I am getting divorce and probably going to have to sell my property I rent out. I told my tenant that its possible I will have to put the house up early next year and asked if he would want to buy it. He has lived there about 6 years and I have had no problems with him, but he isn’t in a position to buy the property unfortunately. I was then contacted by his wife, who said she wasnt sure if I was aware but she has been living there with him but they are seperating but living together, but with my news it means she would end up getting a place on her own with her child. She said she spoken with someone at the council and they need to see proof that she is on the tenancy agreement and she realised she isnt (which is because when he took the tenancy on he had seperated from her, but I guess they got back together). She wanted to me backdate it or write a letter saying she was on the tenancy. Which I am not going to do.
If I wasn’t considering selling I maybe would consider creating a new tenancy agreement but I believe that would mean I would not be able to serve a section 21 when I do come to sell it for the first 4 month of the tenancy, so dont want to get stuck with waiting. Also, I can’t say I am too happy about not being told she had moved in and whether this story of them seperating is actually true.
As I’m too nice to be a landlord I think and there is a child involved I want to do what is best for everyone but without disadvantaging myself. With some googling I came across something called a Permitted Occupier. I wondered if I could write a letter saying that I have given permisison for her as a Permitted Occupier instead. It gives her some proof that she has lived there and hopefully doesn’t cause me any additional issues over an above what could happen when I do have to serve the Section 21.
Spousal privilege affords her rights of being a tenant without being on the agreement.
Your tenant should have told you regarding the wife. Good tenants are not clandestine about such things .
Is she really his wife. There is a child involved . How old is the child ?
Was the council tax bill based on single occupancy for her duration there?
However their problem is not your problem . Never back date or do anything that could cause you problems.
This may be Pandora’s box
Is this a scam of sorts ?How was she receiving child support etc?
All of this doesn’t bode well for you.
I would stay well clear of this and not even mention spousal privilege .
This may be a ruse for them to get to the top of the list for social housing .
Stay clear of any amendments back dated or future ones .
This has dodgy written all over it
The wife may have similar rights in some circumstances under family law. However, other than advising her to go to CAB, I would agree that this is not something you should get involved in.
Forging a legal document to help someone get Council accommodation is fraud and could result in prosecution and a banning order.
I agree 100% with the previous posts. The only thing that I would add is that the landlord has never met the tenants wife and from nowhere she is asking him to do something dishonest and probably illegal. Even if she was to be added as a Permitted Occupier, the request would need to come from the tenant himself.
Permitted Occupier, on the agreement, sounds an excellent idea. I feel sure that is what the National Residential Landlords Association Advisors, on their telephone helpline, would have suggested.
I wholeheartedly recommend joining them, if you continue to be a landlord.
All the best
Oriel
P.S. Sorry to hear about a possible divorce.
P.S. Having studied law and taken on cases, as former Organising Secretary of Islington Conservatives, I know that the Children’s Act, of England and Wales, protects any person, with children, living with them under the age of 18, to supply them with a roof over their heads. So they could go to their local council and request temporary accommodation, once made “homeless”, if there is no permanent Council housing to offer them, so I wouldn’t worry too much about the wife and child! Worry about yourself! Charity for me begins at home!