There was an interesting article on the This Is Money website this week that looked at the problem of repossessions from the tenant’s point of view.
As the article pointed out, buy to let properties are three times more likely to be repossessed than a normal residential property and when they are, it is the existing tenant who is left high and dry.
It is important to note that tenants are protected if they are still within their tenancy agreement and are abiding by the terms. Some lenders try to evict the tenants when they take over control of the property but in a lot of cases this is actually illegal. Denise Ford, chair of the Association of Property and Fixed Charge Receivers, says:
“I’ve heard of courts granting possession orders and evicting tenants mid-way through their tenancy. That’s not legal, provided the tenants are paying their rent and abiding by the terms of their tenancy. They should go to the court hearing and object.”
This is good advice; as landlords we are very aware that tenants have rights, surely the courts ought to know what they are?
Of course, there is the tricky situation of cases where the borrower has not informed the lender that the property is now rented out. In these cases the tenancy agreement is often not binding on the lender and the tenant can find themselves without much to fall back on.
It certainly is a complicated area
