by on April 2, 2012 Leave a Comment

Tips to Sell your Property

Completion and moving out
Your buyer should be entitled to reasonable access to the property between exchange and completion to allow for plans to be made and measurements to be taken.
Note of warning: do not allow the buyer to have a set of keys until completion has taken place.
You must be informed by your conveyancer that the money has actually been transferred to a designated account before releasing the keys. This can take time while the money is transferred from one account to another even in these days of electronic banking. If you have already vacated your property, leave a set of keys with your estate agent, with precise instructions on how and when to hand them over. Completion can only take place on Mondays to Fridays and not on bank holidays.
Failure to complete
(1) Failure to complete the formal documentation does not necessarily invalidate the purchase. Two students jointly purchased a property when they separated the following year the man bought out the woman’s share for £1,400. The transfer of the mortgage was never formalized and the woman subsequently refused to sign a draft conveyance. When the property was repossessed and sold some years later, the woman claimed a share of the proceeds of sale. The court held that failure to complete the formalities of the buyout did not negate the deal. It would be a miscarriage of justice if, as a result of the deal, the woman became entitled to a half share. She had disposed of her interest and the sale was enforceable.
(2) If your buyer fails to complete on time, there is generally a clause in the contract of sale which entitles you to interest on the late payment.
(3) If your buyer fails to complete at all, you are entitled to keep the deposit. There are also other legal remedies which might be available to compensate you for breach of contract depending on the contract’s terms.

You have a house which has been on the market for some time. You have found a buyer who has exchanged contracts with you. On the strength of the intended completion in four weeks from the date of exchange, you have made plans to move out of the area. Now you are informed that the buyer cannot complete and your plans are in disarray. Depending on the contract, you might be able to get an order for specific performance [i.e. an order that the buyer must complete the transaction if he is in a position to complete but has simply refused to do so. However, there would be no point in such an order if the buyer has not got the funds to complete the purchase. You would have to try to sell your property at the highest possible price obtainable in a hurry. If you then had to drop your price, you might be able to sue the first buyer for damages for the difference between the price he promised you and the price you subsequently obtained. You could also obtain damages for distress and inconvenience because of the disruption to your plans, although these might be fairly nominal only.
Note: if the seller fails to complete, equally he or she becomes liable for breach of contract. The same remedies might then be available to the buyer against the seller: i.e. suing for damages and/or specific performance. The buyer would also be entitled to return of the deposit as a matter of course.
Proposed changes — extension of a seller’s obligations
the government proposes to bring in new measures to speed up the process of home buying. The proposals include a ‘seller’s pack’ which a seller will have to provide — at his or her own expense to a would-be purchaser. The pack would include such matters as a survey, searches, a valuation, and details of fixtures and fittings. The pack would be prepared before the house is first advertised for sale. Trials have been carried out in Bristol and have proved to be successful in reducing the time it takes to sell a property. A house has changed hands in four and a half weeks under the home sellers’ information pack scheme. The average time is eight weeks. The Department of the Environment, Transport and The Regions has set up a help desk to deal with inquiries about the proposed reforms: 020 7890 3044; Fax: 020 7890 3408.

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by on April 2, 2012 Leave a Comment

What is Shorthold Tenancy?

This form of tenancy provides the tenant with very little protection. There is no need to give notice stating that a shorthold tenancy is being established, although the landlord must give the terms (commencement date, rent payable, etc.) in writing. However, a landlord must serve at least two months’ notice, in writing, on the tenant to leave the premises, and still has to apply to court for an order if a tenant does not leave willingly. A landlord must be granted a court order if a tenant refuses to leave after expiry of the tenancy. There is no need to prove any of the grounds above. The situation would differ, however, if you wished to bring the tenancy to an end before the end of its term and you are not prepared to wait for the expiry of the notice period.

You own two adjoining flats for rental purposes. In the one flat you have a longstanding tenant who has never caused you any difficulties. You recently installed a new tenant into the second flat on a shorthold tenancy for one year you now have received several complaints that he is disturbing his neighbours because of his racist abuse and his threats of violence against his partner; you would like to have him leave the premises forthwith. If your tenant cannot be persuaded to moderate his behavior, you can make an application to the court for possession, either on the ground of breach of covenant in his lease for causing a nuisance, or on ground above. It will depend on the view that the judge takes on the evidence before him as to whether, in the circumstances, your application should be granted.

