Former landlord refusing to provide copy of tenancy agreement

no_moolah

Hi all, 

Long story short, a tenant rented a garage conversion from a dodgy landlord and it later transpired that the garage conversion had no planning permission - this was the tip of the iceberg, e.g. the tenant's deposit was not protected during the tenancy.

When the tenant moved in, the landlord kept the only copy of the tenancy agreement that was signed by the tenant and landlord. The landlord gave the tenant a blank copy of the agreement.

The tenant has moved out, but is now requesting a scan of the signed tenancy agreement from the landlord, in case of any council tax disputes and generally becuase it is good to have a record of previous tenancies. The landlord is refusing to provide a scan or photo of the signed copy, claiming that they are 'suspicious' of the tenant's motives because they were recently 'scammed on WhatsApp'. For reference, the tenant has contacted the landlord both via email and WhatsApp.

Is there anything the tenant can do here to get a copy of the agreement? i.e. is there a legal requirement for the landlord to provide the licence?

Thank you in advance.

tacpot12

There is no legal requirement for the landlord to provide a copy of the tenancy agreement if there is currently no dispute. 

Grumpy_chap

The time to get the copy of the signed tenancy agreement was at the start of the tenancy, ideally before moving in.
The LL probably should provide a copy at any point on request.  If the tenant has now moved out, and there is no dispute, then there seems to be little benefit in obtaining a signed copy now as it is all after the event.  I certainly would not expend much effort in that scenario.

theartfullodger

(assuming England..) there's no requirement for a residential tenancy even to be on paper, nor signed.  Bonkers, other countries do this better (?which country eg Wales, NI...?). 

i guess also for renting a garage.  

no_moolah

Thank you all, that makes sense. The landlord's refusal is strange because his 'conversion' isn't registered for council tax despite it being a self-contained unit. My guess is that he never informed the VOA and that's the reason why he doesn't want to share the signed agreement because it shows somebody lived there (and that is probably also why he kept the only signed copy.)

As for the tenant proving their previous address, will it usually suffice to show bank statements that show outgoing payments to the landlord, as well as an email from the landlord that has a draft tenancy agreement attached?

anselld

Having a signed agreement would not in any case be protection against Council Tax liability.  If it is retrospectively banded by the VOA then the tenant would still become liable for the Council Tax and would be left trying to recover that from the Landlord.

Proof of address is more likely to be a mobile phone account, bank statement, etc.  Draft documents would probably not be much use depending on who was asking.

lincroft1710

anselld said:

Having a signed agreement would not in any case be protection against Council Tax liability.  If it is retrospectively banded by the VOA then the tenant would still become liable for the Council Tax and would be left trying to recover that from the Landlord.

.

The tenant could only recover money from the landlord if the tenancy specified either "all bills included" or "CT included" and then they could only recover that part of the rent which the LL claimed was for paying the CT, e.g. the LL may claim to have deducted for a Band A, but the property is assessed at Band B.Or the LL may claim he believed (erroneously) the garage conversion would result in a one band increase to his CT and thus charged the tenant the difference between the 2 bands.