Please landlords I need an advice. My tenants a gentleman, his wife and their three month old baby moved into our house on the 12th of December 2023.
At the end of December I saw a man and his wife leaving the house. The man asked me if I know of any vacancy as he has just come from India and he is looking for accommodation. He also told me that he is just renting a room from the house. My tenant has rented a room to them and they are paying £700 pounds. Even though they are not allowed to sublet the house. I asked my tenant and they denied saying the people were there relatives. Two weeks later I met another man who also told me that he is renting a room from the house and paying £800. Again I asked the tenants and they still insists that the man and his wife are relatives. I let them know that this is not accepted. I have just spent a lot of money renovating the house. Please can you advice me when can I serve them section 21.
No you can’t serve a s21 until the 12 April at the earliest, but if its a 12 month tenancy, then 12 October.
The tenant may have created an HMO and this may cause problems with your insurance and with the Council regarding licensing. How many people are living in the house currently? Does the tenant live there too? You may need to seek specialist help from an eviction company or a housing solicitor.
Thank you for your advice. The tenancy is six months. I will have to wait until April as you have suggested. I don’t think they are going to stop. The tenants are leaving in the house as well. They are staying in the second reception downstairs and subletting the three bedrooms upstairs.
David why April or October?
If your tenancy says no subletting they are in breach of it and you can evict them earlier.
Get solicitors involved though!
The reason that its April of October is that a s21 can’t be served in the first 4 months of a tenancy and it can’t expire during the fixed/initial term.
OK, so it sounds as though they have created an HMO. You need to cover yourself here by serving a s8 notice for breach of contract. This is a discretionary ground at court and you may or may not get possession, but you need to go through the process anyway. You should also inform the local authority that they have done this and may be in breach of local or mandatory licensing and that you have served notice on them and will evict at the earliest opportunity. This is to prevent them pursuing you. I would also be inclined to let the tenant know that the Council can pursue them for a penalty of up to £30k for breach of housing legislation and suggest they remove the other occupants and surrender the tenancy as soon as possible.
In future, I would suggest you improve your tenant selection criteria and ask questions about why a couple with one baby need a 3 bedroom house.
That’s unfair David. Anyone of us could have been left in this situation. It is not unusual for a couple with child to want 3 bedrooms.
With rents at a record high, you dont think that it was suspicious that a couple with a new baby and all the attendent expense would shell out for a 3 bed house. The ones that apply for my properties dont even want 2 beds, they are usually looking to squeeze into a one bed.
Thank you David 22. I actually thought that they might want to have more kids and settle for a long time. Alas I am wrong.
I believe it’s only classed as an HMO is there are locks on the bedroom doors?
I’m afraid that’s not correct Amanda29. In this case it would be classed as an HMO if there are at least 3 people in total living there. It may be licensable by the local authority if they’ve elected to do this. Even if its not, the full HMO Management Regulations would apply. If there are 5 or more people living there, it would be mandatory licensable.
Yemisi, as the original tenant appears to be breaking the rules of the contract, there should be no reason to wait the full 6 months. I would however write 5o the original tenant 9recorded delivery) stating that they cannot sublet and that if the re is any evidence they will be evicted.
Just an add on to my previous reply. You may also find yourself in a heap of trouble if any “accidents” happen as you will be culpable. You will most likely not be covered by insurance, so I suggest you do covert surveillance and get them out asap.
Good luck Yemis I was nearly in this position myself and this is not uncommon at all now people sublet through air BnB. You could go to booking.com and air BnB and do a search on your postcode to see if it’s being advertised. I found the thread really useful a stark warning to all of us.
I have a simple rule that covers the grey areas. “Nobody is allowed to stay in the property whose name is not on the tenancy agreement”.
Get a section 21 actioned straightaway.
@Geoff just interested is this worded exactky as you have put how would a family member staying iver for a few nights or even family friend visiting fir few nights go on is there a stipulation that they cannot stay for x amount of time or is it just a blanket ban on ANYONE staying
Not sure banning all overnight stays would be legal - certainly not enforceable, as it is their home to enjoy. Some tenancy agreements do not ban subletting, so you would need to check this. However, if you are unhappy, ask them to leave either formally or informally.
Hi Gary, it’s the only way to stop all this sub letting. I interview potential tenants informing them that only the persons named on the STA are authorised to stay in the property overnight. They sign an agreement document to abide by this rule and understand clearly that I will issue S21 if they breach the condition.
Hi Tricia, tenants have a right to the peaceful enjoyment of the property they are renting. That does not include subletting by telling lies to the landlord they are family members. Easier to say named tenants only are authorised otherwise you are granting licence to the tenant to take advantage