitting tenants.
Here are some home truths.
- Selling a flat subject to a tenancy or lease does not end the tenancy or lease. As I have written earlier, a tenancy / lease is a legal interest in the property. It cannot be destroyed by a change of landlord.
- The landlord does not get any new powers to deal with or evict the tenant that the previous landlord did not have. He ‘stands in the shoes’ of the original landlord and is bound by the tenancy in a similar way
- Indeed, not only does he have no extra benefits – your landlord is actually in a WORSE position, as some grounds for possession do not apply to landlords by purchase. In particular ground 6 which is the mandatory ground which allows the original landlord to recover possession if he needs vacant possession in order to do substantial building works.
- So you if your landlord sells the building where you live on to a developer – he will find it difficult to evict you without re-housing you.
- Your landlord may also find it difficult to prove which tenancy type you have or what notices were served on you in the past. As he did not own the property then and may not be able to prove anything.
So what can a new landlord do?
- If the property is an AST, he can serve a s21 notice and evict you under the accelerated procedure (although see the comment below), but
- If you have a protected or assured tenancy he will find it hard to evict you (unless you fall into arrears of rent)
- He can increase your rent provided he follows the proper procedures
Of course he can also try to make your life a misery if he really wants you to go – but if you have a secure tenancy he can’t actually evict you, unless he provides you with suitable alternative accommodation.
So don’t let him bully you!
If you need legal help, here are some places you can try.
Great article. I’m about to move out of my parents and rent, this is something I was thinking and worrying about.
This is a quite a cloudy issue for many tenants I feel. As a former renter myself I had absolutely no idea of where I stood legally if the landlord was to sell on my property.
It’s something that should be discussed before agreeing to a rental contract in my opinion. That way at least you can live secure in the knowledge you’re protected, or not if that’s the case.
@Adam But the whole point is that you ARE protected. The landlord cannot cancel your tenancy without your consent during the fixed term. The new landlord has no rights which your original landlord did not have and in fact, has less.
Some landlords by purchase may try to pretend otherwise (or they may be ignorant and genuinely believe what they say). But if they try to, for example, evict you without going through the proper procedures, you can defend any claims and may be able to claim compensation.
Tessa Ground 1 doesn’t apply either on a sale, does it?
What about ground 2?
The problem with ground 1 is that for it to be mandatory you need to give notice at the start of the tenancy. If the person claiming under it (ie the landlord by purchase) was different I don’t think the court would allow it.
If the landlord by purchase wanted possession to live in for themselves the Judge may, I suppose, allow it if he considered it ‘just and equitable’ to dispense with the notice but I think it unlikley.
Ground 2 relates to mortgages. If it was a landlord by purchase they would have a different mortgage.
Hi Tessa
You state that the landlord can evict the tenant under the accelerated procedure using a s21 but I had a case recently (which I emailed you about) whereby the court would not allow me to use the accelerated procedure as the Landlord had changed (on the AST) and so it was deemed that there was no written agreement between the parties, therefore I had to attend a possession hearing. Do you mean if the landlord has issued a new AST upon is/her purchase of the property?
@Laura Thanks for that. Still you will get possession presumably, just that you will have to have a hearing first.
I have added a reference to your comment to the post.
Yes we did get possession at the hearing (it took all of one minute as the judge deemed it to be just a “technicality”) but it did delay matters in obtaining the possession order.
@Laura
Sounds like you got a Judge sympathetic to a tenant in a mandatory situation
For all the key is, whenever there is a change of name on a tenancy, even if only by the death of a joint tenant, or on a Landlord becoming sole instead of joint, or on a sale and change of Landlord, to do this.
Make sure when serving notice and above all Court papers, that it is clear to the Court why the names they may have expected to see – the original joint ones – now only show as one name, or even a completely new one on a purchase.
Just state that a tenant was deceased at a certain date, or a Landlord was, or that the property changed hands by transfer of title on whatever date.
Long as the Court can see who they are dealing with and in what capacity you should never have a problem.