Is tax relief for landlords given as a lump sum, or knocked off the bill throughout the year?

Chiyo

I’ve had a good search but can’t seem to find a specific answer. My situation is that my partner (we live separately) rents a house from his parents. There’s a number of issues but a big one is that all of the windows are broken. They don’t close properly and all need to be stuffed with tissue to stop the wind from blowing directly through, and even then let in constant draughts so that the house is always freezing the moment the heating is turned off - as in, he could blast the heating for two hours straight but you could see your breath in the air within 15 minutes of it being turned off.

It’s a complicated situation (as it usually is with family) because his parents have been making excuses about it for almost four years now, and he’s not willing to face the fallout of going down any kind of legal route as his parents are unfortunately very petty and he’d struggle to find somewhere else to live if they decided to make his life hell. He can’t afford to heat the home with gas prices sky rocketing, and he has 50/50 custody of a very young child.

I’m hoping that I can help him persuade his parents to finally complete the repairs by explaining that they’d get their money back via tax relief on the full market rent that he pays. My question is, would this be paid in a lump sum a few weeks after putting in the claim? As I believe that this is the only thing that they’d agree to.

Slithery

It's not 'paid' to them at all. It's an allowable expense on their tax assessment.

dimbo61

Is your partner paying rent to his parents ?
Sorry but are his parents going to evict their Son and grandchild and make them homeless ?
What is the EPC for the property ?

https://www.gov.uk/find-energy-certificate

Now if the parents are charging Rent does the house have Gas heating ? Gas hob/Oven or gas fire.
What about an EICR on the electrics ??

GDB2222

If it's no good, why does he live there?

canaldumidi

Chiyo said:

.....My situation is that my partner (we live separately) rents a house from his parents. There’s a number of issues but a big one is that all of the windows are broken. ....

It’s a complicated situation (as it usually is with family) because his parents have been making excuses about it for almost four years now, ....

Is this England?

He pays rent so he's a tenant, protected by the Housing Act 1988. Have his parents:

* given him a gas safety report? If not, report to HSE form LGSR1.

* given him an EICR (electrica report)?  If not report to local council Trading Standards

* give hm a Gov leaflet How to rent? If not report to local council Trading standards

* are tere smoke alarms on eery floor? If not report to local council Trading Standards

* regarding the windows, report to Environemenatl Health

Read

The Homes (Fitness For Human Habitation Act 2018 with guidance for tenants here.

The above all focuses on the law and ignores the family relstionship aspects, but as LLs they seem uncaring so......

he’s not willing to face the fallout of going down any kind of legal route as his parents are unfortunately very petty and he’d struggle to find somewhere else to live

If he goes down the proper legal route he's protected from eviction by the The Deregulation Act 2015 (S33) which protects AST tenants if their tenancy either started, or was renewed, after 1/10/15. Any S21 Notice (the 1st step in eviction) is invalid if

i) the tenant has reported an issue to the LL and
ii) the tenant has complained to the council and
iii) the council has inspected and
iv) the council has issued an improvement notice to the LL

If all the above steps have taken place, the LL cannot serve a valid S21 Notice, and any already served S21 becomes invalid.

If the landlord serves a (valid) S21 Notice following the original complaint from the tenant (step i above), and then steps ii) to iv) take place, the S21 Notice cannot be enforced even though it may have been valid when it was served.

Chiyo

dimbo61 said:

Is your partner paying rent to his parents ?
Sorry but are his parents going to evict their Son and grandchild and make them homeless ?
What is the EPC for the property ?

https://www.gov.uk/find-energy-certificate

Now if the parents are charging Rent does the house have Gas heating ? Gas hob/Oven or gas fire.
What about an EICR on the electrics ??

They tried to evict him a couple of years ago when he went onto SSP and claimed housing benefit as they hadn’t wanted to declare the rent to the tax office, so I’m certain that they’re capable of trying it over this. Luckily that situation was eventually de-escalated once we explained that he was willing to cover the loss out of his own pocket, but he was socially ‘iced out’ of the family for a good year after that.

The EPC rating is C, I think the property is only 15 years old but cheaply built. It has gas heating and a dual fuel oven but I’m not sure about the electrics, there’s constant issues with plugs suddenly melting around the house. Luckily his parents do usually get the sockets replaced fairly quickly, but the wiring itself is never checked.

GDB2222

canaldumidi said:

Chiyo said:

.....My situation is that my partner (we live separately) rents a house from his parents. There’s a number of issues but a big one is that all of the windows are broken. ....

It’s a complicated situation (as it usually is with family) because his parents have been making excuses about it for almost four years now, ....

Is this England?

He pays rent so he's a tenant, protected by the Housing Act 1988. Have his parents:

* given him a gas safety report? If not, report to HSE form LGSR1.

* given him an EICR (electrica report)?  If not report to local council Trading Standards

* give hm a Gov leaflet How to rent? If not report to local council Trading standards

* are tere smoke alarms on eery floor? If not report to local council Trading Standards

* regarding the windows, report to Environemenatl Health

Read

The Homes (Fitness For Human Habitation Act 2018 with guidance for tenants here.