The main elements
The tenancy may be for a fixed term, e.g. a year less one day, or it can run on from one rent period to the next; but the landlord, under normal circumstances, cannot regain his property before the first six months have expired. As a result, therefore, all tenancies in the private rented sector are now shorthold tenancies unless the landlord has served a notice on the tenant before the beginning of the tenancy that it is not intended to be a shorthold tenancy. This significant change was introduced to ease the lot of landlords. Some landlords had intended creating shorthold tenancies so that they would automatically receive back their properties (subject to notice) at the expiry of the term, but found that they had instead created assured tenancies through procedural oversight.
Continuing the tenancy — no need for new notice
if the same landlord and tenant wish to continue on the same terms with reference to the same premises, the shorthold tenancy will continue.
Excluded tenancies
Certain tenancies are excluded from the provisions of the Acts, in particular, tenancies which began before 15 January 1989. Several grounds are set out in the legislation, for example those which concern ‘resident landlords’.
Other grounds include;
• holiday letting of the property
• very high or very low rental property (there are specified limits)
• property granted to students
Do note: tenancies in the public sector are also excluded.
Accelerated possession procedure
Rules are in force which deals with possession proceedings for assured and shorthold tenancies. The rules are intended to streamline possession proceedings in certain cases and enable a judge to make a possession order on written application without necessarily requiring the parties to attend in court for a hearing.
In the case of an assured tenancy
If a landlord wishes to recover possession of a dwelling house on grounds of
• landlord occupation
• former holiday occupation
• former student letting
• occupation by a minister of religion
and provided the tenant has been given proper notice, the landlord can file all the relevant information with the court together with his application for possession. The information required is stipulated in the rules and must be on a prescribed form. The landlord must also serve a copy on the tenant.
A tenant has 14 days in which to make a reply.
If there is no reply, the landlord may make a written request for a possession order.
If there is a reply the judge can
• make an order after considering the reply, or
• fix a day for a hearing.

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by on April 2, 2012 1 Comment

Landlord and Tenant Agreements

When an implied covenant conflicts with a lease’s express covenant
If there is a contradiction between a covenant implied by law and the express terms of your lease, then the express terms generally prevail. For instance, a landlord may wish to build a tarred roadway past your block of flats to serve his neighboring block: if your lease allows him to reserve a right of way, then he will be allowed to do so in other words, he can ‘derogate from his grant’ because the lease allows him to do so.

Note: a landlord cannot contract out of certain repairing covenants imposed by law. Where he is under a statutory duty to keep premises in repair, he will not be able to write a term into the lease which will allow him to evade his legal obligations.
A landlord cannot regain possession of residential accommodation without a court order unless the tenant leaves willingly.
‘Small print regulations’
Under landlord and tenant agreements, where
(a) the landlord is in business and
(b) the contractual terms are standard (i.e. the landlord gives the tenant a pro-forma standard tenancy agreement) then the ‘small print regulations’ under the unfair terms regulations apply to these contracts.
Do note: both conditions (a) and (b) must be present
However, the regulations do not apply if it is a private landlord and the court takes the view that he is not ‘in businesses. This might be the view taken of the situation where, for example, a friend has sublet a flat to you while he goes on an extended holiday. They would also not apply if your landlord is in business but has negotiated an individual agreement with his tenant.
Safety regulations
Special regulations apply to the safety of private-sector accommodation.
Gas regulations
With regard to the installation and fitting of gas appliances, landlords are under a duty to keep and maintain all appliances and installation work in a safe condition. The regulations are extensive in scope and include the following:

• To ensure that gas fittings and flues are maintained in a safe condition
• to carry out annual checks
• to keep a record of the inspections
• to use only an installer registered with CORGI.
Note: the landlord is not responsible for the tenant’s gas appliances.

You have just become a tenant in a furnished flat. You are concerned about the safety of the gas fire in the lounge. Your landlord assures you that the fire is safe and that he carries out regular annual inspections. Under the regulations, tenants are to be issued with a copy of the safety check record within 28 days of the check having been carried out. New tenants are entitled to a copy before they move in to the premises. The landlord must ensure that the check has been carried out within one year before the start of your lease. If however, the gas fire has been installed for less than 12 months, the next check should be 12 months from the installation date.

Furniture regulations
In response to outbreaks of fire, particularly in rented accommodation, safety regulations were passed to deal with certain very dangerous materials being used in upholstery. Today it is an offense for a shop to sell furniture which does not comply with the current safety regulations which set levels of fire resistance for domestic upholstery and other furnishings. Landlords must ensure that all furniture in all let accommodation must comply with these safety requirements.
Electrical appliances
There is no regulation that all electrical appliances need an annual inspection. However, landlords have to ensure that such appliances are safe. Examples given include worn plugs and overloaded circuits, but the regulations would apply to other appliances including heaters, television sets etc.

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