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Can you let your flat without an agent?
gregdedman
Posts: 105 Forumite
Hi there everyone,
This may be a very silly question, but I have no idea about it so please bear with me.
Im about to rent a friends flat and Im about to claim benefits (housing, council tax, JSA) Its only a short term thing as he has a place and im stuck.
We know the dangers of renting from friends, but were fine with that.
The question is, we know he needs permission from his mortgage lender but is it law to go through an estate agent? Can he draw up a tenancy agreement as proof for my benefits claim, and i pay him rent directly?
Are letting agents good for when you dont want the hassle of finding tenants? He of course, has a tenant interested (me) and were both happy with the arrangements.
He needs to get a gas certificate too, which isnt a problem, but can anyone see what else we may have to do?
Im asking because im about to claim benefits and I dont want to go claiming, and them looking into his landlord status and seeing he is a private landlord...if it IS law that he uses an agent then of course well use one, but its easier for us both if we sort it out between ourselves.
Any advice would be gratefully recieved.
Greg
This may be a very silly question, but I have no idea about it so please bear with me.
Im about to rent a friends flat and Im about to claim benefits (housing, council tax, JSA) Its only a short term thing as he has a place and im stuck.
We know the dangers of renting from friends, but were fine with that.
The question is, we know he needs permission from his mortgage lender but is it law to go through an estate agent? Can he draw up a tenancy agreement as proof for my benefits claim, and i pay him rent directly?
Are letting agents good for when you dont want the hassle of finding tenants? He of course, has a tenant interested (me) and were both happy with the arrangements.
He needs to get a gas certificate too, which isnt a problem, but can anyone see what else we may have to do?
Im asking because im about to claim benefits and I dont want to go claiming, and them looking into his landlord status and seeing he is a private landlord...if it IS law that he uses an agent then of course well use one, but its easier for us both if we sort it out between ourselves.
Any advice would be gratefully recieved.
Greg
0
Comments
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He doesn't have to use an agent. But as a LL he has a number of legal obligations. He should make sure he is aware of these before he considers renting to anyone, friend or otherwise.0
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There is absolutely no requirement for the landlord to go through an agency, although the housing people will want to have sight of a proper rental agreement. Before you decide to go ahead I would advise you to check on your Local Authority's website and double-check what their LHA (Local Housing Allowance) is. If you are under 25 years of age they will not pay the rent on anything more expensive than the local rate for a flat or house-share. If you are over 25 and single the top rate they will pay would be for a one-bed.0
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Thanks guys, we thought that may be the case.
I have already checked the LHA site and am aware of the allowances, thank you for your help, solves a very tircky problem for me.
Greg0 -
If you're paying a deposit he'll need to protect it and he'll need an EPC (utter waste of time that it is).0
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