The above all focuses on the law and ignores the family relstionship aspects, but as LLs they seem uncaring so......

he’s not willing to face the fallout of going down any kind of legal route as his parents are unfortunately very petty and he’d struggle to find somewhere else to live

If he goes down the proper legal route he's protected from eviction by the The Deregulation Act 2015 (S33) which protects AST tenants if their tenancy either started, or was renewed, after 1/10/15. Any S21 Notice (the 1st step in eviction) is invalid if

i) the tenant has reported an issue to the LL and
ii) the tenant has complained to the council and
iii) the council has inspected and
iv) the council has issued an improvement notice to the LL

If all the above steps have taken place, the LL cannot serve a valid S21 Notice, and any already served S21 becomes invalid.

If the landlord serves a (valid) S21 Notice following the original complaint from the tenant (step i above), and then steps ii) to iv) take place, the S21 Notice cannot be enforced even though it may have been valid when it was served.

If they have all that lot wrong, they may not be declaring the rent their son is paying them. If so, there's no tax relief on new windows.

Incidentally, Sellotape over the cracks in the windows works really well. Do the whole house for £2, and you don't have to dob your ma and pa in. Just a thought.

Chiyo

GDB2222 said:

If it's no good, why does he live there?

He’s on a DMP after being off work sick a while ago, so I don’t think that he would be accepted for rented accommodation due to credit and affordability checks.

GDB2222

Chiyo said:

GDB2222 said:

If it's no good, why does he live there?

He’s on a DMP after being off work sick a while ago, so I don’t think that he would be accepted for rented accommodation due to credit and affordability checks.

In that case, just tape up the gaps round the windows with sellotape. It will stop any drafts, and it just takes a few minutes to do.

Chiyo

canaldumidi said:

Chiyo said:

.....My situation is that my partner (we live separately) rents a house from his parents. There’s a number of issues but a big one is that all of the windows are broken. ....

It’s a complicated situation (as it usually is with family) because his parents have been making excuses about it for almost four years now, ....

Is this England?

He pays rent so he's a tenant, protected by the Housing Act 1988. Have his parents:

* given him a gas safety report? If not, report to HSE form LGSR1.

* given him an EICR (electrica report)?  If not report to local council Trading Standards

* give hm a Gov leaflet How to rent? If not report to local council Trading standards

* are tere smoke alarms on eery floor? If not report to local council Trading Standards

* regarding the windows, report to Environemenatl Health

Read

The Homes (Fitness For Human Habitation Act 2018 with guidance for tenants here.

The above all focuses on the law and ignores the family relstionship aspects, but as LLs they seem uncaring so......

he’s not willing to face the fallout of going down any kind of legal route as his parents are unfortunately very petty and he’d struggle to find somewhere else to live

If he goes down the proper legal route he's protected from eviction by the The Deregulation Act 2015 (S33) which protects AST tenants if their tenancy either started, or was renewed, after 1/10/15. Any S21 Notice (the 1st step in eviction) is invalid if

i) the tenant has reported an issue to the LL and
ii) the tenant has complained to the council and
iii) the council has inspected and
iv) the council has issued an improvement notice to the LL

If all the above steps have taken place, the LL cannot serve a valid S21 Notice, and any already served S21 becomes invalid.

If the landlord serves a (valid) S21 Notice following the original complaint from the tenant (step i above), and then steps ii) to iv) take place, the S21 Notice cannot be enforced even though it may have been valid when it was served.

Thank you, this is really useful information. I know that he’ll be reluctant to go down that route but I’m sure that he’ll put his child first once all amicable options have been exhausted.

canaldumidi

Chiyo said:

dimbo61 said:

Is your partner paying rent to his parents ?
Sorry but are his parents going to evict their Son and grandchild and make them homeless ?
What is the EPC for the property ?

https://www.gov.uk/find-energy-certificate

Now if the parents are charging Rent does the house have Gas heating ? Gas hob/Oven or gas fire.
What about an EICR on the electrics ??

They tried to evict him a couple of years ago

How? Did they serve a proper S21 Notice or what?

when he went onto SSP and claimed housing benefit as they hadn’t wanted to declare the rent to the tax office,

so has he reported this to HMRC? Do it here

....
The EPC rating is C,.... It has gas heating and a dual fuel oven but I’m not sure about the electrics, there’s constant issues with plugs suddenly melting around the house. Luckily his parents do usually get the sockets replaced fairly quickly, but the wiring itself is never checked.

I did not ask what the EPC rating was. I asked if he had been given those reports and documents I listed? They are all required by law. I suspect he is in a very strong legal position, but is intimidated and does not want to use the legal power he has. Well, if he is not prepared to help himself, how can we help him?

He wants the property improved/windows fixed, but won't put pressure on his parents/landlords (who are clearly breaking the law) and won't report them to appropriate authorites. So.... he'll have to put up with draughty windows!