Paying rent every month - can 3 people be on the bank account?

shuttleworth96

My daughter just moved into a new flat with 2 friends. Landlord said he doesn't want the rent to come from 3 separate accounts each month and they have to open one account and pay their rent into it and then transfer it to his account!
Thought this was ok at first but am now having serious doubts. What if the flatmate whose name is on the account decides to do a runner half way thru the tennancy just when that months rent has been paid in!!!!!!!!!!!
Can you open a bank account with all 3 flatmates named on it?

Help please guys!!!!!!!!

musey

Are all 3 on the same tenancy agreement or do they have seperate ones?

sanfrancisco

He is doing this to avoid the new HMO rules that have come in (Houses of Multiple Occupancy). It makes it look like there is only one person living there. He is very naughty.

shuttleworth96

All 3 girls are on the same tennancy agreement.

Now feel even more worried if the landlord is "naughty"!!!!!!!

Do you think it is reasonable to say will all pay individually into landlords account or could he get stroppy now with them?

clutton_2

each signator on a Tenancy agreeement is jointly and severally responsible in law for the payment of the rent. so if one tenant leaves the other two are responsible for all of the rent - just as if two tenants leave the remaining one is fully responsible. I can well understant a landlord not wanting 3 payments each month, and i think it is a reasonable request - alternatively, if one person gets the rent off the other two each month and pays it for all three - that might be a compromise.

the method of payment for rent has no bearing on HMO compliance.

rosysparkle

You can have three signatories to a bank account, so they could open a new joint account, each pay their share of the rent into it and then make one transfer to the landlord. Alternatively, one person could pay the full rent from their own account, getting the other people to pay their shares to them.

I would prefer the first option if I were in that situation.

Most landlords would prefer to have one payment coming in rather than three, but this will have nothing to do with the HMO regs.

mattyha

When I rented with 3 friends one of us set up the standing order to the latting agency (who only would accept one payment, as 3 would be harder to track).

Then the other 2 of us set us standing orders to go to the 1st ones account (3 days before rent was due to leave his).

Perfectly normal situation, plus the multipel occupacy rules are for properties with 5+ (someone correct me as this may not be right) occupants as I rememeber reading.

musey

http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1151996

See above for details on what is/isn't a HMO if you are worried contact the Housing Dept local to your daughter's flat to seek advice.

As they are all on the same contract I think it perfectly reasonable that the landlord request 1 rental payment.

MarkyMarkD

It isn't an HMO, just because there are three girls, because they only make up one household.

He isn't being devious with regard to HMOs (and if he was, the tenancy agreement would scupper it anyway) - he just doesn't want three separate payments with three times as much chance that one of them isn't paid and he has to faff chasing payment.

musey

I don't necassarily think that is the case MarkyMarkD, I base this on my experience of the way a household is defined in my local housing area (I mean personal experience not that I work for a Local Council in Housing). In my area unless they are related they would not constitue a single household. Shared student facilities for example are not classed as a single household even if they are all named on 1 tenancy agreement. The fact that the property is a flat may also have some bearing on whether or not it is classed as a HMO, if it is a converted house this may impact on it's classification. As will the local housing policy on licencing as it may be subject to additional licencing if it is not subject to mandatory licencing.

That said I think it was a sweeping generalisation to say that he is being dodgy and trying to avoid the legislation by wanting 1 payment. I agree with you that he merely doesn't want to faff about with chasing seperate payments which is quite reasonable in my opinion.

I would advise anyone who is unsure or concerned about the staus of their property to look at the link I posted and/or contact their local housing department for clarification.

amboy

Some of the above is not only factually wrong but nothing more than scaremongering.

Yes it is a HMO they are renting as there are more than 2 people sharing, HOWEVER it is not a licensable HMO which is where many people are getting confused. Every house with 3 or more sharing is a HMO.

They are all on one contract and therefore it is perfectly acceptable IMO to ask for one rent payment whether it be by cheque or SO.

Your concern is the trustworthyness of the other tenants, well simply apply for a bills account and have 2 signatories.