Landlord selling my home

MalMonroe

Hello! I am by no means an expert but what I have gathered from these pages is that your rent is truly extortionate. £1075 pm is far too much. (Or maybe I just think that because I live in the North?) 

And I'm slightly concerned that you are paying rent into a dead person's bank account. How is that even allowed?! Wasn't the bank informed of his death? That really is weird, in my opinion.

To be honest, my conclusion is - and I know it's a big wrench and may seem like an awful suggestion but - you should move out. And I say this as a fellow 71 year old. It's not an impossibility.

You are paying far too much rent, unless you're living in an annexe of Buckingham Palace. Especially as the property is not in good repair. 

Give it some thought, anyway. And even if the worst occurred and your LL booted you out, your council has a duty to ensure you have accommodation.

I do agree with theartfullodger about phoning Shelter for advice, too.

[Deleted User]

MalMonroe said:

Hello! I am by no means an expert but what I have gathered from these pages is that your rent is truly extortionate. £1075 pm is far too much. (Or maybe I just think that because I live in the North?) 

And I'm slightly concerned that you are paying rent into a dead person's bank account. How is that even allowed?! Wasn't the bank informed of his death? That really is weird, in my opinion.

To be honest, my conclusion is - and I know it's a big wrench and may seem like an awful suggestion but - you should move out. And I say this as a fellow 71 year old. It's not an impossibility.

You are paying far too much rent, unless you're living in an annexe of Buckingham Palace. Especially as the property is not in good repair. 

Give it some thought, anyway. And even if the worst occurred and your LL booted you out, your council has a duty to ensure you have accommodation.

I do agree with theartfullodger about phoning Shelter for advice, too.

£1075 wouldn't be enough for a decent 2-bed flat in greater London or many other affluent parts of the south east.

There's no way to be able to say it's too much without knowing what OP is renting and where.

It could also be that OP is claiming housing benefit which pays all her rent...

lisyloo

Poster_586329 said:

MalMonroe said:

Hello! I am by no means an expert but what I have gathered from these pages is that your rent is truly extortionate. £1075 pm is far too much. (Or maybe I just think that because I live in the North?) 

And I'm slightly concerned that you are paying rent into a dead person's bank account. How is that even allowed?! Wasn't the bank informed of his death? That really is weird, in my opinion.

To be honest, my conclusion is - and I know it's a big wrench and may seem like an awful suggestion but - you should move out. And I say this as a fellow 71 year old. It's not an impossibility.

You are paying far too much rent, unless you're living in an annexe of Buckingham Palace. Especially as the property is not in good repair. 

Give it some thought, anyway. And even if the worst occurred and your LL booted you out, your council has a duty to ensure you have accommodation.

I do agree with theartfullodger about phoning Shelter for advice, too.

£1075 wouldn't be enough for a decent 2-bed flat in greater London or many other affluent parts of the south east.

There's no way to be able to say it's too much without knowing what OP is renting and where.

It could also be that OP is claiming housing benefit which pays all her rent...

Indeed, we have been paying £1625 for a 1 bed in a social housing block which was the going rate pre-pandemic.

I would urge the OP to check insurance policies. Free legal advice and/or free legal cover will be worth its weight in gold right now. The advice here is great but legal cover would provide solicitors to do the actually work of writing letters etc. Got to be worth 10 mins checking the insurance cover.

marleneb1

I live in Brighton on the coast so this rent isn't high for here.

macman

davilown said:

The real can of worms here is that you, as tenant, are fully responsible for the unpaid income tax on the rental since your LL decamped to Oz.

That’s assuming it was agreed - given that the LL has mentioned it already as a tax avoidance, then I suspect the tenant wouldn’t be liable. 

The LL is still able to file self assessments themselves online or via post.

No, it's nothing to do with that. Under the non-resident LL scheme, the tenant becomes liable, if there is no LA to collect and deduct the tax due from the rent.
This isn't a voluntary agreement between LL and tenant, it's a statutory requirement.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/paying-tax-on-rent-to-landlords-abroad

macman

If the former LA has never given formal notice of relinquishing her role as LA, then she is fully liable for the tax due. If she did, then the OP is liable from 5 years to now and ongoing.
The key issue here is really not sale and eviction, which would be at least 2 years away. It's whether the OP faces the prospect of a demand for 5 years of income tax due from the rent paid. At the current rent level, that's just shy of £13,000, assuming 20%.
Since the OP has never been informed of the details of the new LL, or given a new address for service, she is fully entitled to withhold rent, without any fear of eviction. She should exercise that right, certainly until she has recovered enough to pay the potential tax demand, which will take about one year of rent payments to be withheld.
She should also register for the non-resident LL scheme as tenant, as is required by law.
This assumes that the former LA is in fact the former and not still the current.