private renting , partner moving in - advice needed please

[Deleted User]

hi there i have been living in a private rent house since 22nd june this year.
in august i asked the letting agent who manages the property if my partner could move in.
she said if we did it in december when the tenancy was up for renewal then he could be credit checked and added to the tenancy.

the thing is , neither of us want or need his name to be on there. if we seperated , he has somewhere to go , i don't with my children .
he doesn't want to live in this area , but will to be with me so there is no danger of him staying in the property if i moved out an left him .

what i need to know is , can the letting agent stop us living together by enforcing him being on the tenancy agreement ?? i will be fully liable for the rent and don't need help from him in that department . any ideas ??

hellokitty08

Well I am not 100% sure but I think its something to do with eviction procedures, I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong, but everyone over the age of 18 would need to be listed on the tenancy incase for what ever reason the landlord needed to serve an eviction notice on the house. This is because it would need to be served on every adult.

I am sure thats something to do with it.

Jowo_2

It isn't necessary for a tenancy to be changed from single to joint names when a partner moves in, though perhaps some landlords may prefer this to reduce the risk of rent arrears or worries about what could happen in a relationship breakdown.

Presumably, the OP was already credit checked prior to the tenancy being granted and proved that they could afford the rent on their own income, anyhow.

My understanding is that should a tenant be evicted, the possession notice is raised in the original tenants name and it covers any unauthorised occupants. In the event that anyone remains in place, bailiffs are employed and will remove anyone there. Feel free to correct my assumption.

It sounds fairly rotten to me for a LA to impose a delay on a partner moving in or insist in a change of who is on the tenancy. Would some of the other posters recommend she notifies the agency that she insists the tenancy will continue in her own sole name and just move the boyfriend in anyway?

[Deleted User]

thanks , so this would be the case wherever we live then ?

[Deleted User]

thanks jowo
we were wondering about this as we were thinking of getting married soon , but could they really say " no your husband can't live with you until your tenancy is up for renewal and only if he is added to the tenancy agreement"

my tenancy clearly states i am allowed to live there and my children all by name. i am allowed visitors for up to 3 weeks solid - but that goes against child tax credit and housing benefit rules which say you must claim together if you stay overnight etc

i am very confused !!

AnxiousMum

It could also be that the OP is in receipt of housing benefits and the aim of the landlord is to ensure that all relevant information is provided to housing benefits people? IE two adults living in the house - as if you are renting privately and have five children, I'm sure that there is housing benefits payable, and likely the 25% single adult rebate on the council tax as well.
If I was the landlord - and the above is the case, I would want his name on it too, because if you failed to report that he had moved in, and you got caught, they stopped your housing benefit, then the landlord could go after the other 'joint tenant' for the rent as well.

I don't think that it's fair that the Landlord imposes the delay on you though - can't a change to the lease be made now?

theartfullodger

The Landlord/Agent wants all adult tenants on the tenancy so that should there be problems (eg rent not paid) they can take court action against all tenants, not just mumof5. Better chance of getting money off two people than just one. Both will be liable for the whole debt.

Further, when current tenancy finishes the fixed-period it automatically carries on, month-by-month (assuming rent paid monthly) unless the tenancy is ended. LL can only end tenancy by taking court action, unless T agrees.

Regarding sub-letting in general (BF could be handled as a sublett by mumof5) the OFT have held that restricting the right to sublett is unfair (see
http://www.oft.gov.uk/advice_and_resources/publications/guidance/unfair-terms-consumer/oft356

in particular 18(d)

Group 18(d): Unreasonably excluding the tenant's right to assign or sublet

Usually this is held to mean LL should be able to run same checks (credit, references) on new sub-tenant as he did for original tenant(s). Doesn't have to be new tenancy.

Cheers!

Lodger (Landlord since 2000)