Landlords right to rent property out

utoc

Hi,

A letter arrived from my landlords mortgage provider today stating that after their recent phone call with him that his 'Mortgage Repayment Protector' has been amended into his sole name and that the policy terms and conditions state,

"Cover will cease when you rent or lease this property"

I'd already done a search on land registry when we moved in to this house (over a year ago now) and it showed his name as being resident/owner at this address.

Anyway with that letter it's clear to me anyway that the landlord does NOT have permission from his mortgage provider to let the property out, what do you think?

I'm not the first person to rent this property either, they're had been several people before me who rented it, now I doubt this will go in our favour anyway knowing the landlord doesn't have permission to rent out his house, but we struggle to get the agent of the property to do repairs! And from the very start the landlord refused to allow the agent to provide his home address (clearly the house we rent is where the landlord lives as far as his mortgage provider are concerned!) oh and despite us giving the agent 21 days written notice they still have NOT given us the landlords actual address, instead providing the agency office as his address..

I strongly believe if we let our landlords mortgage provider know then our tenancy will be null and void and we could be asked to leave but we pay rent to him through the agency and presumably he's not taxed on that income as he obviously won't be declaring it will he?

Strange thing is none of his bank statements come to this address, but then again he could have online statement only on his account! So that would explain that.

End of the day struggling to get repairs done no matter how trivial should get done anyway eventually and now we know the landlord doesn't have permission to let out his property, surely we can push even harder for the miniscule repairs to actually get done!

End of the day I long since suspected the landlord didn't have permission to let this property out with being adamant he didn't want his address giving out no matter what! Which is why I opened the letter addressed to him! If he was that bothered he'd have changed address when he spoke to them anyway!

Shouldn't the agency he's using have checked he has permission to rent out his property anyway?

Werdnal

Agency doesn't check consent to let status, but you should have. You have a right to request written proof he had CTL before you moved in.

Whilst I don't condone LLs who let without consent, it will only actually affect you if he defaults on payment. The lender is very unlikley to declare your tenancy "null and void" and force you out unless LL gets into arrears and they have to repo. They could take action against the LL - raise his payments, charge him a set-up fee and back date all this to the point where he started letting. I have seen it suggested that they can recall the loan, but I have yet to see any documented proof of this happening.

The tax issue may not be as you suspect - I used to let through an agent and always declared my tax. Indeed, if LL is living overseas, the agent may be handling his tax payments for him under the non-UK resident landlord scheme.

What repairs are you struggling to get done? Have you reported in writing with a deadline for LL to address them?

If the lack of CTL bothers you so much, your only option will be to move.

utoc

Werdnal wrote: »

Agency doesn't check consent to let status, but you should have. You have a right to request written proof he had CTL before you moved in.

Whilst I don't condone LLs who let without consent, it will only actually affect you if he defaults on payment. The lender is very unlikley to declare your tenancy "null and void" and force you out unless LL gets into arrears and they have to repo. They could take action against the LL - raise his payments, charge him a set-up fee and back date all this to the point where he started letting. I have seen it suggested that they can recall the loan, but I have yet to see any documented proof of this happening.

The tax issue may not be as you suspect - I used to let through an agent and always declared my tax.

What repairs are you struggling to get done? Have you reported in writing with a deadline for LL to address them?

If the lack of CTL bothers you so much, your only option will be to move.

Whether the landlord has CTL doesn't bother me so much, it's the fact the agency are sh*t! Highly unlikely the landlord knows how sh*t they really are either..

Anyway the miniscule repairs are cracks in walls (not large enough say for a £2 coin to fit through) but bigger than hairline cracks, I can get my nail into the cracks but nothing more YET, either way the crack that's bothering me the most is as i'm a bit more than halfway through walking upstairs say getting to the 8th step of 13, there is a bit of a wall on the right hand side (after the bannister ends) that supports the landing (presumably) if you get me?

