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Just moved into a privatly rented house with two mates. We've been there a week and have a 6 month 'of the shelf' tennacy agreement directly with the landlord.
Now we all work full time and have agreed that the council tax is our responsibility, as are all the bills. But strangley. the landlord is insisting that only one of us put our name down on the council tax form. His reasoning is that at the moment the house is 'single occupancy' and if we're honest with the council tax form (which we would much prefer to be) it's classed as a multiple occupancy and he will be landed with a huge bill.
This clearly makes no sense at all, does anyone have any idea what his real motivation would be?
That really isnt your problem, you register with the council, you give them the information they require, same with the Electoral Register. Whatever shenanigans he is up to is down to him, dont get involved
Lula
Lula v Abbey - Settled Lula v Abbey (2) - Settled Lula v Abbey (3) - Stayed
Thanks yes, we're aware of that. I just wondered if anyone knew what his angle was I guess. He was getting quite agressive on the phone when I advised him we were unlikley to risk prosecution ourselves in order to benifit his finances and was hoping to get a full undertstanding of what was really going on before we sit down with him tonight.
I know what his angle is, but it is flawed. It is highly unlikely, based upon what you have said, that the property is required to be licensed under HMO legislation. Hence, it really makes no difference to him.
7 years in retail customer service
Expertise in letting and rental law for 6 years
By trade - I'm an IT engineer working in the housing sector.
Please note that any posts made by myself are for information only and should not and must not be taken as correct or factual. If in doubt, consult with a solicitor or other person of equal legal standing.
Most importantly, declaring only one resident COULD be seen as tax evasion.
I think it is important to declare all residents, and let the landlord deal with the consequences(if any).
7 years in retail customer service
Expertise in letting and rental law for 6 years
By trade - I'm an IT engineer working in the housing sector.
Please note that any posts made by myself are for information only and should not and must not be taken as correct or factual. If in doubt, consult with a solicitor or other person of equal legal standing.
As I understand it, the council are only interested in Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs) like yours if they are more than 2 storeys and if there are more than 4 people living there.
Other than that, a house with more than 2 sharers counts as an HMO but doesn't normally require licensing.
Individual councils are allowed to have more stringent rules. You can check on your council's website probably.
But as said above, it's not your problem unless you want information to calm down your landlord.
I've owned an HMO that doesn't require licensing for 5 years without a peep from the council (so far...). Technically, I should fulfil the following rules, which aren't too onerous:
Personally, I would not be too worried - for this reason. HMO legislation is there purely to protect you the tenant - it is basically a minimum set of requirements for this kind of property, and also to ensure that all these properties are "on the radar" and therefore checked.
If the landlord is so determined to basically ignore your rights as a tenant of an HMO property, then I would probably want to go to another property anyway.
7 years in retail customer service
Expertise in letting and rental law for 6 years
By trade - I'm an IT engineer working in the housing sector.
Please note that any posts made by myself are for information only and should not and must not be taken as correct or factual. If in doubt, consult with a solicitor or other person of equal legal standing.
I've checked with the council now too. He's looking at £500-£700 for a 5 year license and the reason he needs it isn't because there's 3 of us, the threashold is 5, it's just because it's a 3 storey house (attic to bedroom converson).
He is looking like a bit of a shady one yeah, thing is we really like the house!
If he isnt prepared to pay £100 per year for a license(lets face it, a very small percentage of the yearly rent) I would be worried about where else he is cutting corners.
However, yes I realise it isnt neccessarily black and white whether you can/want to just leave and go elsewhere!
7 years in retail customer service
Expertise in letting and rental law for 6 years
By trade - I'm an IT engineer working in the housing sector.
Please note that any posts made by myself are for information only and should not and must not be taken as correct or factual. If in doubt, consult with a solicitor or other person of equal legal standing.
I've checked with the council now too. He's looking at £500-£700 for a 5 year license and the reason he needs it isn't because there's 3 of us, the threashold is 5, it's just because it's a 3 storey house (attic to bedroom converson).
He is looking like a bit of a shady one yeah, thing is we really like the house!
What council is it? The normal rules are 5 people AND 3 storeys, not 5 people OR 3 storeys.
You have to consider the possibility that he may not have building regs for the attic room, or he may be aware of other problems with the house that would make it costly to get a license. In my road a number of houses are having velux windows appearing in roofs, but I've never seen any signs of planning applications!
In my road a number of houses are having velux windows appearing in roofs, but I've never seen any signs of planning applications!
I think there have been changes in planning rules very recently. In the main the rules have been relaxed and many things which used to require planning permission no longer need it.
Landlord making bizarre council tax demands
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Originally Posted by Anodyne
