Trying to sell my house smack heads next door....help

leefire

Im trying to sell my house. The girl who lives next door split with husband and lost the plot. Weve tryed to help her and after months she said she was giving up the house and moving in with her mother. Now she`s decided it isn`t working and is moving back in. But this time she`s moving in a girl who rents a private house from down the street who has 2 kids, 5 dogs and her boyfriend is inside for robbery and is a well known dealer. She said eventually she`s going to put her name on the rent book. And when the dealer gets out he`ll be moving in. Can they just move people into a council house like this?

Fang_3

Phone the council and ask?

Wee_Willy_Harris

No, is the short answer regarding the rent book. But everything else is OK.

FOXGLOVE_2

As far as I know, the additional tenant has to live there for approx 6 months before they are added as joint tenant.

They might ask for bank statements/benefit letters dating back. I moved in here with my partner to a housing association flat she was renting and had to wait 6 months, they didn't ask for bank statements or anything but it did say that they might.

I could be wrong but it sounds like they're maybe using this house as a way to apply for a place of their own - it sounds like a pretty overcrowded set up.

The council might not permit in on those grounds.

But yeah, no harm in phoning council to ask and/or express your concern.

AliceBanned

Definitely get onto the council early if you're worried, but make sure you don't breathe a word to anyone and make sure they are careful to keep it all confidential. 5 dogs must be excessive and is probably breaching the tenancy agreement but you can find out from the council. Depends how many rooms there are in the house and what is on the tenancy agreement but the council will not allow the tenant to exceed this so they could evict her if this becomes the case, but it would be a long battle to get to this. I may be wrong but I think they can vet tenants unless they are ones that have reached the top of the waiting list, which this guy who is in prison certainly won't be. Council and HA tenants don't have the right to just bring anyone in on their tenancy. Shelter is a very helpful charity for dealing with your housing rights - give them a ring. They are very busy and you have to keep chasing them but they fight cases against councils and housing assocs who are not protecting their own tenants when they need it.

Fire_Fox

If there are problems with drug taking or a lot of coming and going once the chap in prison moves back in call the police. If there are problems with noise or hygiene issues contact Environmental Health. If you are concerned about overcrowding or that the original person on the rent book is not actually living in the house then report that to the housing department.

mrcol1000

Fire_Fox wrote: »

If there are problems with drug taking or a lot of coming and going once the chap in prison moves back in call the police. If there are problems with noise or hygiene issues contact Environmental Health. If you are concerned about overcrowding or that the original person on the rent book is not actually living in the house then report that to the housing department.

And you will get your windows put through for your trouble. If only life was that simple.

Wee_Willy_Harris

In terms of allowing people to live in the tenancy and any overcrowding that may create, she has the same rights as you.

In terms of those people going on the rent book (ie gaining a stake in the tenancy) that is something for the housing provider to deal with. But the circumstances you outline above would be unlikely to secure such a stake. Social Housing is a very limited resource protected by it's providers via their allocations policy. It is very unlikely that they would permit such a change.

Any criminal or anti-social behaviour from the address would be, from the housing providers point of view, the responsibility of the tenant regardless of who within that tenancy was the guilty party. However, in order to enforce any available actions, they would rely on information from the community. In certain circumstances it has been know for providers to employ "professional tenants", ie investigators/evidence gatherers to act like normal tenants living in the vicinity. But the usual method is the diary sheet. Information collected is used with care and, where possible, anonymously. But this can never be guaranteed.

maria6259

If your neighbour is claiming housing benefit she would not be able to move people in 'just like that' as any income they have would affect HB. No-one can 'just be put on the rent book' by the tenant. The council would probably be very interested to hear if someone else starts to live there. If she moved in with her mother for a while, how come she didnt give up the house? I'm thinking some sort of scam is going on (if she gets HB).

BitterAndTwisted

I suspect that the tenant next door would most probably be breaking their tenancy agreement by allowing someone to move in with so many dogs. I'd start talking to the LA about that issue first

Wee_Willy_Harris

maria6259 wrote: »

If your neighbour is claiming housing benefit she would not be able to move people in 'just like that' as any income they have would affect HB. No-one can 'just be put on the rent book' by the tenant. The council would probably be very interested to hear if someone else starts to live there. If she moved in with her mother for a while, how come she didnt give up the house? I'm thinking some sort of scam is going on (if she gets HB).

HB would just need to be notified, but it would make very little difference. And the council wouldn't be very interested to hear about someone moving in as it's well within the terms of the tenancy agreement.