Declaring tenants

Kcgc

Hi All,

Just after some advice. Please advise if I would be better posting on a different forum

My bf owns a 3 bedroom house, which is occupied by 2 tenants. Does he need to declare them living in his house? How does he do this and how much does it cost?

Thanks

RAS

If he maintains a room in the house for his sole use and can use all the other facilties (Kitchen, bathroom and living space), then they are lodgers and he can take advantage of the tax allowance for lodgers but has to declare any income exceeding that amount. he needs to take advice from his insurers about sharing the house.

If he lives elsewhere and LETS the house, his mortgage provider, the tax man and his insurers need to know. He also needs to register the deposit or they can fine him three times the deposit.

Kcgc

Thanks RAS, he doesnt live in the house, he rents a flat with me separately

RAS

Does he have a formal tenancy agreement, an inventory - signed by both parties and has he registered the deposit? if not he needs to spend some time on the tenancy pages here or the landlordzone.

If he has a mortgage, does his mortgage supplier know?

Does his building insurer know? Does he have landlord's insurance? A gas certificate?

He also need to keep proper accounts so he can work out wht his profit is and organise any tax liability.

Glad

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL]

Jowo_2

If the property is in Scotland, then he needs to register the property on the Scottish Landlord's registration scheme with the local council - there's no equivalent body for E&W.

Remember that if the property has a loss (if legitimate expenses, such as the interest portion of the mortgage, repairs, letting agency fees, insurance, etc exceed the income from the rental, membership of landlord associations, etc), I believe that the loss can be carried over to the next year. Landlordzone has a section on tax and finance.

http://www.landlordmoney.co.uk/taxation.htm

As per the previous posters who are querying his compliance with other legislation, does it have an EPC?

It is highly unlikely that the property with its current make-up of residents is a house in multiple occupation (HMO) but your brother should check the local council website to understand how it could be affected if the residents change. Essentially, many properties are HMOs but only properties of 5+ tenants with 3+ habitable storeys currently have to have a licence for this. Some council's however, have brought in their own criteria (selective or additional licencing that can cover smaller properties).

CIS

My bf owns a 3 bedroom house, which is occupied by 2 tenants. Does he need to declare them living in his house?

Has he informed the council for council tax purposes ?