Please help - concerns about landlord..

pinkstarsx

Hello,

I hope someone can offer some advise!

I'm looking to move in to a flat at the beginning of April.

Have met the landlady and her parents who have been really helpful & i love the flat.

The landlady is looking to do the tenancy privately & not through an agent. At first i felt sceptical but then realised as long as the right contracts are drawn up it should be ok.

I looked at some other flats beforehand with an agent who said they had been trying to get this particular flat on their books but the landlady was reluctant to do so.

After having a discussion with her today, i mentioned i would prefer if she could sign up to a deposit scheme so when i pay a security deposit, we are both protected under certain acts as it's held in a fund, as she had said she wanted me to pay it to her then she puts it in a seperate account that doesn't get touched.
Obviously i was dubious as i cannot prove she won't touch that money.
She had mentioned before she had problems with her last tenant who didn't pay the rent and she lost out on a lot of money.

She became defensive & said that's probably not possible as it would affect her situation, that it could affect her mortgage and that other tenants would be happy to pay the deposit direct to her.

I'm now wondering whether she is registered as a landlord (does this have to be done?) and whether she has the correct mortgage to be able to let the premisis out? As it would make sense why she wants to go private and why she didn't claim any money back off the previous tenant.

Her situation is she moved away and now rents there so wants to cover the mortgage on this property.

I really do want to move into this flat but not sure if this is all legal?

Can anyone help

evoke

My advice is to run a mile. She is obviously up to no good. She probably hasn't told her mortgage company and isn't declaring the rental income to the taxman. Has she got landlord's insurance for the property.

Ask to see the gas safety certificate and ensure that any deposit is held under an approved scheme if you do want to proceed with the rental.

pinkstarsx

I'm absolutely gutted, this place is perfect and you can tell she just genuinly wants to cover her mortgage payments.
But i need to be assured i'm covered should anything happen, which i wouldn't be if she isn't registered.
She used to live in the property for 4 years and has only recently moved out as took a job further away therefore now rents there. This is why i'm suspicious she hasn't followed correct procedures to enable her to let the flat out.

sequence

Don't run a mile, run till you collapse!

seraphina

She *must* protect your deposit in an agreed scheme - she'll be breaking the law otherwise.

Wee_Willy_Harris

evoke wrote: »

My advice is to run a mile. She is obviously up to no good. She probably hasn't told her mortgage company and isn't declaring the rental income to the taxman. Has she got landlord's insurance for the property.

Ask to see the gas safety certificate and ensure that any deposit is held under an approved scheme if you do want to proceed with the rental.

sequence wrote: »

Don't run a mile, run till you collapse!

Woah! Woah!... Not so fast!!!

There is no "registration" of LLs in England.

She has a legal obligation to protect the tenancy deposit. That obligation can be invoked by the tenant at any time via the penalties contained within the legislation. HOWEVER, an unprotected deposit also means that a s21 cannot be used to evict. So, as long as the deposit isn't protected and the tenant doesn't transgress the S8 grounds, he/she cannot be evicted.

If you are happy that the LL is not at risk of repo, then go for it. YOU have nothing to lose. (But DO make sure the gas safety cert is in place).

BitterAndTwisted

In the great scheme of things your LL has a lot more to lose than you do by not protecting your deposit as it's a statutory requirement.

If the LL hasn't gained her lender's permission to let your only risk is if she stops paying her mortgage. There's no indication yet that this will happen.

If she's not reporting the rental income to the Revenue that's a risk for her and not you.

If she doesn't have landlord's insurance you should take out your own contents insurance and cross your fingers that you don't burn the place down by putting a chip-pan on when you're !!!!ed.

Landlords in England and Wales do not have to be registered.

You need to make an informed choice about what the potential risks there are to you in this situation. I'm sure someone else will come on and point out something glaringly obvious which I have overlooked.

Brb

The only other thing I'd worry about B&T would be the this LL is only renting out because she cannot sell. She's re-located for new job but what if new job doesn't go so well or she gets homesick. That fixed term of 6 or 12 months could be just that and no longer.

1984ReturnsForReal.

She is just trying to get out of paying landlord costs. Doesn't mean you are being scammed but it does mean that you don't have a leg to stand on if things go wrong. Really worth the risk??

BitterAndTwisted

You are correct but sometimes a landlord's plans change and a tenancy would never be for longer than 6 or 12 months. Renting can always entail this risk.

In any case, as already mentioned, as long as the deposit is not properly protected and the OP continues to pay their rent no Section 21 would be valid. This could be a very convenient two-way street if the OP gets a signed receipt for their payment of the deposit

BitterAndTwisted

1984ReturnsForReal. wrote: »

She is just trying to get out of paying landlord costs. Doesn't mean you are being scammed but it does mean that you don't have a leg to stand on if things go wrong. Really worth the risk??

Which particular leg/s did you have in mind? Should the OP have a signed tenancy agreement and a proper inventory etcetera I can't see much of a problem bar the risk that the LL may fall behind with their mortgage payments. Should it come to repo time the OP will receive correspondence from the lender at which point they could stop paying the rent in order to recover their deposit.