UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi all
Sorry if this question has been asked before, however i am looking at a BTL in Liverpool and there is a tenant in situ . I have 4 other BTL however never had a situation where there was a tenant in situ

Any advice on what I should watch out for ? Legally can I be faced with any issues and is it advisable.  I have been told tenants are working tenants and have been renting at the address for 4 years and wish to continue renting their .

They are currently however not paying the going rate in the market hence this will be something I will address at some point

Any advice and help will be very much appreciated

Find out why they are not paying market rent.  If it is simply the rent hasn't been raised for a while then no issue, if it's for some other reason eg family of the owner then problems.

In any case note this may affect the amount of loan the mortgagee is willing to lend.

The bank will need to know and you need check in advance they will be willing to lend on this basis.  Almost certainly the tenant will be required to sign a waiver indicating they have no interest in the property other than the AST.

Make sure the current landlord has done everything by the book .. where is the deposit etc notices serviced .....

Should be OK but get it all sorted up front before you start paying fees.
Note also the law has moved on since they moved in 2014(?) and you would be advised to do at least the right to rent checks on the tenants if not a full credit check at this time.

If the current rent is £10 per month under the market rate (a guess at the best of times, so let's call it what you'd ideally want to charge them!) then no problem, but if it's £150 per month (because it was low at the start and has never been increased) then it's a different ball game, innit? And how you choose to address this is another thing entirely... maybe it's not been increased because they've flatly refused and the outgoing Landlord just didn't have the mettle to fight it, maybe they've got no hope in hell of paying more, maybe it's just an oversight and they're expecting it (and happy about it too!)... but, yes, of course there can be issues... and the biggest issue I always foresee is that they're not really your Tenants - you didn't choose them, you inherited them... and one of your first actions might be a long drawn-out eviction process when you all realise you don't see eye-to-eye.

I've also never done this... because I've steered away from it, the upsides aren't more enticing than the downsides are worrying.

Thanks guys and girls.  The property is in good condition however yes I agree I would not have chosen these tenants and of course the current owner / landlord would say they are the ideal tenants even if they are a nightmare

I've done this once, and with hindsight, so much could have gone wrong. As you've been advised above, I can't emphasise enough how important it is to get every single document from the current owners re the tenants and all the details - in writing to your solicitor so you can make an informed choice. Also talk to the tenants, see what they say and if possible ask them what documentation they have, if nothing else for comparison with what their landlord says and has.
If everything checks out, there is always the option of giving notice to the tenants of an increase in rent. If they don't agree then they may leave and you get to start over. But then you really have to be clear and confident the nature of their tenancy legally allows to do all that which takes it all back to establishing what sort of tenants they are.