Our landlord is selling the house

[Amanda]

Right, finally got 10 mins to come on with an update. Been soooooo busy!!!

The guy at the council has given us extra points but we still don't have enough to be at the top of the list and get a house. So, he has told me that we are not to move on the 7th June. We are to ring the letting agents the week before and tell them we've got nowhere to go and they'll have to take us to court! I was mortified when he told me this! But he has assured me that it is common practice and the letting agents will be used to doing it, and probably expecting it. Once they take us to court and we have an eviction order, we are then classed as homeless and will go to the top of the list. Then the council will either house us (if there is something available), or they will move us into temprorary accomodation 2-3 days before the eviction notice is up. Not a very nice thing to do, but we have no choice.

Or do we????! This guy also mentioned a little-known government run scheme for people like us. Basically, for first-time buyers who can't afford to save a deposit and can't get a mortgage for a basic property in their area because it is out of their price range. This scheme will give you 25% of the property value. So to break it down, if we find a house for £120k, we only have to get a mortgage for £90k and the government will pay the £30k. We do not have to pay the 25% back, and we don't have to pay rent on it. The agreement is that if/when we ever sell this house and move, we pay back 25% of the current market value, whether this has gone up or down. And later on, if we wish to, we can buy the government out of the 25% so we own the whole house. Sounds too good to be true??? Yep, that's what I thought. But this is the scheme. I know it is the governments way of artificially inflating house prices, and ensuring that the market remains bouyant, but what the heck. It's a quarter of a house!! So we're joining the scheme and hopefully starting to look around for a house! Yippee!!! And even if it takes longer than the 7th June to complete (which it will), we now know that we don't have to leave the rented house yet!!

So, things aren't as bad as we first thought. I've just bought 2 massive rolls of bubble wrap and 6 rolls of packing tape, and got some boxes, so this weekend can be spent packing the stuff we don't need and shipping it to my mums until we move. Ooo, lucky me!!!

 

[emilia]

Great news... glad you've got good options!
Well done!!
Emilia xx

 

[hels]

Yayyyyyyyy! great news, im really happy for you!

 

Glad you have some more options hunnie. Hope things all work for the best. At least if you go council route you may actually end up with cheaper outgoings

Good luck with everything!! xx

 

[Amanda]

Right - update time. Not the best news I'm afraid.

After finding out about the government scheme, we went house hunting over the Bank Holiday in an area about 3 miles away from here. Found 2 fantastic houses. Both about 15 years old, both in cul-de-sacs, 3 bed semi's, seperate living room, dining room, kitchen, and conservatory. Both with new kitchens and bathrooms. Garden sheds, and one even had a greenhouse! One was £124,950 and one was £129,950. We would have only needed about a £95,000 mortgage, which we could both get and afford to pay back. But, and it's a very big but, I called the number to get an application pack on Tuesday 18th. They've allocated all the money for this year so far so we can't even apply until October!!

I was absolutely gutted. So we have no choice but to rely on the council to house us. Which will probably mean that we'll have to tell the letting agents to evict us, and then they'll have to get a court order. Then we may end up in temporary accomodation until they can offer us something more permanent. So, the contract expires on the 7th June, the baby is due 3 months later, I can't see us being somewhere permanent until after LO is born. I'm trying to look on the bright side of things, but it is really difficult.

I'll keep you updated.

 

[hels]

Oh Hunnie, that is such s**t news. Im really sorry.
I hope something alternative works out for you in the mean time xx

 

[Amanda]

The For Sale sign has just gone up.

I now feel soooo guilty as we know there is no way we will have moved out by the 7th June. I just hope they're not expecting me to show prospective buyers around. Does anyone know what my rights are on this?

 

[hels]

i dont think its expected of you hun, its their job not yours. Not 100% sure, but i bloomin wouldnt!!
Keep smiling hun....its meant to be, you'll be the first in the que for applying un October, and you'll get something wonderful.xxxxx

 

[Amanda]

Thanks Hels. The only thing I'm concerned about is having people in my house. I know it's not my house, but we are paying rent for it, and all the furniture is ours. I sold a house a few years ago, and got sick of keeping my house like a show-room all the time. I can't be bothered to do it now with being pregnant and feeling bad all the time.

I know I could leave it up to the letting agent to show people around, but we have a dog, and although he is soft as s**t, I don't think he would take too kindly to strangers walking in without us. That means that one of us would have to be here for every visit. And if the letting agents aren't here at the same time, I wouldn't be able to 'sell' the house for them. I would just have to point out all of the faults.

My dad has just popped round and his first reaction was to tell me to take the sign down, and ring the letting agents to tell them I was removing it until they put up a 'view by appointment only' bit. Good point Dad, I didn't think of that!! I am a bit peeved that they didn't even call me. I walked from the kitchen to the living room this morning to see a man on my front driveway knocking a post in! I called DH and he reckons he's going to hit it with his van when he gets home!! lol We really are in for a fun few weeks.

Ooo, there's a point. We're going on holiday on the 5th May for 2 weeks. Where do we stand then? Will they be able to come and go as they please? I know the letting agents have keys. If we are not in the country, can they let themselves in? It's still all my stuff in the house and I'm not at all comfortable with this situation.

 

[bubble_dreamer]

Oh Tankett I am so sorry hun! I do know how you feel though i have had problems with my letting agents/landlord since the day i moved in here 3 and a half years ago!

