Possible HMO, slightly obsessive LL advice would be appriciated :)

planning303

[FONT=&quot]Hi all,

A friend of mine (it isn't me) has come to me asking for some advice, as it appears to her that i am slightly older and wiser lol... and as such i've come to some even wiser individuals (thats you lot!)

ok so the situation is that she lives in a property where she rents a room and the LL does not live in the property.

Within the property there are 4 bedrooms and 6 tenants

There is a bit of a dispute going on between my friend and the landlord because he has sent her some fairly rude text messages saying that he watches the property and can see that she has had overnight guests and that it says in the "tenancy agreement" that this is not allowed.

Now i appreciate that you shouldn't ever really agree to a contact that you don't agree with and i have discussed this with her and she presumed (incorrectly) that having occasional guests to stay would be alright and that this clause really was to protect the LL from the tenant moving her boyfriend in for example.

I asked her to send me the tenancy agreement:

The problem as i see it is that this is a landlord who is acting like it is still his home rather than a property that he is renting to tenants.

there’s the standard bits about quiet enjoyment and paying rent on time etc, then it says:

16. The tenant will be charged an additional £leftblank per week for rent received for any additional individual who stays in the property. This will be agreed in advance. Any additional individual will not stay for more than 7 days

Is this enforcable or even contractually legal? I mean she hasn't missed any rent payments and is being sent text messages about people staying in the property (which was 2 non-consecutive nights over a 6 week period). Is a landlord actually allowed to say what a tenant can do in the house, does this not take away from the quiet enjoyment of the property?

I then read on and spotted this bit:

a)
The tenant acknowledges that this tenancy is not an assured or an assured shorthold tenancy by the reason of being a tenancy granted by a resident landlord - the LL is not resident he lives in a property down the road

I suppose my questions are:

can a landlord actually tell the tenants how they can enjoy the property if he is not a renting rooms out to lodgersand is renting to tenants’ (albeit, multiply tenants)?

is this agreement even legal / contractually sound as it states he is a resident landlord? or am i just misinterpreting the legalese [/FONT]

Many thanks for reading and kindly offering advice

dimbo61

4 bedrooms and 6 tenants must mean that some are sharing !
what are the others paying ? is it a joint tenancy agreement with all the other tenants?
If he is charging the couples a higher amount than your friend perhaps they are not happy that your friend has her boyfriend staying a couple of nights.
This is always a difficult one as he may have a HMO for 6 tenants and 7 people means overcrowding!

Yorkie1

Irrespective of what the agreement says, if the LL is not actually resident, then the law will imply an AST with all the duties and rights therein.

Secondly, I very much doubt that a clause which forbids ever having a guest to stay will be enforceable if the LL tried to evict based on it.

Finally, I'd be concerned that the LL is evading HMO licensing regulations. Your friend should have a look at the council's website for what they deem to be an HMO and see whether he should have registered it. There are additional rules about fire safety etc.

Does your friend want to stay in the property? Are they still in the fixed period of their tenancy? Is their deposit protected & have they received the required information about it?

planning303

2 x couples and 2 x single people - no idea what the other people are paying. The other people in the house all have their own agreements (well an agreement per room if you get me)

planning303

Thanks guys, i've just sent her a link to this thread so i'll get her to come along and make sure i've not got any facts wrong.

From speaking with her, i think she's pretty fed up with feeling like the LL is spying on her and infairness she's not being unreasonable to her housemates (well she's not taking the !!!! just having someone stay occasionally when they come to visit her from miles away)

I don't believe he's given her any details on the deposit storage

Pupnik

planning303 wrote: »

[FONT=&quot]There is a bit of a dispute going on between my friend and the landlord because he has sent her some fairly rude text messages saying that he watches the property and can see that she has had overnight guests and that it says in the "tenancy agreement" that this is not allowed.[/FONT]

I don't really have anything useful to add but what a creep!!! :eek:

G_M

1) he is non resident

2) therefore it is an AST. He can call it a 'house on the moon' in the tenancy agreement if he wishes. That does not place it on the moon!

3) 2 couple and 2 single people on seperate agreements. It's an HMO

4) so should be registered with the council as a HMO

5) In an AST, a tenant is entitled to 'quiet enjoyment'

6) 'quiet enjoyment' means living in your hom as a home. Inviting guests if you wish.

7) 'quiet enjoyment' also means not being intimidated, harrassed (including by text!) or spied on

My advice : keep all texts. Ignore the 'no guests' rule. Contact the council. Write to the LL politely explaining that as you have an AST you will invite occassioanal guests to your home, but will not, of course, allow anyone else to take up residence. DO THIS BY LETTER and keepa copy.

Fire_Fox

Is the building registered as a House in Multiple Occupancy? Ask the local council and how many people are permitted to live there. Definitely ask him in writing which of the three schemes her deposit is lodged with.

Suggest to your friend they stop communicating with the landlord by text message, it's unprofessional on his part IMO - ask him to put any concerns into writing if he raises them again.

Agree it's creepy to say he is watching the house and he should not be spying on the tenants. The problem with such a situation is that the landlord has the right to enter the communal areas, so it's more difficult to say when the tenants' right to quiet enjoyment is being breached. Obviously if he lives in the same street it's not unreasonable for him to pass the house a couple of times a day either. Not sure what you mean "the standard bits about quiet enjoyment".

theartfullodger

It's harassment, a criminal offence..

G_M

theartfullodger wrote: »

It's harassment, a criminal offence..

Correct.

Specifically Protection from Eviction Act 1977

V_Chic_Chick

G_M wrote: »

1) he is non resident

2) therefore it is an AST. He can call it a 'house on the moon' in the tenancy agreement if he wishes. That does not place it on the moon!

3) 2 couple and 2 single people on seperate agreements. It's an HMO

4) so should be registered with the council as a HMO

5) In an AST, a tenant is entitled to 'quiet enjoyment'

6) 'quiet enjoyment' means living in your home as a home. Inviting guests if you wish.

7) 'quiet enjoyment' also means not being intimidated, harrassed (including by text!) or spied on

My advice : keep all texts. Ignore the 'no guests' rule. Contact the council. Write to the LL politely explaining that as you have an AST you will invite occassioanal guests to your home, but will not, of course, allow anyone else to take up residence. DO THIS BY LETTER and keepa copy.

Excellent post.

I will just add, however, that my understanding is that councils normally only licence HMOs for one occupant per bedroom, so even if it is licenced, there are likely to be overcrowding issues. Assuming your house is licenced (which it legally must be), then it will say there how many tenants are allowed.

Make sure that the LL has protected the deposit in a tenancy deposit scheme (which is another legal requirement) - he seems like the type not to do it and it's fairly easy to find out. Start by asking the LL for the details of the DP scheme it's in.