Sell a Tenanted Property
There are lots of reasons you might feel now is the right time to sell a tenanted property you own. Changes in legislation and fluctuations in buy-to-let interest rates are just a few key motivators.
You may have already started the process of selling your tenanted property and realised that, although perfectly possible, this comes with a lot of stress. Not to mention, more sticking points that can cause delays during the process than the average domestic property sale.
At We Buy Any House, we eliminate the headaches and hassle involved to sell a tenanted property with renters ‘in situ’.
So, let’s get to the key question: can We Buy Any House help me sell my house fast, even if it’s currently tenanted? Yes, we can.
We can help you to sell a tenanted property with none of the frustrating delays that are often associated with selling houses with renters.
Better yet, we can give you an offer in just 15 minutes.
Get in touch with us for your free, no-obligation offer.
Why sell a tenanted property? The top reasons to sell your buy-to-let property
If you’re a landlord looking to sell a tenanted property, here are just some of the factors you might be facing:
- Changes to section 24 making taxes on your rental income more of a burden
- Inheritance tax, if your property was inherited and the tax wasn’t paid before you became a beneficiary of the property
- Rising interest rates making your mortgage payments unaffordable and putting off potential buyers
- Problem tenants eating into your rental property’s profitability & causing stress
- Costly, unavoidable energy efficiency improvements on the horizon
Let’s explore how they could be reasons to sell a tenanted property.
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Legislation changes mean it’s harder to make profit on rental properties
The Section 24 Landlord & Tenant Act means that mortgage interest is no longer deductible from rental income pre-tax. Essentially, this means that renting property has become a lot less tax-efficient and profitable than it used to be. This is a suspected cause of many buy to let landlords selling up.
In addition, while the requirements have not yet come into force, there have been proposed changes to energy efficiency requirements for landlords. These changes would see the energy efficiency needed to rent out a property raised from band E to band C. This could mean extremely costly upgrades to older buildings.
Rid yourself of problem tenants
Being a landlord is no picnic if you find yourself with problem tenants who are causing repeat issues.
There are lots of costly issues that problem tenants could cause you, not to mention the mental strain it leaves. These issues can range from causing damage that you have to repair and long timelines to try to reclaim repair costs back, to tenants causing friction with neighbours through anti-social behaviour.
If you’re finding that problem tenants are making your rental property an unsustainable venture, we will buy your house.
Accepting an offer from We Buy Any House can be the ideal solution if you’re concerned that your tenants might not grant estate agents access for property viewings.
Unaffordable tax from inheriting your property
Many people don’t realise that property counts as part of a person’s estate, all of which is subject to inheritance tax. You may have inherited your rental property with tenants in situ.
If there wasn’t sufficient liquidity in the deceased person’s estate to cover the costs of the inheritance tax, you might have to sell to raise the funds. This is especially possible if the rental property was an additional investment property, taking an estate over taxable thresholds.
Selling a property with sitting tenants could be your only option to raise the funds.
High buy-to-let interest rates and rent restrictions are creating the perfect storm
Due to restrictions on how often you can raise rent and how much you can raise it by, you could see a shortfall in the amount you need to cover a buy-to-let mortgage under new interest rates.
Soaring interest rates mean that if you need to remortgage a rental property any time soon, there’s a good chance you’ll be facing an interest increase – especially on a buy-to-let mortgage.
Being unable to increase the rent your tenants pay could leave you in a bind, covering the shortfall yourself. If this is untenable for the foreseeable future, selling your tenanted property could be the best course of action.
Can I sell my tenanted property with tenants in situ?
You can sell a tenanted property, but the technicalities involved can make a successful house sale more tricky to achieve.
Let’s explore the two main ways you can sell property with tenants renting it:
1. Eviction via a Section 21 notice ‘to quit’
This is the official way to give notice to tenants that you want possession of the property back at the end of a fixed-term shorthold tenancy agreement. This is the main type of rental contract in Britain, but there are others (e.g. verbal contract) and you should check if they require you to serve notice in the same manner. You must give two month’s notice in writing and certain warnings when issuing a Section 21 notice.
