Lodger on visa and electroral roll

[jc808]

Heres the situation - I share my house with lodgers. One of them is an indian national who had a student visa and now a work visa, and works full time

She pays no utility bills or tax here as she is effectively a houseguest (Her lodgings ie 'rent' include all bills and I pay the Council Tax on the property as I am the owner)

The council are aware she is here as I gave the names of my lodgers to the local Council when they moved in (They moved in within weeks of each other) as I had to unapply for single persons tax discount.

The lodger in question wants to improve her credit rating, which is very poor at the moment, according to experian. This is, apparently for three reasons

- Little to no credit history
- No utility bills (Though she can provide bank statements as proof of address so this is OK i think)
- Not on the electoral roll

The fact she is not a UK national may be a factor too, but its none of my business. She has asked me if she is registered here with the council, as Experian told her this would improve her credit rating. I told her about the council thing.

Really she needs to be on the Electoral Roll does she not? Can a non-UK resident be on the Electoral Roll (But presumably not be allowed to vote)?
Confused

[G_M]

If you are not eligible to vote you.... cannot register to vote!

However, she may be eligible:

To qualify, Commonwealth citizens must be resident in the UK and either have leave to remain in the UK or not require such leave.

Alternatively, you could reduce her rent and make her responsible for utilities I guess.....

On a related issue, are you doing everything else you need to as a landlord with lodgers?

LODGERS (Licencees)
A lodger (broadly) lives in the same property with their resident landlord, and shares facilities. Unlike tenants, lodgers have few rights.

The Housing Act 1988 (above) provides definitions of 'Resident Landlord' and 'same property'.

There is advice for landlords considering taking in lodgers here:

LodgerLandlord (General information site)

Landlordzone (General advice on taking in lodgers)

Renting out rooms in your home (Government info)

Rent a Room Scheme (Government scheme for tax-free income from lodgers)

[jc808]

Originally Posted by G_M

If you are not eligible to vote you.... cannot register to vote!

This is what I tried to explain to her, and that while HMRC may note someone is at a property for CT purposes I dont believe (Could be wrong though) it affects Credit Scoring

[jc808]

Oh and yes, I have my other obligations covered in respect of lodgers

[paddyz]

She can vote, but she will have to be registered first

[G_M]

Originally Posted by jc808

This is what I tried to explain to her, and that while HMRC may note someone is at a property for CT purposes I dont believe (Could be wrong though) it affects Credit Scoring

HMRC has no involvement in Council Tax.

She may be elegible to vote - see my earlier post!

[jc808]

sorry council not hmrc

ive directed her to the electoral roll www ta guys

[The Palmist]

She is probably allowed to vote and she can do so by registering herself. This shouldn't involve you.
If you want to help her, you can change names on one of the utilities i.e. water and let the bill come in her name. Shouldn't be too much of a hassle for you.
It's an easy solution. You can also request your council to put both of your names in bill. I have lived in shared accomodation before and we had up to 4 people on the council tax bill.
Just make sure that the bills are paid on time.

[RAS]

A mobile phone bill registered at your address meets the requirements for a utility bill.

Do not put your household bills in her name.

[lincroft1710]

As a lodger she has no responsibility for Council Tax and so her name should not be on the CT bill.

[HappyMJ]

Agreed...Do not ever put lodgers names on your bills. You could become financially connected and that is the last thing anyone wants.

[Stingy_3000]

Hi there

If the lodger is Indian, then she CAN be registered on the electoral roll. Most councils provide all the relevant information and forms online and the electoral roll will be updated within 1 month. I would suggest she opts out of the edited register which is used by marketing companies.

Try this link: aboutmyvote.co.uk/who_can_register_to_vote.aspx

(I am a new user so i am not allowed to write the www in front of the link...)

I would also suggest she applies for a credit card with her bank and repay her balance in full each month, in order to build her credit history.

When i arrived in UK, i was a lodger in someone's house for about a year and those 2 steps worked for me. My name was not on any of the bills.

Mobile phone bills are usually not accepted as proof of address.

Wendy

[Notmyrealname]

Why does she want to improve her credit rating?
To take out finance.

And where do the bailiffs come knocking when she doesn't pay the bills? Your front door.

I would do nothing at all to help in this. As you said in your original post, it is none of your business and I would keep it that way. Let her find out herself. The longer it takes, the less likely you are to have to deal with any consequences of someone discovering credit for the first time.

[redbicycle]

A little too cynical - a very poor credit rating can make life difficult because she will probably in future want to rent a flat/house in her own right rather than stay as a lodger indefinitely.

I would say that is a lot more likely than that she wants to get a credit card/personal loan.

[jc808]

Originally Posted by Notmyrealname

Why does she want to improve her credit rating?
To take out finance.

And where do the bailiffs come knocking when she doesn't pay the bills? Your front door.

I would do nothing at all to help in this. As you said in your original post, it is none of your business and I would keep it that way. Let her find out herself. The longer it takes, the less likely you are to have to deal with any consequences of someone discovering credit for the first time.

oh, ive no problem with telling scum debt collectors to go poke it, but i will keep my distance from this

it sounds like shes now on top of this, but no way will i be transferring utilities in her name

j