It started off as a small crack about 7-8 months ago and has spread slowly since then, it's also clear that not all that particular wall is solid concrete (or plaster?) as an inch or 2 at the bottom of the wall is clearly hollow when you knock on it (not all the way across) probably 6 inches or so, and the rest above and to the side is solid, so don't know what's happened there? There are also other cracks showing up here and there which are mostly near the stairs but cracks I believe shouldn't be there! I keep spotting new ones here and there every few weeks as well, the landlords agent said they're not bothered about cracks in walls though.. As we can't be blamed for them if we move out in the future.

The other is basically the extractor fan in bathroom has packed up recently (we have the window open anyway, but that's not the point, can't do that if it was winter) and we did 'write' to them in a manner of speaking via E-Mail and also spoke to them and they said they'd get an electrician out to look at it ASAP, 5 days later still no phone call from the agency or electrician, not so much a problem but they did say ASAP..

Basically that's it, as I said the CTL doesn't bother me so much, I just hope like you the landlord is being taxed on his lettings income, or i'm filling his pockets full of money he's not declaring! Not a pleasant though considering I struggle with money as it is! As in I don't have enough to get by some months!

Yorkie1

Sounds as though the plaster may have blown, which is not a serious structural issue.

As for the fan, write properly, send through post and ask for a date for it to be fixed.

Agency can't do anything without LL's say so / funds.

G_M

You may be right, but you jumping to conclusions.

(and why are you opening his post and not returning it to sender)?

utoc wrote: »

Hi,

A letter arrived from my landlords mortgage provider today stating that after their recent phone call with him that his 'Mortgage Repayment Protector' has been amended into his sole name and that the policy terms and conditions state,

"Cover will cease when you rent or lease this property"
Hard to tell without seeing the precise letter, but this might be a standatd letter - it may or may not imply that the LL actually has not got CTL

I'd already done a search on land registry when we moved in to this house (over a year ago now) and it showed his name as being resident/owner at this address.
No. It showed the property address as the address he has registered for correspondance from the LR. It tells you nothing about him being resident there. Many LLs either forget, or choose not, to inform the LR they are living elsewhere. It's pretty low priority. LR almost never write, so the need to give them a new address is questionable. You cannot assume there is no CTL from this. (note - the advice on this in the 'sticky' at the top of this board's page is VERY misleading!)

Anyway with that letter it's clear to me anyway that the landlord does NOT have permission from his mortgage provider to let the property out, what do you think?
As said above, I think you are jumping toconclusions on insufficient evidence.

I'm not the first person to rent this property either, they're had been several people before me who rented it, now I doubt this will go in our favour anyway knowing the landlord doesn't have permission to rent out his house,
? what will not 'go in your favour'?
but we struggle to get the agent of the property to do repairs!
agent can only do what LL instructs. Have you written to the LL at the correct address concerning repairs? Not text, or phone - letter?
And from the very start the landlord refused to allow the agent to provide his home address (clearly the house we rent is where the landlord lives as far as his mortgage provider are concerned!) oh and despite us giving the agent 21 days written notice they still have NOT given us the landlords actual address, instead providing the agency office as his address..
Ah! Then the agent is breaking the (criminal) law. (I assume you asked the agent in writing?)

I strongly believe if we let our landlords mortgage provider know then our tenancy will be null and void
No. Your contract is with your LL and is valid
The mortgage is between the LL & bank.
No connection.
and we could be asked to leave
No
but we pay rent to him through the agency and presumably he's not taxed on that income as he obviously won't be declaring it will he?
??? You have absolutely no basis for this assumption (unless you know more than you have said here).
And anyway, that is between him and HMRC. Yes, you can report tax fraud, but you need some evidence first!

Strange thing is none of his bank statements come to this address, but then again he could have online statement only on his account! So that would explain that.
??? any other of his private affairs you wish to question? Whether his car tax is up to date? You haven't seen it so presumably you will assume it is out of date.........!

End of the day struggling to get repairs done no matter how trivial should get done anyway eventually and now we know the landlord doesn't have permission to let out his property, surely we can push even harder for the miniscule repairs to actually get done!

Look. If there are repairing issues, deal with them (properly).

All this other stuff is irrelevant.

However, worst (really unlikely) case is
1) he stops paying the mortgage (there is no indication of this AND
2) the bank repossesses (likewise) AND
3) he does not have CTL

For that scenario, see this post:
Repossession (What happens if a landlord's mortgage lender repossesses the property?)

