Is this a dodgy renting situation ?

Louise2017

Hi all,

I've just moved into a house in London. Me and my housemates are a bit suspicious of the situation and just wondered if anyone had any advice as to whether it is actually illegal or just strange?

So the flat we live in is owned by a man who lives in London. The flat is actually sublet to us and 'managed' by a foreign guy - Matt* who lives abroad. The flat owner is aware of this. The foreign guy has a lot of post delivered to our house as does one of his friends.

The house is in quite bad repair and it's quite difficult to get Matt* to do anything about it. It's also not that cheap but we don't want to move because we've just settled and we love the area.

LadyGMadameToThee

You've pretty much answered your own question. Does any of these men actually own the flat or are they illegally subletting a council or housing association property?
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unforeseen

I bet they don't want you you to register for Council tax either?

Pixie5740

The OP says the flat is owned by a man who lives in London. That's easily checked at the Land Registry. It's perfectly legal for the landlord not to be the owner of the flat so there's not necessarily anything shady going on.

OP, if Matt lives abroad what address has been given in your tenancy agreement for the serving of notices? Under the Landlord & Tenant Act you should be supplied with an address in England or Wales for the serving of notices.

Any repairs should be reported in writing to the address for the serving of notices. If repairs are not carried out then you can escalate the matter to the council. In fact it might be worth checking to see if the council you live in has mandatory landlord licensing.

Has your deposit been protected?
Is there a valid gas safety certificate? (If there are gas appliances)
Did you receive a how the rent booklet?

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/496709/How_to_Rent_Jan_16.pdf

Pixie5740

As for the post, I would start marking it all as "return to sender" and putting it back in a post box.

bowlhead99

So your landlord is Matt, overseas, and in turn his landlord is a guy in London. And the guy in London is aware there is a subletting arrangement. That in itself is not necessarily dodgy - some leases allow for subletting and for example if Matt had a long period left on his lease when he wanted to move abroad, an option could have just been for Matt to let it out to you; Matt might make a profit or a loss on the arrangement.

Agreed with Pixie's post, you should have a UK address for notices, deposit protection scheme info, gas cert etc ; those requirements don't go away just because the person you're renting from lives abroad.

You mentioned it's "not that cheap" - if it's £100 pw or more, you should look into registering for the non-resident landlord scheme (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/paying-tax-on-rent-to-landlords-abroad) where you deduct 20% from the gross rent and send it to HMRC rather than to Matt. This would probably be an annoyance to Matt if he is not actually making any significant profit on his letting arrangement - i.e. most of his income from you is used up in paying rent expense to the London guy - because he would have to claim the tax back at the end of the year, but it's what the HMRC rules say you should do for non-resident landlords unless HMRC confirm you don't need to.

The NR Landlords tax withholding and reporting is only for someone who is properly non-resident for UK tax purposes and if Matt spends a lot of time in the UK and/or has other ties he still might be considered UK resident. However, he clearly doesn't live in your house any more (assuming he's given you a tenancy for exclusive use of the property) and you mentioned he lives abroad so it seems to point to him being non-resident.

I also agree you can reject all the post by marking 'return to sender' or 'no longer at this address' but best to tell him you'll do that first so he can make other arrangements (if you are trying to keep him onside to get your repairs done in a timely manner).