Updating post from Reddit.
Hello,
I have rented out a 3 bed house to a family 2 years ago - I was provided the right to rent ID documents for the lady who is on the tenancy agreement and the letting agents at the time mentioning she was a single mother and had 3 children.
Recently the local council have put in to place selective licensing scheme, which my property will fall under so I am applying for this license. Under this, based on the councils own calculations and room sizes only 4 people max can live at the property.
I contacted the letting agent to confirm it was the woman and her 3 children living there. They now say there is a husband also living there, which I was unaware of. I have visited the property twice and never seen/heard of a husband before. The tenancy agreement has always been with the woman so it's still let out to one family, but 2 questions:
Should the husband be made to provide his right to rent ID documents as technically the tenancy agreement is with his wife only? However, my thinking is he is also an adult over 18 so there would be a duty to ensure he can legally occupy the property?
With the new selective licensing coming in to play, would I have to evict the family bearing in mind the rental agreement had begun way before the property was under the selective licensing catchment area?
Cover your back, don’t doing anything helpful to the tenants like cover up for the husband, as the tenants can claim for RRO.
What do you mean by cover my back? Would they be able to claim RRO when it's not a HMO (it's one family), nor am I managing an unlicensed property (as the application in in process).
I was planning to ask for the husband's documents and reshare that when the tenancy started they only shared the wife's right to rent documents and she had never mentioned the husband either.
I would think this is a breach of tenancy and puts you at risk of fines. Basically you need to make sure all adults have right to rent checks and you haven't got the husband's checks in place. They have sort of put you in a tricky situation if they lied about that what else are they hiding?
Agreed - aside from getting the husband's documents now I'm not sure what else I can really do. I have the emails from when it was initially rented out which only ever mentioned the wife as the tenant (she signed the agreement) and her right to rent documents. I have always received the rent on time and property seems to be kept in ok condition, no major issues aside from wear and tear (which is to be expected).
Section 22 Immigration Act 2014 states:
(1)A landlord must not authorise an adult to occupy premises under a residential tenancy agreement if the adult is disqualified as a result of their immigration status.
(2)A landlord is to be taken to “authorise” an adult to occupy premises in the circumstances mentioned in subsection (1) if (and only if) there is a contravention of this section.
(3)There is a contravention of this section in either of the following cases.
(4)The first case is where a residential tenancy agreement is entered into that, at the time of entry, grants a right to occupy premises to—
(a)a tenant who is disqualified as a result of their immigration status,
(b)another adult named in the agreement who is disqualified as a result of their immigration status, or
(c)another adult not named in the agreement who is disqualified as a result of their immigration status (subject to subsection (6)).
(5)The second case is where—
(a)a residential tenancy agreement is entered into that grants a right to occupy premises on an adult with a limited right to rent,
(b)the adult later becomes a person disqualified as a result of their immigration status, and
(c)the adult continues to occupy the premises after becoming disqualified.
(6)There is a contravention as a result of subsection (4)(c) only if—
(a)reasonable enquiries were not made of the tenant before entering into the agreement as to the relevant occupiers, or
(b)reasonable enquiries were so made and it was, or should have been, apparent from the enquiries that the adult in question was likely to be a relevant occupier.
(7)Any term of a residential tenancy agreement that prohibits occupation of premises by a person disqualified by their immigration status is to be ignored for the purposes of determining whether there has been a contravention of this section if—
(a)the landlord knew when entering into the agreement that the term would be breached, or
(b)the prescribed requirements were not complied with before entering into the agreement.
So the question would be at the time of entering into the agreement did you know or should you likely have known that this family actually included an adult who you should have also run right to rent checks on?
When checking their affordability for rent how did they pass affordability checks as a single mother? Are they in receipt of Universal Credit housing element that covers all or most of the rent? What is her income? Could she have afforded the property on her own? Should you have noticed that she's actually topping up her income with money from a mysterious source that now turns out to be this husband?
If it actually turns out you were unaware and reasonably couldn't have been aware she'd move someone else in as an occupant (and not tenant) then you should be fine.
If it turns out you were unaware but reasonably should have known she'd require another adult occupant to help out (even if they're not named as a tenant) then you may be in trouble.
Thank you for sharing. The woman is a council tenant in receipt of universal credit/housing allowance which is how I knew the rent would be covered.
If the tenant is council tenant, I believe council wouldn’t charge any fee for license. They may also be ok for the time being until they find suitable accommodation for them. It might be a good idea to speak to council about the situation.
Thanks - I did reread the rules for licensing and have emailed in to ask about families. Once granted, if overcrowded they do give you 18 months to manage the situation (ie ask to vacate) but also online I've read some of the councils are more lenient if it is one family living there and some of the occupants are children below 10 (which they are in this case), so I am confirming the same with them. Ideally don't want to have to evict if it's not necessary.
Right to rent checks, yes. For all adults you know are living there, as you're essentially allowing them to be there as a permitted occupier if you know they're there and are allowing them to live there. Definitely you need to do your best to get it, why wouldn't you really - it's fairly basic due diligence.
Is this going to need a licence for multiple occupancy, no. Good news! They're all one family, related. One household.
You assume they are married. OP need to confirm their relationship status too by asking for evidence !
I don't think it's me assuming it when OP specified that it's the woman's husband.
No OP doesn't. The test for a household is "living together as if married" so all OP needs to do is ask if they're partners in that sense.
Thanks for confirming - the woman herself referred to him as her husband in the email confirming number of occupants. I would take that 'living together as if married' if not legally married as she herself is referring to him as a husband.