Is my landord legal?

gecko

A few years ago I was looking for a shared house to stay in and a collegue at work offered me a room in a house he owns and lived in, he also had lodgers in the other rooms. I have never signed a tennancy agreement, but others have (the others have but from something downloaded from the internet :eek:). We pay rent with everything included (phone, gas, elec, etc.)

A few months ago he quit work and moved to foreign climbs leaving all the agreements the same, I know he has a normal mortgage (not buy-to-let) so I assume that we are now tennants rather than lodgers and am wondering about the legality of all of this....I am looking to buy in the near future but am worried about insurance issues in the short term. Any thoughts as to where we stand if things go wrong, are we as tennants liable for anything?

gecko

Robert_Sterling_3

Read the terms and conditions of your contract.

clutton_2

legally speaking if he is resident abroad, then he has to have a UK lettings agent who is responsible for the tenancies, who will collect the rent, and deduct tax from the rent before passing on the remainder to him.

depending on the size of the house, and how many of you there are, he may also fall foul of the HMO (house in multiple occupation) regulations

you say ""am worried about insurance issues in the short term"" - what exactly are you worried abou t?

terryw

On the other hand you may still be lodgers if your landlord still has this house as his principal private residence and he could be away for work reasons or even an extended holiday. Mind you, I don't think the guy is very wise doing this as he has no control of the utilities or damage to his home.

terryw

gecko

Robert - I don't have a contract.
clutton - He doesn't have a letting agent, if anything goes wrong we phone his parents. I was mainly worried about if we had a fire, etc. There are 4 of us in the 3 bedroom house (the dining room has been converted to a bedroom).

clutton_2

if you are all 4 unrelated tenants then he is operating a HMO and you would be well advised to talk to your local council private sector lettings officer

it does not matter that you do not have a written contract - the fact that you pay rent is proof enough of there being a tenancy in existence

Bronnie

Have you spoken about this to your ex colleague/ Landlord. What does he have to say?

clutton_2

""I was mainly worried about if we had a fire, etc. There are 4 of us in the 3 bedroom house (the dining room has been converted to a bedroom)."

this is a bit worrying as if there were to be a fire, and the insurance company were to find out that the property was a HMO but the LL was not complying with the regs, the insurance policy may well be void. in any case, you will need your own contents insurance policy

as others have said - i would write to the LLs family expressing your concerns

do you have a CORGI gas safety certificate ?

tbs624

clutton wrote: »

...this is a bit worrying as if there were to be a fire, and the insurance company were to find out that the property was a HMO but the LL was not complying with the regs, the insurance policy may well be void. in any case, you will need your own contents insurance policy ....

Gecko mentions that the property is subject to a "normal mortgage" so unless the LL has the necessary "consent to let" his insurance cover is likely to be invalidated anyway.

Gecko - do you know how long your LL is likely to be out of the UK? Under S48 of the LL & T Act 1987, unless you have all been served with formal written notice that your LLs parents are to act as his UK "agents", no rent is collectable from you all until such time as the notice is given to you.

You may also want to watch out for any letters coming addressed to "the occupier" warning of mortgage arrears as, especially where there is no consent to let, even those who have an agreement will have little notice should your LL default on his mortgage payments.

As Clutton says, make sure you have gas safety certs etc. What are the other occupants views on it all?

terryw

Here's a link to to deciding if you need to deduct tax from the rent http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/tenants_guide_to_the_nrl_scheme.pdf

In the notes it refers to a period of six months as temporarily.

terryw

socrates

Keep reading these type of posts - why do you not just find somewhere else to live - you are obviously very concerned it would be the best solution.