Can my landlord ask for this?

liz545

I've been renting my flat for a couple of years, and as OH is now moving in with me, my landlord has sent me a new contract to sign. In among with the paperwork are two letters for me to sign, authorising my landlord to pass on my forwarding address to my utilities suppliers after the end of my tenancy, and also one authorising them to contact my Local Authority in the event that I claim LHA, to divulge relevant information about my claim. Are they allowed to request this? Frankly, it seems a little intrusive, and I'd be surprised if my utilities suppliers would discuss my account details with someone who wasn't named on the account!

tbs624

You are under no obligation to sign either document if you don’t want to. Just sign the contract & ignore the forms. Presumably you are are responsible for paying the utility bills, so how you sort the bill out at the end is up to you , as long as you do pay it.

Equally though, the LL is free to decide that he would rather have tenants who would sign his forms so could give you notice if you are outside a Fixed Term. However, no LL wants a rental void - if you’ve been a reliable tenant he’s not really going to want to lose you.

If he queries it just tell him you’ll look at the form again if and when you ever make an LHA claim. (Under LHA, payment is made directly to the tenant, so a Council can’t give out any information about the tenant’s claim unless the that tenant signs a ‘Sharing Information Form’. All that form does is allow the Council to discuss the status of the claim,ie whether the claim has been completed & when it will be paid, rather than personal/financial info. However, a tenant can still choose not to sign the form.

If your OH is paying a deposit under this new AST agreement then check that the LL scheme-registers it (if Eng/Wales)