Hi rent flat out Tenant had been there 3 years, he had plans on moving out but never informed us he had done so! First we knew was council tax bill to us!!! But the rent is still being paid. Have asked the tenant who said he has moved his brother in law 2 months ago? So question is what do I need to do to make sure we are covered? Our useal agent has now put there fees up to stupid with the renter reform bill coming in!! Many thanks
give notice and serve a s21 - tenant has moved somebody in without your permission [and may be subletting], do you want to entrust your property to somebody who blatantly ignores the contract terms. They are in breach of [from the OR sample AST]
9.26. To use the Premises solely for the purposes of a private residence for the Tenant and any other persons specially permitted by Landlord to occupy
9.39. Not to assign sublet or part with or share possession of the Premises or any part of it nor allow the Premises to be occupied by anyone other than the Tenant and no more than the maximum number of permitted persons [the Occupancy] without the prior written consent of the Landlord
they will be in breach in other ways too eg standard AST says “9.5. Unless otherwise agreed in writing.. to pay the Council tax’
-if they arent living there, they cant be maintaining it, keeping it clean etc
If brother in law wishes to stay, you can consider a whole new AST with him, but you will want to do referencing etc all over again, and fact they have suggested to Council you are responsible for Ctax when brother in law is living there so responsible is not a good start.
There are plenty of other tenants out there, no need to keep people in your place who are unreferenced [which will also invalidate your insurance, so another breach by the tenant], so either organise things properly with brother in law as a new tenant, or get somebody else.
Also worth getting an inspection done asap [and asking agent when they last did one]
Good luck
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er… you were using an agent for this let?
The tenancy hasn’t ended and your tenant is still liable for the rent and all other bills in his name. Your tenancy agreement probably also makes him responsible for the Council Tax whilst the tenancy is ongoing. You would have to pay this to the Council and recover the costs from him though.
Don’t accept any rent from anyone other than the tenant or you could create a tenancy for the brother in law.
What do you want to happen? I would be looking to remove them and start again. You’re probably going to need help from a landlord and tenant solicitor to evict, but I would be serving both s21 and a common law Notice to Quit on your tenant now. If the tenant has told you he’s left and you know he’s not living there, his tenancy is no longer assured. If he doesnt move back in, then the tenancy ends when the NtQ expires. At this point the BiL is a tresspasser with no rights and you can change the locks whilst he’s out. I wouldnt attempt this without that solicitor though.
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