Tired Landlord

House To let that landlord is selling

After years of having the responsibility of being a landlord, there will usually come the time that you wish to sell your property and cash in any equity from your investments.

At Direct House Buyer we actively search for properties that already have tenants. So If you have tenants already living in your property, that may not be a problem.

Are you a Landlord who Needs to Sell a Tenanted Property? 

If you have tenants living in your property then you may be unsure whether or not to evict them first or to sell your house with the tenants in place. It’s certainly worth exploring the options and you’l be pleased to know that we are house buyers who have the ability to buy a tenanted house. Certain factors need to be considered such as the property’s rental price, it must be at least that of the average rental price for your local market, basically the going rate. If you want to sell a tenanted property then it will be worth having a conversation with one of our advisers to discuss your specific situation, please take a look at our homepage for further contact instructions.

Do you Want to Sell your Entire Portfolio?

We can purchase all of your rental properties at once. We don’t use traditional real estate methods for buying houses, rather we have a network of investors and our own cash fund which exists to solely invest in real estate. We privately contact our investors so that we can find you the best offer on your complete portfolio within 24 hours or additionally consider your property for our own requirements.

Do you Want to Receive Full Market Value? 

We understand that part of your investment strategy is to retrieve as much equity from your property as possible and you certainly wouldn’t want to take a loss. For other options of achieving a fast sale there can be an inherent risk in not knowing how much you are going to achieve. for example, when you sell your house at an auction you might lose 25-40% of your property value and such an option may not be viable. At Direct House Buyer we have a variety of options and offers for you so that you can choose the offer that best fits your requirements and you don’t have to sell your house at a discounted price. If you want to sell your investment properties fast then call us and speak to one of our experienced advisers. 

A Landlord who Wishes to Sell Investment Property? What Should You Know?

If you are a tired landlord who is ready to give up the keys and sell a single house or a portfolio or property then we’d love to hear from you. Don’t worry if you have tenants already living there, we are one of the few companies that can buy investment property’s with tenants already in place.

New Proposed Changes for Landlords and Tenants

 
The Government has produced a white paper called “A Fairer Private Rental Sector” which contains some major legislative changes that will mean that landlords will have to change how they operate. This is just a white paper right now and it still needs to be approved by Parliament, that may still take a while and there is no meeting date in place. Once the new rules are agreed then things won’t go into practice for a further six months, so these changes probably won’t be in place until the later part of 2023 at the earliest. For the past few years Landlords across the UK have been enjoying a booming property market and increased rental yields. Now the Government have introduced measures that are designed to make renting fairer for tenants, but what does this mean for landlords? Here are the top 5 changes to the rental market that the government are putting in place:
 
 
A Video about these changes can be seen here:
 
 
 
 

The End of Fixed Term Contracts

 
 
Fixed term contracts are going to be a thing of the past. This is a big change to how things have been done for many years and there will be no more 6 month, 12 month contracts etc. Instead, tenancies will now run on a month by month rolling contract. To end the tenancy agreement you tenant must give two months notice and as a Landlord you are unable to end the tenancy for any reason within the first 6 month. In theory you could have a tenant who has destroyed your property and not paid any rent and you will be unable to evict them until 6 months has passed. At six months as a Landlord you have greater powers to evict but you must give a valid reason.
 
 
A major concern for landlords is that a tenant may take advantage of these new rules if they are intending on only having a short term let. In theory they could move in and then quickly serve their two months notice.
 
 

The End of No-Fault Evictions

 
 
Essentially section 21 is over. Previously you could wait for the tenancy to end and without having to give any reason you would serve your tenants with a section 21 notice and they would have to vacate your property. Under the rules there is no contract length and you must give a valid reason to why you need your tenants to leave. Not all reasons are acceptable but a reason such as you wish to sell the property or renovate the property will be and you may need to show proof that this is your intention. You can also give a reason regarding the tenant, reasons such as vandalising your property will be valid and a common reason such as rent arrears can also be used but the Government have now introduced rules so it can’t just be a one off, the tenant must be in persistent rent arrears.
 
