A new survey has been conducted of tenants living in private rented property, who had been asked to leave their home before they wished because the owner was selling up.
According to online tenanted property marketplace, Vesta Property, nearly a quarter of 35-44 year olds have had to leave their homes because their landlord has sold up.
Four out of five tenants think it makes no sense for a landlord to evict a tenant simply for a new landlord to replace them with yet more tenants. 70% said they weren’t fussy about who their landlord was, as long as their home and tenancy agreement stayed the same.
Evictions can be for any number of reasons, but many tenants do not know their rights regarding the notice they must be given and what they should do on eviction. Often tenants are comfortable in the home in which they have lived for some time but the landlord has the right to ask them to leave, as long as sufficient notice is given.
Nine percent of tenants said that the stress of being asked to leave their current home has caused mental health issues and 14% said it meant financial struggle.
Vesta Property’s chief executive, Russell Gould, blames the current system of buying and selling property, saying that the sector should ‘move with the times and mould the system into something that works for both landlords and tenants alike’ that will offer an opportunity for the tenant to remain in situ, while satisfying the needs of landlords or investors who want to secure an income.
He said:Â “Discussions such as enforcing three-year tenancies have raised strong reactions from both landlords and tenants who do not want to have their hands tied. Tenants do want to stay in their homes, but the answer is not to make the system more rigid.”
If you’re a landlord wishing to invest in rental property, always ask an Independent Chartered Surveyor to survey the property first.
Back to February 2019 Newsletter
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