Short Term Let - experience?

[markeklondon]

Hi,
Helping my son while unwell, I offered to pay rent for a short period on a short term let.
We found a flat via rightmove, listed as an OpenRent property. He contacted and met landlord today, all good, flat nice.
Landlord says “please send holding deposit of £500” and full 3 months rent and deposit (close to £5K) a week before moving in" - the day after tomorrow.
Nothing through OpenRent at all.

I guess some landlords choose to do that right? Using OpenRent just as a place for their Ad. And then wanting to avoid the taxman.

Shouldn’t necessarily be concerned?

[Mark10]

@markeklondon

And then wanting to avoid the taxman.

How does not using openrent avoid paying the taxman?

I use openrent just for advertising, I certainly pay my due taxes! Tenant pays deposit and rent direct to me.

Holding deposit cannot be more than 1 weeks rent.
Security deposit upto 5 weeks rent.

It’s a lot of money to be handing over, is the property still advertised?

Get a friend to make an application to gauge LL reply.

[David122]

Check the ownership of the property on the land registry website. It costs £3.