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Question Title: Buying a tenanted property
| Question: 311 |
| I am thinking of buying a tenanted property. It's currently owned by a large company and they have told me that it is an assured tenancy but I think that it's a Rent Act protected tenancy. The current occupant was born in the property, both his parents lived there and his father was a regulated tenant. Both the parents are now dead. I have talked to the son and he thinks that he is a regulated tenant. When he asked to be recognised as a successor tenant, he sent in his mother's death certificate and the landlord responded with a letter offering him an assured tenancy and a section 13 notice proposing to increase the rent. The landlords claim, as a result, that there is a considerable amount of rent arrears. Is this an assured or a protected tenancy?
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| Answer: |
| In cases such as these which are less than clear it is important to seek legal advice before proceeding. On the information that you have provided it would seem very likely that this property is subject to an assured rather than a protected tenancy. Succession to a tenancy after the commencement of Part I Housing Act 1988 is covered by a number of rules. On the death of a married tenant, the spouse will succeed, providing that they were living in the property at the time of death, as a statutory tenant. On the death of this successor tenant, a member of the family residing in the property at the time of the successor's death and for a minimum of 2 years beforehand is entitled to a second succession but only to a Housing Act assured tenancy (Rent Act 1977 Sch. 1, para 6 as amended). So the vendors rather than the current tenant are correct as to the legal position.
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References:
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Pages:
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Hyperlinks:
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Letting Handbook |
Chapter 7 |
letting-handbook-and-factsheets.html
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Letting Factsheet No 13 |
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factsheet-13
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For more information, discuss on the Forum
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