Try and find out if your local council has got a Tenancy Advice Officer attached to them, the one we had at ours was fantastic until she left

As far as i know they cant ask you to leave unless it is the end of your tenancy and if they do they have to do it via a 'Notice To Quit'. These give you up to 12 weeks notice to leave the property and have to be issued correctly for them to be valid (I have recieved 3 and not 1 of them has been valid yet). Once those 12 weeks are up, you still dont have to leave they then need to issue you with an eviction notice which can take up to 6 weeks for them to obtain. You dont have to leave until the court have said so!

Also with regards to the council if you are issued with a notice to quit or an eviction notice that will give you more points - the amount of points they issue varies from council to council but with my local council they add 50 points for an eviction notice which should give you enough points to be housed by them!

Best of luck with it sweetie and let me know how you get on x

 

[bubble_dreamer]

Oh and as for the for sale sign id take it down!!

For them entering the property they have to give you at least 48hours notice in writing before they are allowed to access the property and unless its an emergency then you have to be there. If they do enter it while your not there or dont give you 48hours notice then they are not only breaking the conditions of the tenancy they are also breaking the law!

I changed the locks on my flat nearly 2 and a half years ago and they dont have a set of the new keys neither and nobody has said anything about it yet. If you are that worried about them entering the property get a barrel lock and just change the barrel in the lock before you go away and put the other one back when you get home!

 

[Layla]

sorry your going through this hun,

im having trouble with my ex landlady now too, i moved out 2 weeks ago but my tenancy is still in place untill the 28th of april.
my landloady and her friend have both lt themself in the house countles times, her froend did it while we was in there cleaning, she got a shock when she came face to face with an angry me!

also the back door handle/lock has been broken, looks like someone tried to force entry, she now wants me to pay for the damage! she can run and jump as far as im conserned, thats her problem not mine.

if she with holds my bond i will be reporting her and her friend for tresspassing, her friend shusband for fixing the boiler when he is not corgy reg'd, the gas saftey certificate is 3 years out of date and tehre was damp in the house.

plus i will rip up all the lam flooring and carpets i put down in the 3 years i was living there.

dont want to do all this but if she starts then i will (im stubbon) saturday will be the decider!

 

[Amanda]

Thanks both. I feel a bit better now.

Bubble-Dreamer - unfortunately, this is the end of the tenancy agreement, although until I got the letter, there was no warning at all that they were selling and the tenancy wouldn't be renewed. I have sent the letter to the council and they have confirmed that it is totally legal. 50 points for an eviction notice!! Bring it on!!! I know that we had 113 points, and you need 134 to be at the top of the list in my area. They have added more points since they received the letter, but I don't know how many, but if the eviction notice adds that many, all the better!!! Then it'll just be a case of waiting for house to come available. To be honest, I'm hoping it happens sooner rather than later. When the tenancy runs out, I'll have 13 weeks left until my EDD. If it takes another 6 weeks for the eviction notice, that doesn't give much leeway for the council to find us somewhere and for us to move before LO is born. I'll just have to keep pushing them.
Oh, and great idea about the barrel lock!!

Layla, you go girl!!!!! I read somewhere on a website (can't find it now) that approximately £63 million is given to landlords as bond every year, and £21 million of that is never returned! They always use the excuse of 'unfair wear and tear'. We've lived here 2 years and weren't allowed to decorate, that's in the contract. So if they start moaning about the border falling off in the living room and the scratches to the paintwork in the banister, I'll have 'em! They're also constantly moaning about the state of the back garden. I agree it is a mess, but that's because the ground is so uneven, you can't get a lawnmower over it. I even gave up trying my flymo last year and spent £130 on a new petrol mower, but that cuts out everytime it hits a bump. So the grass is about 18 inches long at the minute. When I moved in, it took my Dad 3 days with a scythe to level the grass. The next door neighbours have said that they never even went into the garden, and never ever mowed it, but I know they're going to moan!!

Bloody landlords!

 

[bubble_dreamer]

Thanks both. I feel a bit better now.

Bubble-Dreamer - unfortunately, this is the end of the tenancy agreement, although until I got the letter, there was no warning at all that they were selling and the tenancy wouldn't be renewed. I have sent the letter to the council and they have confirmed that it is totally legal. 50 points for an eviction notice!! Bring it on!!! I know that we had 113 points, and you need 134 to be at the top of the list in my area. They have added more points since they received the letter, but I don't know how many, but if the eviction notice adds that many, all the better!!! Then it'll just be a case of waiting for house to come available. To be honest, I'm hoping it happens sooner rather than later. When the tenancy runs out, I'll have 13 weeks left until my EDD. If it takes another 6 weeks for the eviction notice, that doesn't give much leeway for the council to find us somewhere and for us to move before LO is born. I'll just have to keep pushing them.
Oh, and great idea about the barrel lock!!

good luck with it hun!

its taken me since dec 2003 to get the council to take notice of me and my housing application is still sitting on suspended at the mo! i have never even had any points added but i went down and spoke to them on monday and as from the 5th may they will be reinstating it and crediting back all points im owed from dec 2003 which means they should house me pretty much straight away im desperate to get out of here before i have my LO and with 13 weeks to go im not getting my hopes up too high tbh

if i was you i would still find out if you have a tenancy relations officer though as they may be able to let you know of any other options that are available in your area

oh how i crave to have somewhere i can call home!

 

[Amanda]

Oh Bubble-Dreamer, I am so pleased for you. That does sound promising. I'll keep everything crossed that we are both housed before our LO's are born!

 

[bubble_dreamer]

so will i!! good luck sweetie!