How could this affect trying to sell a tenanted property?
If you’re able to get your tenants to agree to viewings and find a prospective buyer for your property, you would then issue the notice. The vulnerabilities of this method tend to be:
- Tenants who are being asked to vacate the property they are living in may be less cooperative about allowing viewings of the property. This could make finding a prospective buyer through an estate agent more tricky.
- Once they leave the property, you’re left vulnerable to delays in the chain. If your property sale takes longer or falls through, you’ll be left with no sale and no rental income.
2. Selling with tenants in situ
Selling a house with sitting tenants is a good option if your tenants have a long time left in their fixed-term agreement, or are protected from eviction for other reasons.
While this will prevent you from having to issue notice, you’ll need to find a certain kind of buyer. The prospective buyer will need to either have a buy-to-let mortgage – which typically requires a higher deposit and interest rate than a domestic mortgage – or a cash buyer. Property investors are less easy to attract than domestic property buyers.
If you’re concerned about having a tenanted property for sale for a long time with no results, we can help.
We buy your tenanted property with tenants in situ - fast!
How does a 3-day completion sound?
We purchase your tenanted property with no delays. You could have the sale completed in as little as 3 days. There’s no need to wait for an assured shorthold tenancy contract to come to it’s end, or issue a Section 21 notice to give your tenants 2 months ‘notice to quit’.
We buy your property with the tenants in situ with no renegotiations or hidden fees. Just one offer, minimal time to complete, and no extra costs added on.
Sell a tenanted property with We Buy Any House and free up trapped equity
We help you sell a tenanted property fast. Our sale process is much quicker than the months-long timeline when selling via estate agents. Say goodbye to negotiating viewings with tenants and waiting for a buy-to-let or cash buyer to be able to sell tenanted property.
Get in touch for your free valuation today.
Contact usFAQs about selling your tenanted property
The entire decision-making process involved to sell a tenanted property can be a daunting one, with many factors to mull over. We’ve rounded up expert advice to some common questions about selling with a sitting tenant.
Tenants have the right to reside with ’quiet enjoyment’ of the property. This essentially means that they could decline to accept viewings of the property, as they constitute a disturbance. However, this will depend on your relationship with the tenants.
One of the real benefits of accepting an offer from We Buy Any House is that we can purchase your property with tenants in situ. That means that if your tenants have an existing contract, you won’t have to achieve vacant possession of the property before you sell to us.
The good news is that you only have to pay capital gains tax on inherited property for the value it’s risen by since you inherited it. This could be minimal if you’re selling right away. If you’re not, there’s a £12,000 yearly capital gains tax allowance that could account for part of the profit.
There are other methods to minimise capital gains tax liability, including splitting the sale over two tax years to take advantage of double allowance.
When the mortgage of a property hasn’t been paid, the lender can pursue foreclosure proceedings. This means that they take repossession of the property. To avoid a foreclosed property, you may wish to sell the house quickly.
Next Steps
You tell us about your home
Whatever your situation, we’re here to help. First step is to get in touch with us, we’re open 24/7. Simply complete our online form, give us a call or email enquiries@webuyanyhouse.co.uk to speak to one of our friendly team. It couldn’t be easier.
An offer in as little as 60 minutes
You and your house are unique, and so is your offer. Once we’ve spoken to you and you’ve given us some property information, one of our property specialists will come back to you with your offer in principle. This can be done in as little as 15 minutes. We use Hometrack in our valuation process, the same software that mortgage providers use, to ensure you get an accurate offer.
Remember, our expert service is free to use, and you choose how you want to progress with your offer.
Property appraisal
If you agree to move forward, we’ll arrange for an independent appraisal, so we can complete an assessment at your property and prepare a formal offer for you. All of our property valuers are RICS certified to ensure we provide the highest level of service.
Complete your sale
If you decide that you would like to proceed with our quick house sale, you choose the completion date that suits you. The whole process can be completed in around 3 days by our skilled sales progression team, or if you need longer then you can choose a more suitable time to completion.
If you’d like to get your offer for your property, click on the link below.
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