Hi all,
I have a couple on a joint tenancy, now periodic. They’ve been in the property for 4 years, no problems.
The wife and their young child have returned back to mainland Europe as they need greater family support network due to medical conditions .
The remaining male tenant has recently had a friend to stay for a few weeks as a house guest and has now asked if he((the friend)
can stay on a more permanent basis.
My first thought was to allow him to be a permitted occupier ( my understanding is the PO would not obtain any tenancy rights as I would accept no rent from him) .I have a concern though that if the wife returns and all 3 adults are living at the property it will become a HMO for which I will have given permission.
All advice and thoughts gladly received. I have a meeting scheduled with tenant and guest later this week.
Document everything
Document of his family return the permitted occupier will have to leave.
Also document if it does accidentally become an HMO the tenants become liable for rent increases to reflect this and any penalties incurred as a consequence of their behaviour
Tell them how much penalties are do they are under no misgivings about the consequences
We have a clause stating that if the property become liable for licensing or penalties are incurred then costs will be passed on
The only thing you can do is do regular inspections start at 4 weeks and increase intervals so at least you have due diligence on your side
I would also advise that you substantiate the story about the family leaving ( air tickets medical records). Tenants are good at hoodwinking landlords .
I’ve had a tenant allege she was abroad having surgery so couldn’t pay her bills . When I went to her house windows were open and she was bringing her bin back !!!
Yes, I’ll check everything over when I meet with them and discuss in detail . Are there any other possible pitfalls to be aware of by giving permission for this to go ahead, even if well documented.?
HMO penalties from the local authority can run into thousands
If you can avoid it I would
Someone posted on here
If it starts complicated it’s only going to get more complicated
I agree, I’ve been lucky so far in that I’ve never had this situation before.
The tenant(s) have always been decent people and it would have been much simpler if the wife hadn’t returned to the homeland as it simply couldn’t be allowed because of HMO rules. That said she may return at any time as she is a tenant and so
I’m actually thinking that the safest option for me will be to not allow the guest to remain.