Can anyone advise me … I own a property in Brighton. I have just renewed contract with my tenant October 8 and for a third year i have not put the rent up… (£2000pcm)
Today she has informed me that she accidentally opened a letter meant for me and sent me a copy… fine… It was from the council letting me know that i would now require a licence to rent my property… Approx £690 a year… The letter also said it was a follow up from a letter they had sent to my rental property in September , which i did not receive .
I am really upset/ angry… Had she passed on this letter i would prob have increased her rent by £50pcm in october to absorb this extra cost… Is there anything i can do? I am stretched enough as it is…
I have a 12 month contract with 4 month break clause …
If you self-manage, its is vital that you keep yourself abreast of changes in Landlord rules. I can see various news articles about this scheme including on the BBC website in March 2024. Had you seen nothing about this being introduced?
When you say you have reviewed the contract. Have you signed a new contract? If so, you will be tied into the rent level until the minimum term on that contract has expired. There was no need to sign a new contract, especially as you were not increasing the rent, as you could have allowed it to roll into periodic which would now have given you the opportunity to increase the rent.
it wasn’t addressed to me by name . just as the “owner”… why would they have my address? (I’m sure they do somewhere) I’ve never needed to communicate with them since moving out of the property
Wouldve thought if you had moved out the property it wouldve been common sense to set up a mail redirection with the Post Office so it would have come to you
As a tenant unless specifically asked I wouldnt Keep every letter that was sent in your name I would probably just bin them as i would think they would be unimportant as you wouldve informed the important people
Would the council not have your address as you possibly informed them you would be moving out and not responsible for the Council Tax possibly and took over the CT at somewhere else
Its because you have not notified the council that you are the leaseholder, this is one of the requirements when you buy a leasehold in a block still owned by council, its your fault. There are quite strict deadlines for doing this.
Landlords dont need to renew tenancies as they just become periodic on the same terms and you can decline a tenants request for a renewal
Landlords should review the rent annually in line with market rents regardless of their costs
Landlords should not need the Council to send them reminders about not breaking the law. You may end up with a fine as well as the licence fee and its not your tenants fault
The fee is for 5 years, (or what remains of the current 5 year term) not one year.
If youre that stretched financially and dont have the time to learn the trade, then maybe you should be thinking of selling up as the costs are going to increase next year with the RRB.
So thats why she opened it you are the owner she is the resident
Also am curious (general question) why do you need a licence to rent your property I get the impression from your Original post that its just a house or flat you rent I could umderstand better if it was a HMO
In response to your general question. Many Councils operate something known as Selective Licencing where landlords of regular flats and houses which are not HMOs have to apply and pay for.