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Renting Property
We are currently almost at exchange of contracts with our property that is for sale. The buyers are buy to let and have agreed verbally that we can rent the house short term off them once the sale is complete. We only need to rent for approx. 5 months as we are relocating for work. They are aware of the situation.
They have been honest with us in the fact they have bought the property as an investment as their cash is doing nothing in the bank and they do not have anyone in mind to rent it at the minute as they are actually buying it for their young grandchild.
At this stage a rental figure has not yet been agreed but we were wondering how we stood legally and if we would have to maybe consult a solicitor or something. We obviously don't want to incur any excessive costs either with a solicitor or with our hopefully soon to be landlord.
What we don't want is to end up being too trusting and then end up in a difficult, costly and possibly binding situation. I understand that some sort of contract will need to be drawn up too but this is a minefield to us. Any advice or thoughts on this whole situation would be gratefully appreciated. Thankyou.
They have been honest with us in the fact they have bought the property as an investment as their cash is doing nothing in the bank and they do not have anyone in mind to rent it at the minute as they are actually buying it for their young grandchild.
At this stage a rental figure has not yet been agreed but we were wondering how we stood legally and if we would have to maybe consult a solicitor or something. We obviously don't want to incur any excessive costs either with a solicitor or with our hopefully soon to be landlord.
What we don't want is to end up being too trusting and then end up in a difficult, costly and possibly binding situation. I understand that some sort of contract will need to be drawn up too but this is a minefield to us. Any advice or thoughts on this whole situation would be gratefully appreciated. Thankyou.
Answers
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as a landlord and not a solicitor...
actually the buyer is on more of a sticky wicket in my opinion
as he has taken title but not vacant possession...
However, the question is as always trust - and if you are going to rent for five months, I would download a standard short term short hold assured tenancy and fill it out for five months at a monthly rental. You both sign it - the buyer needs to think whether he want a deposit because he MUST register if he does, and away you go.
Once you have done that and are paying the rent,
the risk is all the buyer's - in terms of what do I do if they stop paying rent or what do I do if they say after five months o I like this I'm staying.
IN terms of him booting you out before time -
again he can only do so if he has a court order and it takes sort of that amounf of time to do get one...
from your point of view as tenant, I dont see that there is much at risk.
So long as both parties are in good faith - this is win-win.
You get a roof for five months
he gets five months rent.... result paradise.....
so long as your contract is five months - I don't see that you can be held to more.
actually the buyer is on more of a sticky wicket in my opinion
as he has taken title but not vacant possession...
However, the question is as always trust - and if you are going to rent for five months, I would download a standard short term short hold assured tenancy and fill it out for five months at a monthly rental. You both sign it - the buyer needs to think whether he want a deposit because he MUST register if he does, and away you go.
Once you have done that and are paying the rent,
the risk is all the buyer's - in terms of what do I do if they stop paying rent or what do I do if they say after five months o I like this I'm staying.
IN terms of him booting you out before time -
again he can only do so if he has a court order and it takes sort of that amounf of time to do get one...
from your point of view as tenant, I dont see that there is much at risk.
So long as both parties are in good faith - this is win-win.
You get a roof for five months
he gets five months rent.... result paradise.....
so long as your contract is five months - I don't see that you can be held to more.
Even if the purchase is buy to let, the property must be vacant on the day of completion, unless the mortgage allows for tenant in situ, which is unlikely.
If I was in your situation, I would ask for a AST starting 1 day after completion. You could leave your stuff in the flat (no valuables), I would advise you to have a van to store your goods just for 24hrs.
If you completed on the sale at 3PM, you would not be able to enter the property until after midnight which is classified as the following day, as the new owner might want to change the locks, check out his property etc.
You have to be exact with the time period, normally an AST is for a min of 6 months, approx 5 months as a timescale would not be acceptable by me as a I would need an exact date when you are vacating. You may also have to allow the buyer to have prospective tenants visiting the place after 3/4 months.
I think its something you can remedy with the buyer, you have spoken to him, ask him /her for a contract 1 day after, you need that asap, as word of mouth will not suffice. Consulting a solicitor is a last resort
If I was in your situation, I would ask for a AST starting 1 day after completion. You could leave your stuff in the flat (no valuables), I would advise you to have a van to store your goods just for 24hrs.
If you completed on the sale at 3PM, you would not be able to enter the property until after midnight which is classified as the following day, as the new owner might want to change the locks, check out his property etc.
You have to be exact with the time period, normally an AST is for a min of 6 months, approx 5 months as a timescale would not be acceptable by me as a I would need an exact date when you are vacating. You may also have to allow the buyer to have prospective tenants visiting the place after 3/4 months.
I think its something you can remedy with the buyer, you have spoken to him, ask him /her for a contract 1 day after, you need that asap, as word of mouth will not suffice. Consulting a solicitor is a last resort
thank you to you both, the term would definitely be agreed beforehand regardless and a definite date could be given, so there is no issue as regards vacating and they are cash buyers so no issues with vacant possession I don't think. As long as the trust remains then it appears to look good. Once we exchange then hopefully we will know more and can discuss further and take it from there. Many thanks again
Hopefully this is being done in good faith by the buyer, but if you exchange without signing the tenancy agreement at the same time you are at risk - he could change his mind about letting you stay.
I think you need to involve your conveyancing solicitor because you are not giving vacant possession, as the sale contract must be correctly worded to allow for this. He/she should also make sure the tenancy agreement is signed & exchanged simultaneously with the sale contract.
I think you need to involve your conveyancing solicitor because you are not giving vacant possession, as the sale contract must be correctly worded to allow for this. He/she should also make sure the tenancy agreement is signed & exchanged simultaneously with the sale contract.
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