Renting a house thats for sale

gemini_girl

Myself & my family rent a house that is for sale. The first 12 months there were only a few viewings so we signed a new lease for a further 12 months. There are alot more viewings now, every 2 or 3 weeks & its starting to wear us down. We have 2 small children & our 5 yr old is becoming very upset & unsettled over all these people walking around his home & his room. We try & go out for the viewings to minimise this but sometimes its not practical if its lunchtime or dinnertime. Our contract is not due for renewal until the summer. I'm just wondering if there is a guide regarding viewings ie how many per month. The house is overpriced compared to others in the area so its not likely to sell so the viewings will probably continue I'd imagine. The house was put up for sale the month after we moved in & with 2 children if we had known we wouldnt have signed as its hard enough renting with kids trying to make them feel settled (we hoped to stay for apx 3 yrs until we could have our own home) If the house does sell are we obliged to move out before the contract ends? It is our 2nd 12 month contract. Any advice welcome. Thank you

Thomas D

Simple, stop the viewings. You have zero obligations and it's baffling why you are paying full rent for such disruption.

punisher5112

Start looking for a new place and keep your rent/deposit for last month(of course they will be on to tell you you can't do this but I did as I was told I would have no hope of recovering deposit).

As said above stop letting them in it is your home while you are paying and it's your rules.

djimi

WhiteTiger wrote: »

Myself & my family rent a house that is for sale. The first 12 months there were only a few viewings so we signed a new lease for a further 12 months. There are alot more viewings now, every 2 or 3 weeks & its starting to wear us down.
.
.
.
Our contract is not due for renewal until the summer. I'm just wondering if there is a guide regarding viewings ie how many per month.

Youre not obliged to allow any viewings of the property. One of the basic rights of renting is the right to peaceful enjoyment of the property. This means that only the landlord may arrange an inspection, at a pre-arranged time that suits you, and they may not bring anyone into the property unless its to carry out essential maintenance, again pre-arranged with you.

Put a stop to these viewings immediately.

WhiteTiger wrote: »

We try & go out for the viewings to minimise this but sometimes its not practical if its lunchtime or dinnertime.

I think you are out of your mind allowing strangers to wander around your home while you are not there. You have no idea who these people are. Again put a stop to this immediately.

WhiteTiger wrote: »

If the house does sell are we obliged to move out before the contract ends? It is our 2nd 12 month contract. Any advice welcome. Thank you

No youre not. If the landlord intended to sell then they shouldnt have signed you to a further fixed term lease. If someone buys now then they do so with you as a sitting tenant (this almost certainly wouldnt happen), unless you can come to an arrangement that suits you to break the lease early.

Your landlord is playing you for a mug and you need to stand up for yourself and put a stop to it.

gemini_girl

djimi wrote: »

Youre not obliged to allow any viewings of the property. One of the basic rights of renting is the right to peaceful enjoyment of the property. This means that only the landlord may arrange an inspection, at a pre-arranged time that suits you, and they may not bring anyone into the property unless its to carry out essential maintenance, again pre-arranged with you.

Put a stop to these viewings immediately.



I think you are out of your mind allowing strangers to wander around your home while you are not there. You have no idea who these people are. Again put a stop to this immediately.

Thanks for all the info. The house is let through an agent. Just wondering how would they sell the house if we refused to let them view it? We had a viewer turn up unannounced. He had viewed with the agent & then called a few mornings later with another relative to get her opinion on the house which I wasnt happy about but it wasnt anything to do with the agent.
I dont like people walking around the house but my kids get upset when we stay with the people so its better for them if we can go out.
We dont really want to upset the agent either because we are getting rent allowance at the moment & literally no other house that is up for rent in our area will accept it


No youre not. If the landlord intended to sell then they shouldnt have signed you to a further fixed term lease. If someone buys now then they do so with you as a sitting tenant (this almost certainly wouldnt happen), unless you can come to an arrangement that suits you to break the lease early.

Your landlord is playing you for a mug and you need to stand up for yourself and put a stop to it.

Thanks for all the info. The house is let through an agent. Just wondering how would they sell the house if we refused to let them view it? We had a viewer turn up unannounced. He had viewed with the agent & then called a few mornings later with another relative to get her opinion on the house which I wasnt happy about but it wasnt anything to do with the agent.
I dont like people walking around the house but my kids get upset when we stay with the people so its better for them if we can go out.
We dont really want to upset the agent either because we are getting rent allowance at the moment & literally no other house that is up for rent in our area will accept it

djimi

Youre already in the property and have a fixed term lease; upsetting the agent is not an issue. Its a professional relationship, and if they had even the slightest understanding or regard for tenancy law then they would not even be putting you in this position.

You need to do whats best for you and for your family. Write to the agent/landlord and inform them that you do not consent to any further viewings, and that you wish for them to respect your right to peaceful enjoyment of the property as set out in the Residential Tenancies Act 2004.

How, or indeed if, they sell the house is not your problem. They want to have their cake and eat it; have a tenant on a fixed term lease while looking to sell when it suits them. They cant have it both ways. If it doesnt suit them to have tenants then they should have terminated the tenancy at the end of the last lease as they are permitted to do under part 4 tenancy laws when they intend to sell a property. Signing a further fixed term lease has removed that right from them.

debabyjesus

Happened to me a few years ago, only in the house about 4 months when they put up a for sale sign, the crash hadn't happened yet but was close so there was a lot of interest.

At first we obliged them but then we quickly started to get pissed off. So id take the calls and just say ok to whatever time the agent said and then ignore the doorbell when they came. Bit childish maybe but felt good at the time. Then I stopped answering their phone calls altogether which was bordering on harassment tbh.

Finally I sent them an email saying the next viewing could take place in 7 months and 20 days, or whatever it was, when our lease was up and we had moved. I didn't get a respone but didn't get any more calls either.

handlemaster

Don't forget there could be lads turning up to suss the place out to rob it also. I would say no to anymore viewings if I were you.

gemini_girl

djimi wrote: »

Youre already in the property and have a fixed term lease; upsetting the agent is not an issue. Its a professional relationship, and if they had even the slightest understanding or regard for tenancy law then they would not even be putting you in this position.

You need to do whats best for you and for your family. Write to the agent/landlord and inform them that you do not consent to any further viewings, and that you wish for them to respect your right to peaceful enjoyment of the property as set out in the Residential Tenancies Act 2004.

How, or indeed if, they sell the house is not your problem. They want to have their cake and eat it; have a tenant on a fixed term lease while looking to sell when it suits them. They cant have it both ways. If it doesnt suit them to have tenants then they should have terminated the tenancy at the end of the last lease as they are permitted to do under part 4 tenancy laws when they intend to sell a property. Signing a further fixed term lease has removed that right from them.

What happens when there are 2 signed leases for same period but with differing info? Are they both valid or are neither of them valid? Its regarding rent allowance.