For repairing issues, see Shelter here.

Always report issues by letter to the address provided (if none provided, stop paying rent - Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 ).

Use Environmental Health if the issues are serious, health risk, property uninhabitable.

edit: just read your 2nd post.

* The issues are not major.
* The agent can only act if the LL authorises them (it's his money!)
* the timescales are not excessive (for non-urgent repairs)
* email is not appropriate - the law specifies an address be given to you - use it!

wannahouse

if a tap stops working, or the loo, or the oven then the landlord has to fix those things (although sometimes they DON'T have to fix the oven, even if it was there when you moved in, as we recently found out.)
if there is cosmetic cracking, you may dislike it, but the landlord has NO obligation to repair it cosmetically, just because you don't like looking at it!!
quite frankly, as a landlord, i like to keep our place in good cosmetic repair, because its not a cheap place to rent, and i would expect as a tenant, it to look nice if i was paying the sort of rent we get for ours, but, it may not make financial sense to send someone out everytime you have a complaint, and the landlord might group a bunch of non urgent repairs together to make it viable.
secondly, i don't think they even HAVE to replace the extractor fan it he didn't want to...sure it would be best for him to do it to avoid mould problems etc, but as long as you point out to the agent in writing that it is broken, and you are concerned about damp issues as a result and any insuing mould, you have probably covered yourself from that angle on checkout...

we loved the last place we lived, apart from damp issues, and didn't want to have to move out, but chose to for health reasons...so how annoying then, that the landlord replaces both 30 year old bathrooms that were leaking water everywhere only AFTER we moved out!
we told them we were happy for the work to be done while we lived there even if it was to be disruptive, but they never got round to doing it, until we left..
theres some things about renting that really suck, but no lace is going to be perfect...theres always something to complain about, and i think you are doing yourself a disservice by getting involved in the landlords personal affairs, and opening someone elses mail is an offence!
take GM'S advice above, and just try to deal with this repair issues, and let it go if they don't fix it..
with some landlords ,you are better off just moving, as it doesn't matter whether someone SHOULD do this or SHOULDN'T do that, in this country, where theres no governing body on rental properties to adjudicate, you only have the legal process to go through and its just not worth it most of the time...

Kynthia

It's possible that your landlord doesn't have consent to let. However it is also possible that the insurance department of his mortgage provider used the address they had on file for him, which was not his current address and part of big companies not being joined up regarding client information. However this is only a concern to you if your landlord doesn't pay the mortgage and is at risk of repossession. You have a valid tenancy with your landlord that isn't voided if he doesn't have CTL.

You have absolutely no evidence that tax isn't being paid, as if he's abroad the letting agents should be deducting it and if not he's probably filling in a self assessment form annually. He's probably given his current address to his bank for his statements as this would not impact his mortgage provider. If he had a postal redirection you would not have received the letter you opened.

The extractor fan is not urgent, but report it in a letter and keep a copy for your records. Same with the cracks, unless you have reason to think the stairs are unsafe. It's very unlikely you'll be blamed for these issues if you have reported them when they occurred and there is no evidence that you caused them so don't worry.

tbs624

The OP says that the letter addressed to the LL at the tenanted property refers to altering a policy into the LL's sole name (presumably some relationship "parting of the ways"). Now maybe the insurance co has some sloppy data update procedures but if a customer is changing some part of the policy it is usual to confirm whether everything else is correct.

I don't concur with G_M's assertion that

G_M wrote:

Many LLs either forget, or choose not, to inform the LR they are living elsewhere. It's pretty low priority. LR almost never write, so the need to give them a new address is questionable.

It's important for everyone to update their correspondence address at HMLR, for fraud prevention, which is of special relevance when you are a LL and have someone else occupying that property.

From the horse's mouth:

What can you do to help protect your property from fraud?
The key thing is to make sure that Land Registry can contact
you wherever you live

This means giving us your up-to-date contact address (what we call your ‘address for service’) and ensuring that you let us know whenever it changes.

This is because we may need to write to you when we receive an application regarding your property. If we don’t have an up-to-date contact address for you, you may not receive this important information from us.

