Secure council tenancy - temporarily renting out one room

gettingready

BTW - looked at the links and could not find how to JOIN that scheme anywhere only general info. But perhaps I missed it as it was quite late at night. Or if one has to join the scheme or not.

Sorry, fisrt time thinking about this so my question may seem really silly to "those in the know".

olly300

Gettingready as you are in London see if you can get a Monday to Friday lodger.

That way you have the place to yourself at weekends and they shouldn't do much washing which will keep your electricity bills low.

Plus if your daughter does decide to change her mind at short notice (which as a young person she will be inclined to do) you won't be making someone completely homeless.

tbs624

gettingready wrote: »

I never do tax return/self assesement form as I am employed and my employer does take correct tax from my wages so never had the need for that.

You can do it via form SA105 ( also see help pages . Fill in your personal info and then just put a x in box 4 - done ( if under the annual limit for RAR)

Form has to be with HMRC by 31st Oct following the April 5th end of tax year (paper return) or Jan 31st if done online. If doing online apply for your UTR/ log in info well in advance

gettingready

Thanks for all the helpful posts....

Emailed my Housing Officer asking what is the procedure for renting a room out to a lodger, on a temporary basis..

Got this reply:

I received your message but have been tied up with some other urgent work so please accept my apologies for not having responded to you.

Please advise of the full names of the person that you are looking to sublet your home to. We also need their date of birth, occupation and relationship to you.

Jesussssssssssss - did he READ my email?

gettingready

Emailed back with:

Dear Mr...

Thank you for your email.

I am NOT looking to sublet my flat to anyone.

I am looking at the idea of possibly renting a room out, short term.

There is a massive difference between subletting the flat and taking in a lodger – different sections of the Housing Act apply so correct terminology is important.

I do not have any details as I have not decided for sure yet, it is just an idea at the moment – I wanted to find out what is the procedure for this as far as Council is concerned?

At this moment this is just a theoretical query.

Can you please let me know?

Got a reply....

Ms ...,

Thanks for making the distinction. You are right about the difference however the information that we require remains as advised.

Set another email.....

Mr ....,

I am asking what the procedure is for me to take a temporary lodger in, how to I notify the council if I do and how long does it take for the permission to be granted?

Does it affect my tenancy in any way?

Can you please refer me to relevant information so I can think it through and decide if I want to do it or not?

Your version below is very simplified – I am asking for information about the process?

Kind Regards,

I do not know how to make myself any clearer really?

Is it correct that I have to provide all those details about a person potentially moving in?

What if I find someone today and he/she moves in tomorrow?

I though the permission for a lodger for like gneric type of permision - regardless of who the lodger is (details) in case he/she moves out and someone else moves in etc etc

The way it looks now - way too complicated... sigh...

squinty

Strictly speaking you do not need permission, and do not need to provide the information.

However, there is a big push for Councils to minimise any tenancy fraud, and by asking for the details of the lodger they are minimising the risk that you, at some time in the future, will attempt to assign your tenancy to them.

I'd be tempted to reply saying you are looking at advertising for a commerical lodger who would not be a member of the family, and you understand that they will have no claim to the tenancy should you leave or die.

Good luck

gettingready

Squinty - thanks for that.

The "occupation" is a weird thing to have to declare, isn't it?