Landlord not giving tenancy agreement... Unliscenced property... In a pickle

fxyzfxyz

Hello,


As the title suggests, I am in a pickle over the house I am currently renting. I have been in this place for a year and a few months now. At the time me, my husband and my 1yo were living with my parents and were desperate to find a place to move into but were having the toughest time ever because of the crazy house shortage and sky high rents/fees in London. We eventually did find a landlord who was decorating a lovely 2 bed house and was ready to rent it out to a small family like us. They live next door so they wanted to be selective about tenants and didn't want to go through an agency (their words). We paid no fees/deposit and we were even asked about how we wanted the house done up.



The landlord and his family are the lovely. We pay a lower than market-rate rent, landlord pays council tax and water, he is quick with repairs and whatnot - though we don't speak to him much I am on great terms with his wife and kids. It did however dawn on me not long after we moved in that this house is probably not a licensed property - it was indeed later confirmed and they asked us to tell anyone who asks that we are family living rent-free in their house. I knew this would eventually become a problem, but after moving in after such a difficult house hunting period and knowing I am probably getting the best London rent deal I'll ever get, I shrugged it off.



Well, now we are beginning to have our first problem. I am in the process of putting my daughters name down on nursery waiting lists and for all the nurseries, a tenancy agreement/council tax letter is essential as proof of address. The council tax for our house, as mentioned, is paid by our landlord and is in his name. Additionally, we have applied for Universal Credit and as part of the housing element, we need to provide a tenancy agreement/letter from LL ( LL has said he is fine with us claiming UC).



I have asked him for a tenancy agreement and he is incredibly uncomfortable with this - he hasn't outright refused but I can tell he is not planning on giving it to us. I had an appointment on Friday with a nursery which I had to cancel because they would not have accepting my daughters name without all the documents. His wife explained he is just scared about getting caught by the council - understandable - but where do I stand? I am in a huge pickle now because I am both unable to put my daughters name down on the nursery waiting list and am unable to claim UC which I am in need of after having my hours at work cut down.



I am really unsure how I should be dealing with this at this present moment. LL is not responding to my messages now and he hasn't been home over the weekend so far. He knows I have rescheduled my appointment to Monday and have another one too this week. I know legally I am not in the wrong as my LLs lack of license/registration does not make my tenancy illegal, however I know I am the one losing in this situation.



I probably should report my LL but I can't bear to since I have such a positive relationship with their family. They are genuinely the nicest people, but I am now in a massive pickle because of them and have no idea what to do.


Thanks for reading.

CIS

Well, now we are beginning to have our first problem. I am in the process of putting my daughters name down on nursery waiting lists and for all the nurseries, a tenancy agreement/council tax letter is essential as proof of address. The council tax for our house, as mentioned, is paid by our landlord and is in his name. Additionally, we have applied for Universal Credit and as part of the housing element, we need to provide a tenancy agreement/letter from LL ( LL has said he is fine with us claiming UC).

The landlord cannot make an election over who pays the council tax, the payment of it is purely a matter of legislation.

If you're renting the entire property then the council tax liability falls on to the joint tenants (except in certain odd cases which don't apply here). To correct their records the council should now backdate the council tax charge and bill you.

In my experience landlords who do it this way are usually doing to because they are trying to avoid telling the council that there are occupiers (and often also the tax man). His concern seems to confirm this.

G_M

fxyzfxyz wrote: »

..... We eventually did find a landlord who was decorating a lovely 2 bed house and was ready to rent it out to a small family like us. They live next door so they wanted to be selective about tenants and didn't want to go through an agency (their words). We paid no fees/deposit and we were even asked about how we wanted the house done up.
Lots of landlords self-select tenants and self-manage their tenancies. Nothing wrong with that.

...We pay a lower than market-rate rent, landlord pays council tax and water, he is quick with repairs and whatnot -..... It did however dawn on me not long after we moved in that this house is probably not a licensed property
Properties inLondon do not need licencing for rental purposes.
- it was indeed later confirmed and they asked us to tell anyone who asks that we are family living rent-free in their house.
More likely that the LL
* is not declaring the rental income to HMRC
* has not got Consent To Let /BTL from his mortgage lender

I knew this would eventually become a problem, but after moving in after such a difficult house hunting period and knowing I am probably getting the best London rent deal I'll ever get, I shrugged it off.
Well.... swings and roundabouts....!

.... I am in the process of putting my daughters name down on nursery waiting lists and for all the nurseries, a tenancy agreement/council tax letter is essential as proof of address.
Yes

The council tax for our house, as mentioned, is paid by our landlord and is in his name. Additionally, we have applied for Universal Credit and as part of the housing element, we need to provide a tenancy agreement/letter from LL ( LL has said he is fine with us claiming UC).
Yes

I have asked him for a tenancy agreement and he is incredibly uncomfortable with this - he hasn't outright refused but I can tell he is not planning on giving it to us.
Well if you were to drop into the conversation the income tax/mortgage issue, he might become more cooperative.

If you pay £3 to the Land Registry here, you can buy the property title document. Section C (Charges Register) will show if here is a mortgage, and which mortgage lender it is. I doubt the LL would want you contacting them (or HMRC)...........

....... His wife explained he is just scared about getting caught by the council
Caught for what? Council tax?

- understandable - but where do I stand? I am in a huge pickle now because I am both unable to put my daughters name down on the nursery waiting list and am unable to claim UC which I am in need of after having my hours at work cut down.
there are a whole host of possible infringements he has commited. In England he should have given you
* an annual gas safety report (if there's gas)?
* an EPC?
* a copy of the government leaflet on renting?
* an address in writing for serving notices? (without this you do not legally have to pay rent)
......

I probably should report my LL

To......
* HMRC?
* hismortgage lender?
* his insurer?

but I can't bear to since I have such a positive relationship with their family. They are genuinely the nicest people, but I am now in a massive pickle because of them and have no idea what to do.

You have a simple choice to make

1) go along with the status quo and benefit from the cheap rent/no deposit etc, but accept that you cannot use the address for official applications like nursery schools, voting, claiming benefits etc etc

2) Puruade the landlord to formalise the tenancy, give you all the proper paperwork etc.

* You may need to agree to a higher rent.
* You may need to suggest you might approach the various organisations I've mentioned unless he.....