For added peace of mind, we can hold up to three contact addresses for you, including an email address and an address abroad.

Updating your contact details is free. (The address is freepost too)

The OP may be wrong in presuming that there is no CTL but s/he can of course write to the Lender enclosing a copy of his/her tenancy agreement.

A LL who doesn't get round to repairs/maintenance may just be idle but likewise it may be that they have no contingency fund in place and , if there has been a relationship breakdown there may be further LL belt-tightening to come.

OP - has the LL scheme registered your tenancy deposit and given you the scheme's "prescribed information"?

On the address issue, bear in mind that anyone can set themselves up in business as an LA - no minimum quals, experience or training required. It is possible that the LA is confusing the requirements of the LL and T Act 1985(s1) with those of the LL and T Act 1987 (s48).

In G_M's post above there is reference to "stop paying rent" in the absence of an address being given but do note that the LA's address is sufficient for the purposes of the LL&T Act 87 ( and that you would need to put the rent aside as it would become due once an address "for the service of notices" had been provided). The OP has indicated that the LA has provided their own address already.

A T's specific written request for the LL's address under s1 of the LL and T Act 1985, should result in provision of an address as defined in s38 of the Act.

"In this Act—
“address” means a person’s place of abode or place of business or, in the case of a company, its registered office"

As others have said, OP, always report repairs and maint issues *in writing* with a copy kept by you. Diary entry to chase up if not had a response/action.Ask if you can arrange appt direct with LL's chosen trades.

Any cracks developing in the property should absolutely be reported by you to the LL, via the LA ( again, in writing, copy kept). Despite the LA's assertion that you can't be held to be responsible for cracks in the property walls , LLs may seek to hold a T liable for extra expense if something that the Ts ought to have been aware of, because they are actually in occupation, has not been notified properly to the LL and worsens over time thus requiring more extensive repair than if properly reported at the earliest possible opportunity.Cover your own back.

G_M

tbs624 wrote: »

...
I don't concur with G_M's assertion that ....

It's important for everyone to update their correspondence address at HMLR, for fraud prevention, which is of special relevance when you are a LL and have someone else occupying that property.

I did not say it was not important. I said:

Many LLs either forget, or choose not, to inform the LR they are living elsewhere. It's pretty low priority. LR almost never write, so the need to give them a new address is questionable.

It is an indisputable fact that many LLs forget, or choose, not to,....
Whether it is wise (from a fraud prevention point of view)is a different issue.
It is also true that compared to informing their mortgage lender, or HMRC, (or the LL's bank, employer etc), updating the Land Reg contact address is of less significance.

But all that is looking at it from the LL's perspective: who should the LL advise when he lets out his property? I agree - my advice to LLs would be to inform HMLR.

But my point in this thread, for the OP (a tenant) is to say that the tenant cannot assume that a LL has not got CTL just because he has not registered a different address with HMLR.

tbs624

G_M wrote: »

I did not say it was not important. I said:

Many LLs either forget, or choose not, to inform the LR they "are living elsewhere. It's pretty low priority. LR almost never write, so the need to give them a new address is questionable.

Check back - you'll see that I quoted exactly that part in red from your previous post and when I said "it is important that..." I was responding specifically to (a) low priority (b) almost never write and (c) need for new address being "questionable" and I quoted guidance from HMLR itself rather than just opinion.

G_M wrote: »

But my point in this thread, for the OP (a tenant) is to say that the tenant cannot assume that a LL has not got CTL just because he has not registered a different address with HMLR.

Agreed, in a case where it is "just because" but the OP in this case has some additional potential flags, in the form of :

(1) a letter sent to the LL at the rental property confirming a recent change to the LLs mortgage protection insurance ( update would usually include other relevant info such as a change of address: indeed, it is normal to be asked to confirm one's address as part of the usual "security" questions)

(2) the reference to the protection policy ceasing if the property is let out, which of course the property is and has been apparently for some time

(3) an LA refusing to comply with a formal request for the LL's address under LL&TA85, s1.

The OP asked for other posters' opinions: mine is that s/he is probably right to be concerned and ought to establish the situation regarding the tenancy deposit if currently not sure.