rented annex -landlord is selling up - rights re viewings?

lin473

warby68 wrote: »

Perhaps the landlord does not wish potential purchasers to know there is currently a tenant in situ.

I wondered that myself -
I suspect the annex may not be 'official'

The rent includes all bills so it is possible that the council tax is paid by the landlord and it is also possible that the council are not aware that it is let out.

csgohan4

glasgowdan wrote: »

That's quite wrong and you shouldn't be giving advice on these forums!

Hence the ??? marks after the sentence rather than a fact. Some LL scare their tenants into complying, if unsure, Shelter would be good place to start

CIS

The rent includes all bills so it is possible that the council tax is paid by the landlord and it is also possible that the council are not aware that it is let out.

If that's the case then the occupier may end up being chased retrospectively by the local authority if information comes to light that the charge is actually due. You can see if it's been banded here - https://www.gov.uk/council-tax-bands

Annexes may or not not be banded separately for council tax, it depends on the situation.

Craig

G_M

lin473 wrote: »

I wondered that myself -
I suspect the annex may not be 'official'

The rent includes all bills so it is possible that the council tax is paid by the landlord and it is also possible that the council are not aware that it is let out.

Whether an annexe is 'official' depends which official body it relates to

* if rent is not declared, then the HMRC 'officials' could have an issue
* if the annexe has no planning consent, and was built in the last 4 years (or is it 2?), then the council might
etc

Idealy the occupants' contract (tenancy agreement, lodger agreement, whatever) should specify what bills are or are not included. So - is council tax mentioned?

It is perfectly possible that there is a single CT rating for the main property + annexe, and the owner pays this. If so, there's no problem.

If the annexe has a separate CT rating, then the issue of who pays is more uncertain. The occupant is liable so far as the council is concerned, but if the contract says the owner will pay, then the tenant could reclaim this from the owner.

There is (generally) no obligation for an owner to inform the council a property is let out. (this is not true in Scotland, and, I believe, now in some councils....)