 

The New Rules Regarding Evicting a Tenant with Rent arrears

 
 
Previously a Landlord could evict a tenant with two months notice using a section 21 notice. Now the government are planning on abolishing this and it will be the end of no fault evictions as can be seen in this paper from The Commons Library. This new legislation means that landlords could face many months of unpaid rent and they are unable to do anything about it for a long time. The new rules mean that there must be at least 2 months arrears, that has occurred at least three times, within three years. Under that circumstance you will automatically be awarded the possession of your property back via the court. However, this is of concern as it may be a very long winded process if there are arrears. 
 
 

A Limit to Rent Increases

 
 
As a Landlord you will only be able to increase the rent once a year and if you wish to do this you must give two months notice.The government have said that tenants can challenge excessive rent increases, however they have not specified what excessive is, there are no measures in place, they could have said you can only increase the rent by a certain percentage each year but they haven’t. It seems that some of the more freedom that tenants have to vacate the tenacity with just two months notice also afford the landlord the freedom to increase the rent with two months notice to whatever desired amount. Technically a loophole may be exposed here as in theory a landlord could increase the rent to a completely undesirable amount and that would force your tenant to vacate the property.
 
 

Landlords Need to Join an Ombudsman and Join an Online Portal

 
 
– All Landlords must now join an ombudsman. Previously this requirement only applied to Letting Agents, now tenants will be further protected if you are a private landlord and you don’t use a lettings agent.
 
 
– landlords will need to upload information regarding gas safety certificates etc. onto an online portal so that they can be viewed by everyone.
 
 

You Can’t Discriminate Against Pets

 
 
 You will not be able to specify in the contract  “No Pets Allowed”. You can however specify that a pet insurance that protects your property must be taken out of the tenant where to get a pet during the tenancy.
 
 

Section 24 Tax Changes

Previously Landlords would pay tax on the profit that they receive from their rental properties i.e. The total rent minus your costs which included the cost of your mortgage. In simple terms If you were receiving £2000 rent and your mortgage is £1000, you would pay tax on the £1000 profit. Now with Section 24 legislation which is in full effect after 1st April 2023, as a Landlord you pay tax on the entire rent not just the profit. You can no longer claim back your mortgage payments as a tax deductible expense. 

 

Energy Performance Certificates

New legislation coming into effect means that houses need to be up to a set standard of energy efficiency before they can be tenanted. The Government has said that all properties that are new tenancies from April 2025 have to have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of a C or above, and for existing tenancies they need to have a EPC rating of C by 2028, this was revised in March 2023. This means that for many landlords if their tenants move out of the property between now and April 2025 they will be forced to quickly improve the property or to sell the house before April 2025. These needed efficiency improvements could mean spending many thousands of pounds on double glazing, insulation, new doors etc. According to Property Industry Eye more than two fifths of landlords are unaware of this new regulation, and there may be an influx of landlords who will need to sell their house fast if they are caught unaware in 2025.

house selling options microscope

How to Tell your Tenants that your Selling

Having to tell tenants that they will have to move out of their home and putting them in a position that they haven’t chosen can often be difficult news to give. It’s important to have a clear plan in place first and not put your tenants in an uncertain situation, or provide false promises or hope that could possibly leave your tenants in a worse off position than from being clear at the start.

Alternative Options You May Consider

Allow your Tenants to Stay on Until the Property is Sold

This can be done but it’s not necessarily advised, legally it may not be in your best interest. Many landlords may trust their tenants and be able to establish what they think is a fair agreement e.g.e the tenants will help with viewings and be able to move out on a as and when basis but in practice this may not be so simple and what was once a friendly relationship could change. As a landlord who has found a suitable buyer it may cause the sale to fall through if the existing tenants cause a delay with moving out. After the fixed tenancy term the contract would naturally roll over to a rolling contract and if your tenants don’t oblige to your friendly arrangement then you will face a further two month delay when serving a Section 21 eviction notice, of course this could be a further longer process if your tenants refuse to move out so to avoid such complications many landlords prefer to start the eviction process before the property goes on the market. Unfortunately this will cause some void period months but is the most convenient route.

Sell Your House Fast with Tenants in Place

A quick solution that could help speed up the process and keep your current tenants happy would be to sell your house with the tenants in place. If you have an existing contract in place with reasonable market rate terms then it may be feasible and also desirable for us to agree to buy your home and transfer your existing obligation that you currently have with your tenants. This route is not only convenient but will allow you to sell your house faster than having to wait 2 months when serving an eviction notice and also a possible solution for any eviction problems that you may currently have.