Advice on TV License in "all bills included" house

lucifersangel87

Hi,

Not sure where I would stand on this so looking for advice on next steps really.

We're in a bit of a muddle with the TV license at our place. There are 8 of us in the shared house, and until now the landlord has paid the TV license.

This year, the landlord has said to someone in the house that he's not paying the TV license, and we keep getting reminders through addressed to him.

The couple who live on the ground floor have now asked everyone in the house for £30 up front to cover the bill (5 rooms x £30 = £150).

a) I am reluctant to hand over money to another tennant without getting a receipt.
b) Where do we stand with regards the Landlord? ie. a solicitor friend of mine seems to think that because he's paid it historically he has set a precedent and therefore it would form part of the tennancy contract. Is this so?
c) Should he have given us official written notification that he was going to no longer pay the TV License?

I'm not against paying the license, but I don't want to end up paying for it twice, hence making up what some might see as a monthly rent increase.

I don't want to get all over-dramatic and start an argument with all you lovely landlords out there, i'm just looking for some advice on where I stand and what I should do next. help!!!

Thanks inadvance

martin

G_M

This sounds like an HMO (House of Multiple Occupation).

* Is it?
* Is it registered as an HMO with the council?
*if not sure - contact council and ask (check their website for contact details)
* In a HMO, the landlord is responsible for council tax and probobly TV licence.

Landlords with multiple tenants

The good news for a landlord who perhaps has a number of tenants in a single rental property and where the tenant has signed a joint tenancy agreement is that; in this situation only one TV licence is required for the entire rental property.


If each of the tenants has a separate tenancy agreement, as would be the
case for a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) the landlord would
be required to purchase a separate licence for each tenant.

edit: Having googled "HMO TV licence" and read a few sources, this seems more complex.

If the LL provides a TV, he is definately responsible for the licence. If the tenant supplies own TV, then tenant is responsible.

If the Tenants are all on a single 'joint & several' tenancy, then only one licence needed. If each tenant has a separate tenancy, then they each need a licence (assuming they each have a TV in their room.)

dimbo61

Hi Martin,
What does it say in your tenancy agreement ?
All Inclusive to include Gas/electric/water/phone+ broadband and TV Licence ?

dimbo61

5 rooms and 8 tenants ?
So you have 2/3 couples sharing a room ?
How does that work ? how many bathrooms ? how many floors?
Overcrowding ?
Does the HMO licence cover for 8 tenants ?

HappyMJ

I would offer no more than 1/5th of the quarterly in advance payment method every quarter. A TV licence is £145.50 divided by 4 plus £1.25 fee then divide by 5 would be £7.50 a quarter.

Technically if the landlord provides the TV then the landlord should pay for the TV licence but it is the responsibility of the tenants to make sure the property is licensed before using the TV. There is no legal obligation on the landlord to pay the TV licence though. Also, if you have seperate tenancy agreements for your room and have a TV of your own in your room you are also supposed to have a TV licence for your room. However, I doubt TV licensing would know about your tenancy agreements and the database would only show if the whole property is licensed and would not come and visit you.

Fire_Fox

Speak to TV Licensing. If nobody else has/ needs a license I believe the landlord is responsible for any license covering a TV he supplies for the communal areas. BUT this does not cover televisions in individual rooms in HMOs nor for lodgers, only bedrooms in regular shared houses/ joint tenancies. A TV license for a private room does cover a TV in the communal areas, so if even one of the eight of you has the license as you are supposed to the landlord doesn't actually need to license the shared areas.

iritchie

Personally, I would say you're getting a pretty fair deal at 1/5 of the cost, as ultimately you are using the TV and the landlord has done okay paying it for you to date...
If you wanted to chase this, you could end up having to pay for a TV License each instead of the shared cost single license.
The landlord may be within his rights to remove any TV equipment from communal areas to save him having to pay for any license while you could be lumbered with paying 5 times as much in any case.

tbs624

lucifersangel87 wrote: »

Hi,

Not sure where I would stand on this so looking for advice on next steps really.

We're in a bit of a muddle with the TV license at our place. There are 8 of us in the shared house, and until now the landlord has paid the TV license.

This year, the landlord has said to someone in the house that he's not paying the TV license, and we keep getting reminders through addressed to him.

What do the terms of your tenancy agreement(s) say about who is responsible for paying for the TV licence to cover the communal areas?

tbs624

G_M wrote: »

edit: Having googled "HMO TV licence" and read a few sources, this seems more complex.

If the LL provides a TV, he is definately responsible for the licence.

Which source are you quoting from G_M? My understanding is that *either/both* the LL or the Ts could be fined if no TV licence is obtained when occupants in an HMO use the LL provided TV for live telly watching but if the LL stipulates in his tenancy agreement that the Ts are responsible for licensing , then they are. Happy to be corrected if this is not the case.

I personally think that the LL *should* supply the licence if he is effectively lumbering the Ts with a TV however - not all Ts actually want one, nor the additional expense of that licence.

Edit - see http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ47/

lucifersangel87

Hi guys,

thanks for the responses.

looks like an open and shut case for me then. I want to be on the right side of the law, so it looks like I'll have to buy my own full TV License. The reason i say this is such:

The House is a HMO registered with the council, though i'm not sure for how many people. three couples and two singles. We have en-suite, but the rest use a single bathroom and downstairs w/c.

We each have seperate tennancy agreements which state nothing about TV licenses, only about the coverage of gas, water, electricity, and council tax.

Each room is individually locked (although we have found out that they are all the same key)

There is no Landlord Provided TV, and the only communal areas are the hallways, bathrooms and kitchen.

The only saving grace might be that there is a hard-wired aerial socket in each room which we cannot remove. However, I doubt this is enough to convince the landlord to pay up.

I'm wondering if the LL has come into financial difficulties since in the last 5 months, the phone/internet he provides has been cut off due to non-payment twice, and we have had numerous visits from bailiffs looking for the landlord because of an unpaid electric and gas bill.

Time to find somewhere else?

rpc

lucifersangel87 wrote: »

There is no Landlord Provided TV, and the only communal areas are the hallways, bathrooms and kitchen.

So there is probably no legal obligation on the landlord and there is a legal obligation on anyone who has a TV in their room. You can try to argue about a contractual obligation, but if the contract is silent on the matter then I think the licence is yours to pay for.

The only saving grace might be that there is a hard-wired aerial socket in each room which we cannot remove. However, I doubt this is enough to convince the landlord to pay up.

You cannot watch TV with just an aerial socket and no licence is required if all you have is an aerial, cabling and a socket. It's when you get a TV plugged in that you need the licence and that is something the tenant would do.

Time to find somewhere else?

Quite possibly, although there is no immediate harm in staying. Are you on a periodic tenancy or in a fixed term?