Can my son be the landlord?

pennypincher61

yes epc etc all in place. Obviously safety is paramount especially with it being my son.

Kynthia

Your son will have to pay tax on the income over the rent a room scheme amount. Then you will have to pay tax on the income your son pays you. If the people who intend to become your son's lodgers are already your tenants then will they agree this as they'll have less rights and you can't end their tenancy without their agreement or going to cort, although your son could end the whole joint tenancy if they are outside of the fixed term. Also it's worth checking whether the council would still classify the property as a HMO?

ACG

Not all lenders would allow you to rent the proeprty to a relative as this then becomes a regulated BTL.

Rent it to one of his friends. They can have who they like living there (including your son I believe).

SuzieSue

Are all the tenants on separate contracts?

It might be that if they were all on on contract, you might not be classed as a full HMO.

CIS

if my son was the landlord and had 2 friends living there it would not be classed as an HMO

Only if your son rented the whole property - otherwise it would still be a HMO for council tax purposes as he would only have the right to occupy part of the property.

pennypincher61

hi
thanks for all this. There's no mortgage so one less thing to worry about.
all tenants have separate contracts.
I think I will double check first with all of them that they would be happy and then check it with the Council.
They're all really happy and it works well as it is and I'm sure they would rather this than lose a person in due course.
The council said they would most likely grant a 3 month temporary extension until one contract expires but obviously best to not have to lose anyone.

chanz4

they will also investigate as sounds like tax avoidance

pennypincher61

by my maths they will get tax twice instead of once on the same income ?
from my nr1 return and from anything over room scheme...

SuzieSue

pennypincher61 wrote: »

all tenants have separate contracts.

I think this is your problem. If they were on the same contract you might not be classed as an proper HMO.

pennypincher61

the council haven't even asked what type of contracts.
all they say is that since August last year all homes in particular postcodes in the area with 3 or more unrelated people living in them have the register.
The only reference to tenancies is in their website where it says that if they have individual tenancies the landlord is liable.
if they have joint tenancy they can continue to pay it.
but joint tenancies look really messy to me.

I'm not too worried about the council tax aspect its the principle of having to pay the late fee and only get 4 years licence.
I would happily pay the standard rate and get the full 5 years but they reckon I'm a year late registering.
for something they didn't tell.me about !