My tenant’s girlfriend has moved his girlfriend in with my permission. She is not on the tenancy agreement and is classified as a ‘permitted occupier’ in legal terms. Does this mean my tenant will lose his single person discount even though she is not a tenant?
I am not sure what to advise him to do so would appreciate any thoughts on this situation. Thank you.
no discount in this situation
I wouldn’t advise him anything. Council tax is his responsibility and liability. He should put on his ‘big boy’ pants & sort it himself!
However, what I would do as Landlord is notify the council that the occupiers of the property have changed, as you would when someone moves in or out, and then its up to them to sort out what the liability is with the occupiers.
Has he heard of google or telephony?
You’re not his mum so you don’t need to advise him on this. Yes, more than one adult living at a property means that there isn’t “single occupancy” anymore.
Thanks for the advice. I have let him know that he will lose the 25% discount just in case he hadn’t realised.
Thanks for your advice on this.
Thanks for letting me know. I was not sure myself.
unnecessary Leslie. Clair is simply replying to each person who gave her advice individually to thank them. That’s more than many people who get advice here do. Being conscientious is always preferable to someone being condescending!
Sometimes I wake up grumpy , other times I let him lie in .
I would suggest reminding him the council tax is his responsibilty to ensure it is paid as per clause #x of the tenancy agreement and advise him to check with the Council whether he will lose his discount
As you want everyone in the property to be behaving legally and not risk any debts being built up listed against your address, I’d suggest you ask that the gf’s details are passed to the council tax office of your council.
For the same reasons they should also be telling the Council’s electoral register officer
Thank you for adding this comment tatemono. I like to thank people individually simply because I know it takes time and effort to reply to a landlord query. This Landlord community site has been invaluable to me and I have received excellent advice over the years I have been with Open Rent. There is a huge pool of knowledge here about the rental business and it great that people are willing to share.
Hi David, I have sent him and email and will be visiting the property shortly to get a electric certificate shortly so will talk to him about the council tax. I didn’t think about mentioning the electoral register but will mention this as well now. Thanks for the feedback and I appreciate you getting back to me.
1 dont get involved with his ctax,
2 if you have a second person living there without some form of legal agreement that is a big risk. Imagine He moves out and she stays! Squatter/ sitting tenant / solicitors bills/ house value. It happens, this should be your main concern tread carefully
Getting someone out who doesnt want to go is major stress and costly. You dont really know your tenant till after the tenancy us ended
@Priory-lodge makes a good point.
@Clair also worth thinking about the rent (and deposit) If you set it based on single occupancy you might want to indicate that at next review it will need to be higher if this will be a permanent arrangement
(2people = more wear n tear etc)
Sorry if ridiculously obvious
Good luck
Thanks for your advice and taking time to write to me. The tenant’s girlfriend has agreed to go on the tenancy agreement now so that should solve the problem. I have also sent an email to my tenant explaining about the council tax discount but will also let her know so they won’t have any nasty surprises.
Hi David
The tenant’s girlfriend has agreed to go on the tenacy agreement so I will create a new tenancy agreement so its all above board. I have also risen the rent for extra wear and tear for two people.
Thanks for getting back to me and giving me some pointers.