person leasing a house to the county council for social housing.

akelly02 · 20-03-2023 12:14pm #1

Hi There ,

If a person is leasing a house to the council , if they need to sell is that possible if they are still in a contract?

ELM327 · 20-03-2023 12:18pm

Yes they can sell but it will not be possible to sell as unoccupied, ie you must sell with tenant in situ which will diminish your asking and sale price

akelly02 · 20-03-2023 12:23pm

there is technically a tenant in situ but she is never there , doesnt look after the house etc which is why this person wants to sell privately.

ELM327 · 20-03-2023 12:27pm

That's not relevant. There's a contract in place for rent and assuming the contract is with the council directly as per your OP these contracts generally cannot be broken for 10+ years.

If of course the rent is under HAP then you just give the normal notice periods etc as your contract is with the tenant and not the council

akelly02 · 20-03-2023 2:12pm

thanks for the info . so really it all hinges on whether they are doing is under HAP or not?

dontmindme · 20-03-2023 2:27pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120379006#Comment_120379006

If the house is leased to the council, the council is the tenant in this case. Who the council have sub-let the house out to has nothing to do with the house owner.

akelly02 · 20-03-2023 2:36pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120379624#Comment_120379624

this is the way it is im sure . he leases it to the council , the council leases it to the tenant.

he wants to sell because of various reasons and i want to buy it.

We just want to know if he is in contract with the council is it possible to get out of it and sell up.

Donald Trump · 20-03-2023 3:10pm

There is nothing stopping you buying it if you want to. You'll be stuck with the contract though.

akelly02 · 20-03-2023 4:58pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120379859#Comment_120379859

which means i wont be able to live in it obviously

20-03-2023 5:20pm

You'd be crazy to buy a property with sitting tenants. If the owner wants to sell its up to them to evict the current tenant and terminate their contract with the council.

ELM327 · 21-03-2023 9:34am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120379624#Comment_120379624

Yes that's what I differentiated above. HAP vs long term lease to the council.

In the case of long term lease to the council, you cant break the contract though and you will be stuck with the 10+ years

akelly02 · 21-03-2023 10:07am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120380434#Comment_120380434

yes , he will be looking to evict the tennant. they are never there anyway ,only reason they havnt given up the property is because they are waiting on the council to give them a forever home . this wont happen if they give up the property.

DownByTheGarden · 21-03-2023 10:21am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120382384#Comment_120382384

But if the council still own the lease then they will just put someone else in there. They are unlikely to give it up to you until the lease is done.

On the plus side if you buy it you get the renmt and then you dont have any hassle getting tenants out at the end because the council have to give it back to you empty. If they moan and they say they cant get rid of the tenant just double or triple the rent to the council on the day the lease ends and they will give it back quick enough.