Mariner51: The flat is currently being let and advertised as a flat and as far as I know still with the same owners, however unable to check properly with land registry. I have been racking my head to find out what the LL benefit would be to let it as residential for years! Estate agents and both solicitors for each landlord were under the impression the property was residential. @ericsbrother: The politician in Aus was indeed sacked from his job as elected Mayor. He is a colourful character with history in UK making millions. Eric, thanks for your insightful post. I too expect a 'can of worms', dreading the process.

Thats the thing Stu007 no mention of a Business name. All correspondence looks like this: My Name First Floor Flat So called Road London p0st cd3 Contacted the Estate Agent and they have records back to 2000 not 1999 Have sent of an Subject Access Request regarding the Order against me. Waiting to hear back. I had two landlords as property was sold but I stayed on. One LL is a Charity Fund and the other LL is now a politician in Australia. They obviously have give up on chasing them as some you mentioned. Good news is that the 2nd page of the possession order letter I have clearly states: .....property let on a periodic assured tenancy..... but thay have slightly misspelt my name by one letter, wonder if they will use this. Who do I send the proof letters to? The council officer handling my case? Do I wait till I have more material from the Subject Access Request. The council have a timescale of 40 days to respond to the SAR and council officer has given me 7 days.

Assured shorthold Tenancy Thanks for that!

Ok please advise, what is an AST?

Yes Im going to try the estate agent who still exist albeit in a different borough, wish me luck on that one. One the upside one of the letters I dug out was a solicitors letter "requiring possession" due to LL selling the house, and it quoted a Section 21 of the HOUSING Act, which from I understand covers residential property. Thank you all! I will keep you updated, any more wise words welcomed.

Ok thank you I will do that! The gent made it sound very final, relieved to find that liability orders do not expire. I will inform the council contact a day after I have contacted the court. I wonder if you can even chase business rates if there wasn't an actual business there.

I received a phone call today from my previous council, the gentleman said he called me with regards to my very old address dating back to 1999-2004. I was a student then and found the flat through a normal Estate Agents, signed the Tenancy Agreement and moved in. Today, 2017, four children later I get a phone call from the council enforcement team informing me that I owe over £4000.00 in BUSINESS RATES. I was never informed that it was an "office" I was living in and to my total amazement they even took to me to court and I have a liability order from 2005. This is approx a year after moving out. I wasn't the only tenant, there was a gentleman above me in another flat and they built yet another flat in the loft when I moved out. My flat had a bathroom with a bath and a kitchen and looked nothing like an office. My LL at the time informed me that I wouldn't have to pay council as I was a student and it would have been included anyway. The gentleman from the council informed me that I am 100% liable and even though landlord or estate agent deceived me. I am in total shock and feel that I have no choice other than to start to pay this huge amount. There weren't any letters chasing the so called Business Rates throughout my time there and all correspondence from Landlord stated My name, then, First Floor Flat, 33 So-called Road and Postcode. Unfortunately I don't have more than 3 letters after that many years and I feel well and truly confused. The man also informed me that their records only go back 7 years so they will not be able to investigate nor look further into it as "the Law of the Land" (his words) has already decided that I am liable. Does anyone know why landlords would do this? What do I do? I have 7 days to respond Please advice or wake me up from this nightmare :frosty: Please let me know if I need to post this in another section, unsure and new to this.