how can I find out if my new house has a TV licence

Prothet_of_Doom

Hi, I recently bought a house and the previous owner moved temporarily to live with a relative whilst they look for a new project. On the law of averages, they probably had a TV licence, and probably didn't transfer it or cancel it.
Is it possible to find out if there is a TV licence.
To be fair, I've been here for 1 month so far and haven't used the TV, because I didn't have anything to put it on. I've now got the TV in place, but so far have only watched Netflix.

I'm about to start advertising for a lodger, and want to legally allow them to have a TV.

I assume if the old people had cancelled the licence I'd have a demand through the post :A

dreaming

That s not how the tv licence system works. The licence is not transferable when you buy a house so you will have to buy a licence. So even if you don't "watch much* tv you still need to get the licence.

Prothet_of_Doom

dreaming wrote: »

That s not how the tv licence system works. The licence is not transferable when you buy a house so you will have to buy a licence. So even if you don't "watch much* tv you still need to get the licence.

I don't watch any* live TV but lodger might want to. :rotfl:

suki1964

Prothet_of_Doom wrote: »

I don't watch any* live TV but lodger might want to. :rotfl:

Doesnt matter who watches it, if someone at that address wants to watch it, then a TV license needs to be paid

Cornucopia

If you're not receiving letters from TV Licensing then the chances are that the old Licence remains in place.

The validity of the Licence is complicated. For the "licensing" side, the Licence is associated with the address, and covers whoever is living there. So, if the Licence remains in force it doesn't matter (I don't think) if the old people have moved out.

However, all of the admin is done by reference to the Licence number (which presumably you don't know) and the name on the Licence (which you may know but shouldn't use in any pretence to be them). Therefore to answer your question, I don't think you'll be able to find out for sure.

AndyCF

It can be a potential minefield unfortunately as others have (more or less) said. However I would not (personally) be 100% confident in what you might officially be told, as I was sent a letter once demanding I got one and warning me etc etc, usual stuff. Shame there was already one in force for the house itself, they had not bothered to check the address and relied on the names. I pointed it out on the phone but they were at that time quite unpleasant about it, probably realising it was their mistake.

Having said that I did call them a couple of months back about something and they were very polite and helpful , although one thing they did say (again, in my honest opinion) either the man on the phone was being 'economical with the facts' shall we say or he was not actually aware of something I pointed out. Its difficult to say which. But on the whole they are a bit more approachable now.

maman

I suppose the safest answer to the question is to contact the previous owner and ask him.

You might get away with it for a while but sometime soon he'll be asked to renew and you won't know when that happens.

Or he might have already had a refund for unused months so you aren't covered anyway.

Working_Mum

Keep it nice and simple and just get a TV license - add the monthly costs to the Lodger's rent.