Landlord wants rent in cash

loulou41

My friend after weeks of searching for a room in London has found one but the landlord wants to be paid in cash first of each month. There does not seem to be any form of agreement or lease, my friend has to pay £500 to the person leaving, and if she wants to leave early she has to find somebody to replace her & get her £500 back. The landlord will give her notice if he wants her to leave early. He has a shop downstairs and the flat is above, 4 people tenants. I told her to be careful and she got mad with me for asking too many questions. She said it was ok, everything is inclusive except electricity. I dare not ask about receipt and safety of the flat regarding gas, she will be annoyed with me, she is so pleased of finding somewhere she can afford and I do not want to spoil it for her. She said the landlord is ok and one of the tenant has lived there for 6 yrs. This seems odd for me, she is being taken without any references. Saying that I had another friend who rented an old flat from an old lady, he did not have to pay council tax. She was taken without references as well and paid the old lady by cheque. The price was very good for Islington. Should I be concerned? Thanks

Bufger

I think it definately sounds dodgy but its obviously only something you can warn her about. If she doesnt want to listen then she wont so you'll just have to sit back and watch.

If shes getting angry with you then dont interfere, it could cost you your relationship with her.

HappyMJ

No you shouldn't be concernd it is the going rate for a room in London. I would ask for receipt each time I handed the money over though.

chappers

Make sure she gets either a reciept or a rent book and gets the LL to sign it every time she hands over the money, she will create atenancy anyway with the LL by paying her rent every month. You are however right with regards to gas safety and I wouldn't want to be renting from a LL who didn't take that seriously.
You are right to be concerned for her, these informal sorts of arrangements can work but you can bet they are the ones that cause problems when relations sour.
But if she is happy then you can rest easy knowing you have voiced your concerns with her best interests at heart.

JA1000

Walk away now, if you have doubts before going in....................don't do it.

BitterAndTwisted

There are all sorts of possible things going on and all sorts of possible thing that could go wrong.. You've said your piece and now I think you should let her get on with it.

PasturesNew

It sounds like he could give her virtually no notice and pretend he's never had people in there. Four people, unrelated, in a flat over a shop - I bet it breaks HMO rules.
As for her giving the deposit to somebody leaving, that goes awry if she's chucked out at short notice or the person replacing her isn't so forthcoming.

You know she shouldn't go there ... but let her make her own mistakes. People shoot the messenger.

G_M

Receipt is the important thing.
Everything else can follow.
A receipt provides the proof of payment (what if he denies she paid and asks for rent again?), which as chappers says also proves there's a tenancy.
And once that is done, things like gas safety etc can be looked at later.

JA1000

Just walk away don't be blinded by the place or price there will be something else. I cannot believe that someone offering these terms and paying the leaving tennant the deposit it's all very strange.

DON'T DO IT