Question

Ending a Tenancy (England) | England | Landlord Wants Tenant to Leave (England)

Pre Action letter required before serving a Secion 21 if landlord has to sell the property?

10 Nov 2020 | 2 comments

I know everyone always says never to send a cover letter with a Section 21 but this landlord has drafted a letter informing the tenants that he needs to sell the property and his own to finance a move back up north. He was waiting for me to serve notice before sending the letter but with Covid etc, it would seem less harsh if he could send the letter first and then I serve notice.

Is a Pre Action plan required here or is it just for arrears?

I don’t want to hit them with a Section 21 out of the blue and 4 months into what they thought was going to be a long tenancy.

Answer

2 Comments

  1. kaysproperty

    Here is draft of his letter:
    I hope you are all well.
    I am really sorry to have to inform you that due to the current situation with Covid, my partner and I have regrettably had to make the decision to move back to the Midlands to be nearer our families as lockdown has highlighted the extreme distance between us.
    As a consequence we are having to sell our home and also the tenanted property that you occupy to enable us to buy a suitable property elsewhere.
    I would like to offer you first chance to purchase no *********** at current market value before I put it on the market to sell.
    If that is not an option I will be putting the property on the market from mid January 2021.
    There will be no pressure placed on you to leave the property until a sale is agreed but you are entitled to vacate at an earlier time if you wish
    With best wishes and kind regards

    I’m thinking the part about “no pressure being placed” could cause problems or am I just being paranoid?

  2. guildy

    We entirely agree that although we don’t normally like letters such as this, at the moment it would be necessary to comply with the pre-action plan.

    You are also right that it should be served a bit before rather than with the notice.

    You are also further right to be paranoid! We too would remove the part about no pressure. That could seriously affect possession if it were sought but there were no sale at that time. Everything else seems okay though.

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