Tenant bills

gazfocus

Android07 said:

 gazfocus said:

Before you do anything, you need to establish whether the house is a HMO. Did three tenants have separate tenancy agreements or were they all names on the one agreement?

The reason you need to establish this is because regardless of what the tenancy agreement says, if the house is a HMO, the council tax is the landlords responsibility and not the tenants. 

If the tenants were all on one tenancy agreement, you need to give the council the date the tenancy started and ended and the details of the three tenants. The council will then pursue them equally until it is paid. 

The house is a HMO. Three tenants each had separate tenancy agreements.

Thanks for clarifying. In that case, your sister is responsible for the council tax and not the tenants. The term in the tenancy agreement specifying the tenants are responsible would be unenforceable as the law says the landlord is responsible for council tax on a HMO. 

So for future tenancy’s, your sister would need to make sure the rent is sufficient to cover the council tax in addition to any other costs associated with her renting out the property. 

Android07

gazfocus said:

Android07 said:

 gazfocus said:

Before you do anything, you need to establish whether the house is a HMO. Did three tenants have separate tenancy agreements or were they all names on the one agreement?

The reason you need to establish this is because regardless of what the tenancy agreement says, if the house is a HMO, the council tax is the landlords responsibility and not the tenants. 

If the tenants were all on one tenancy agreement, you need to give the council the date the tenancy started and ended and the details of the three tenants. The council will then pursue them equally until it is paid. 

The house is a HMO. Three tenants each had separate tenancy agreements.

Thanks for clarifying. In that case, your sister is responsible for the council tax and not the tenants. The term in the tenancy agreement specifying the tenants are responsible would be unenforceable as the law says the landlord is responsible for council tax on a HMO. 

So for future tenancy’s, your sister would need to make sure the rent is sufficient to cover the council tax in addition to any other costs associated with her renting out the property. 

Thank you.