Selling property to the tenants

[donners90]

Hi all,
I've been searching this site for about an hour now (possibly in the wrong areas) and can't seem to find the info I am after - although there does seem to be a vast amount of good info on here.

I have just served notice to the tenants, via the letting agency and as per the rental agreement/contract, as I need to sell the property for personal reasons. As I have read on here, and have been advised by other landlords, I offering a rent reduction for (hopefully) co-operation whilst I sell the property is the reasonable thing to do - and this is my intention.

I sent a personal letter to the tenant explaining the situation and also asked if they would be interested in buying the property. I am going round later today to have a chat with the tenants about selling, viewings etc, however if they do decide they want to buy the place, is there any written legislation stating that I have to offer a reduction to the buying price? If so is there a fixed %age for every year of occupancy, or is any reduction at my discretion?

Any advice will be very welcome
Thanks
James

[Ericthelobster]

I am going round later today to have a chat with the tenants about selling, viewings etc, however if they do decide they want to buy the place, is there any written legislation stating that I have to offer a reduction to the buying price? If so is there a fixed %age for every year of occupancy, or is any reduction at my discretion?If they want to buy the place, then they will be competing against any other prospective buyers and you don't need to sell to them at a better price than anyone else.

However, if you agree to sell to the tenant you can avoid having to go through an estate agent and incur their fees; plus you won't have any void period in between the final tenants leaving and the new owners moving in, and you should have a lot less hassled sale. Therefore it's natural to negotiate a lower purchase price with an incumbent tenant (and they'd expect it too of course).

Make sure that if you do want to sell to the tenant that you don't sign up with an estate agent - they will still want their cut even if they don't find the buyer!

[jeffrey]

No discount entitlement; that applies only to tenants in the public sector.
However, you save on EA fees and HIPS. Why not sell to T for open-market value MINUS these elements (provided that they exchange contracts within- say- six weeks)?

[Planner]

If they want to buy the place, then they will be competing against any other prospective buyers

Ha ha where have you been last couple of months!!

[davidjpowell]

But be realistic if you do need to sell. We were in this sittuation as tenants 15 months ago, and had agreed that we would look at meeting in the middle of three valuations. These were £325K, £355K and £410K. Needless to say with that variation we could not agree a value and moved out.

House went on the market at £385K and is now far reduced having failed to sell at auction, and the landlord has had his agents pestering us to see if we will still buy at a reduced price. He has lost out big time by waiting!

David