GoSeigen wrote:Mike88 wrote:Until his divorce is finalised my son is renting a house. The owners have given him 2 months to quit as they wish to sell. My question is can viewings take place while there is a tenant in place? If so is there a reduction in rent to compensate for the inconvenience?
Many thanks.
You haven't said what your son's attitude is regarding the notice to quit. Is he happy to leave? If so, fine. If it leaves him in a difficult position (potentially homeless) then he should be aware that legally he can only be evicted with a court order, following correct issue of statutory notice.
Having said that, it's in your son's interests to be aware of the terms of the contract he entered into (perhaps reread it now?) and both keep to those terms and understand what his Landlord is permitted to do.
So, in most tenancy contracts the Tenant will agree to allow access to the Landlord or his agents on receipt of the stipulated notice, typically one day in advance. To expect payment for this would unreasonable in most circumstances and your son should certainly NOT feel entitled to reduce his rent payment. If he's feeling cheeky and in a strong negotiating position I guess he could ask for a payment, but whether he gets one would be down to his negotiating skills.
We live in a rented house and have a buyer viewing the property today. The Landlord was up-front about this possibility before we signed the contract.
GS
Agree with what has been said.
On the notice aspect, it is actually quite hard for landlords to get this right, particularly if the tenancy was set up after October 2015 when the Deregulation Act added a number of additional requirements for validly serving a Section 21 notice to quit. If a tenant fails to move out when the notice expires, then a landlord can either negotiate with the tenant or go down the legal route.
The landlord's desire to sell potentially puts your son in a strong negotiating position, though note that whilst most sales occur with vacant possession, it is possible to sell a property with a sitting tenant. In such a case, all that happens is that the seller's rights and obligations as the landlord simply pass to the buyer. If the buyer is purchasing with a mortgage, then the mortgage provider would also have to approve the arrangement. An offer for sale with a sitting tenant does, however, limit the seller's market to other landlords or would-be landlords. The market is, perhaps, further limited by the implication in the OP that the son was not planning on staying very long, so limiting his attractiveness as a tenant to potential buyers.
The legal route involves the landlord applying for an Accelerated Possession Order through the local county court. This is not a rubber-stamping exercise. Although courts must grant the order if the Section 21 notice has been validly served on the tenant by the landlord, judges (rightly) take the view that dispossessing an individual of their home is not a matter to be taken lightly. Consequently, the landlord's application and paperwork related to the service of notice will be scrutinised carefully by the court. If found deficient, the application will be dismissed. If the landlord still wants to go down the legal route, such an outcome requires the landlord to restart the process by issuing a new Section 21 notice with a new 2 month period. A significant proportion of applications fail because of landlords' deficiencies in paperwork and/or abilities to follow the correct legal process.
Although called an Accelerated Possession Order, the process is far from quick. My own experience was that whilst my application took only a couple of weeks to be examined by a judge, it then took the court system 4 weeks to actually get round to notifying the outcome and the court order then provided the tenant with a further four weeks before possession was required to be relinquished by the tenant. Had my tenant not actually left by that point I would have been faced with further delays in applying for court bailiffs to undertake a physical re-possession.
On the viewings aspect, the landlord's ability to act without the tenant's agreement will depend entirely on what is contained within the Tenancy Agreement. Most agreements will contain a clause allowing the landlord to conduct viewings on giving a specified amount of written notice (typically 24 or 48 hours notice).
With site of the relevant paperwork, a local Citizen's Advice Bureau or similar service should be able to advise your son both on the validity of the notice he has received and on the landlord's right to conduct viewings. Shelter's website is also quite a good source on tenant's rights.