Additional Lodger?

Jaguar_Skills

Hi all,  we had to replace the boiler in the flat we rent out to a couple recently.   Upon the plumber doing the works, he informed us that there were other people in the flat. 
I questioned the tenant on this who said it was his elderly father who lives there 3 days a week.   He also said that if he cannot stay he will leave at the end of the tenancy. 
I have spoken to my solicitor and he has said it is either a case of making sure they are no longer residing there because it makes possession extremely tricky or speaking to the mortgage company to add other parties onto it.   Does this change anything at all do you know? We have in principle said to the tenant we would need to charge between £100-£200 more a month which he seems to be ok with but I am just not sure what the mortgage company are going to say/whether we have to contact them?

Cakeguts

Does what the plumber said match what you are being told because other people isn't the same as an extra person. So who else is living there apart from the original couple and a possible elderly relative?

ElephantBoy57

Jaguar_Skills said:

Hi all,  we had to replace the boiler in the flat we rent out to a couple recently.   Upon the plumber doing the works, he informed us that there were other people in the flat.

Are there enough bedrooms for the people living there? I am guessing your insurance and fire regulations would not permit over-crowding. Having said that, some houses are over-crowding, if you have a good tenant and they are willing to pay £50 extra, I would be ok with that.

[Deleted User]

If you don't have a separate AST for the father then i don't see why the mortgage company would need to be consulted. 

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser

Jaguar_Skills said:

Hi all,  we had to replace the boiler in the flat we rent out to a couple recently.   Upon the plumber doing the works, he informed us that there were other people in the flat. 
I questioned the tenant on this who said it was his elderly father who lives there 3 days a week.   He also said that if he cannot stay he will leave at the end of the tenancy. 
I have spoken to my solicitor and he has said it is either a case of making sure they are no longer residing there because it makes possession extremely tricky or speaking to the mortgage company to add other parties onto it.   Does this change anything at all do you know? We have in principle said to the tenant we would need to charge between £100-£200 more a month which he seems to be ok with but I am just not sure what the mortgage company are going to say/whether we have to contact them?

As a landlord do you need all adults living in the property to be on the tenancy agreement? Some landlord insurance policies (especially the rent and legal protection ones) require this. Some BTL mortgages will also have this as a condition.

With regard to your statutory obligations as an LL, anyone over 18 living in your property needs to be right-to-rent checked. Not talking about guests here.

In your place, if I was comfortable with the father living in the house, I would ask for the father's name to be added to the tenancy agreement. If he is indeed the tenant's father, the household still counts as one family so there's no danger of inadvertently creating an HMO.

Jaguar_Skills

ElephantBoy57 said:

Jaguar_Skills said:

Hi all,  we had to replace the boiler in the flat we rent out to a couple recently.   Upon the plumber doing the works, he informed us that there were other people in the flat.

Are there enough bedrooms for the people living there? I am guessing your insurance and fire regulations would not permit over-crowding. Having said that, some houses are over-crowding, if you have a good tenant and they are willing to pay £50 extra, I would be ok with that.

There are two bedrooms and the couple on the AST are the ones using the main bedroom.