Dodgy Landlord?

4Chickens

Hi all

Is is just me that thinks this stinks?

My son, 21yo is moving into a house at the weekend with a friend James 30yo who he has know for about a year.

The house he is moving into is owned by James auntie who currently resides in Australia.

James has been living in the house with his Polish girlfriend and her Dad, until they split up. And until yesterday were still living in the house.

I met James for the first time yesterday and asked him some questions which I didn't particularly like the answers to.

Q Who is James' landlord and who is his tenancy agreement with?
A He pays his Mum cash to give to her sister in Australia and he doesn't have a tenancy agreement.

Q Who is my sons' landlord going to be and who is his tenancy agreement going to be with?
A James is the landlord and my sons' tenancy agreement is with James.

I didn't get to ask who is paying the council tax and I am waiting for James to email me a copy of the tenancy agreement he has with my son.

I have a really bad feeling. My son is dyslexic and has Aspergers Syndrome, he is very impulsive and I worry that this James is setting up a situation to rip my son off and potentially leave him homeless (although I do have a plan B in place).

What are your thoughts and experiences?

4Chickens

Oh and I cannot stop my son from doing this but if my worst fears are realised I am going to make this James life a misery, along with his Mum and Auntie. I won't stop until I hear the pips squeaking.

Pixie5740

It sounds like your son will be James' lodger rather than having a joint tenancy with James. Lodgers don't have tenancy agreements but there might be a lodger agreement.

Lodgers have very few rights which could work in your son's favour. If things don't work out it's usually easier to get out of the property than if you're a tenant.

PasturesNew

I'd go with: No tenancy agreement, your son will be the lodger of James.

honeybean

It's nice to know that you are looking out for your son , he is lucky to have a mum like you . I hope it works out ok for all of you .

BitterAndTwisted

There doesn't have to be anything sinister going on. It's not uncommon for a family member to live in a house if the relative is away from town long-term or abroad.

It would be better for your son if he only has a lodger's agreement or no formal agreement at all and doesn't have his name on the council tax bill as he won't then be personally liable for it if this James person decides he can't or won't pay.

princeofpounds

As above, he will be a lodger, not a tenant.

Lots of people are lodgers, it's quite normal. Don't expect much paperwork, it's really not necessary. Depending on how you want to play it, it could in fact be burdensome (e.g. if you want to keep flexibility, don't agree to minimum terms or long notices to terminate the agreement)

The key things are

- get receipts or a trackable record of any money paid over.
- be careful about how you put his name on bills, and no joint accounts.
- secure ID documentation

If there are any problems, you don't have to worry too much as damage limitation is easier in this sort of situation. The downside is that James might get fed up of having a lodger and has to offer very little notice to leave, so having a plan of action should that ever happen will help.

4Chickens

Prince of pounds hit the nail on the head. This James could just kick him out.
This happened the first time my son left home. He was a lodger and the guy he was lodging with got drugged up one night and attacked my son in the flat, the police were called and my son was homeless at 3.00am.

Bear in mind that James did not give his ex girlfriend and her Dad a Section 21 notice, he just told them to get out.

I have spoken to my sons current landlord and he assured me that if this goes wrong he will have a room available in another property as my son has been a good tenant.

Thank you so much for your support, I will update when I see this tenancy agreement

G_M

I cannot see anything sinister here unless there is moe that you have not mentioned.

* James's aunt is James's landlord.
* James's mum is James's aunt's UK agent
* so James pays rent to his mum who pays the aunt
* totally straight forward
* You say that there is a 'tenancy agreement' between James and your son yes?
* and I assume your son will pay rent to James, correct? (not diect to James's mum)
* then
a) james is your son's landlord and
b) it is not a tenancy agreement (whatever it may say) as your son is a lodger, not a tenant
* your son should read the agreement to see if it includes or excludes bills (gas, electricity council tax, broadband etc) but normally lodgers pay an all-inclusive rent. But no always.
* Your son should get receipts for any paymnts made, whether to James or his mum, whether for rent, deposit, bills etc (if he pays by cheque, bank transfer etc this is less impotant as the payments can be traced - but still advisable)

This may also help:

LODGERS (Licencees/Excluded Occupiers)
A lodger (broadly) lives in the same property with their resident landlord, and shares facilities. Unlike tenants, lodgers have few rights.

The Housing Act 1988 provides definitions of 'Resident Landlord' and 'same property' (S31 & Schedule 1 (10).

There is advice for landlords considering taking in lodgers here:

LodgerLandlord (General information site)

Landlordzone (General advice on taking in lodgers)

Renting out rooms in your home (Government info)

Rent a Room Scheme (Government scheme for tax-free income from lodgers)

21 tips (Tessa Shepperson's Lodger Landlord website)

G_M

4Chickens wrote: »

Prince of pounds hit the nail on the head. This James could just kick him out.
This happened the first time my son left home. He was a lodger and the guy he was lodging with got drugged up one night and attacked my son in the flat, the police were called and my son was homeless at 3.00am.

Frankly in those circumstances he was better off as a lodger! If he'd been, say, a joint tenant, would you have wanted him to go back to living with the guy for another month? :eek:

Because as a tenant he might have had to continue to pay rent to the landlord ....

princeofpounds

Bear in mind that James did not give his ex girlfriend and her Dad a Section 21 notice, he just told them to get out.

Section 21 only applies to AST type tenancies. None of the situations we are discussing are tenancies.