AST - failure to contract

[new in business]

Hi All,
I am new to this forum and I am lookig for some answers, hopefuly you could help me
Do you maybe know what action (in the worst case scenario) Landlord/Agency could take if they find out i have an extra person living with me (this person is not on the contract and that would be the 5th person living with me).
Many thanks
Regards

[Snorkerz]

Are you in England/Wales?
Are the occupants of your house (inc the extra) related?
How many floors to the house
Is there anything in the agreement about sharing?
Are there many shared houses in your area?
Are you near to a University/College?
Do you and the other 3 have one joint contract - or 4 separate ones?

[new in business]

Hi, it was just a theoretical question as I am just someone whos hobby is property market and I've stucked at this point with my searches and cant find answers.
So lets say i'll take my friends house as a sample.
The house is in England
The occupants aren't related
It is a three story house
What do you mean if there is anything in the agreement about sharing? My friends rent the whole house (not as a separate bedsits)
There are many shared houses in this area.
We are about 6 miles from University and 3 from College (just being curious why would that be important?)
My friends got one joint contract.
Thanks so much for your response

[jjlandlord]

My friends rent the whole house (not as a separate bedsits)
There are many shared houses in this area.
We are about 6 miles from University and 3 from College (just being curious why would that be important?)
My friends got one joint contract.

Theoretically, this is very precise.

[new in business]

An average sample for me as quite few of my friends rent house like this

[Snorkerz]

Hi, it was just a theoretical question as I am just someone whos hobby is property market and I've stucked at this point with my searches and cant find answers.
So lets say i'll take my friends house as a sample.
The house is in England
The occupants aren't related
It is a three story house
What do you mean if there is anything in the agreement about sharing? My friends rent the whole house (not as a separate bedsits)
There are many shared houses in this area.
We are about 6 miles from University and 3 from College (just being curious why would that be important?)
My friends got one joint contract.
Thanks so much for your response

A 3 storey house with 4 occupants would be a HMO - but in most circumstances would NOT require the landlord to obtain a license. However, add one extra person into that mix, and a license becomes compulsory - so the landlord would have good reason to evict you as by adding the extra unauthorised person, you would be either making him incur considerable extra cost (licensing and any improvements demanded by the authority) or break the law - with potential for huge fines.

My questions with regard to universities / orther shared houses are an attempt to identify if your area is one that the local authority has decided to impose additional licensing on. If so, then your property may already be a licensed HMO. It will be licensed for a certain number of people. If the occupants are within that number, then the worst that is likely to happen (in the real world) is your tenancy agreement would not be renewed if the landlord objected to the extra person. HOWEVER, if the propery is licensed for 4, and the extra person makes 5, then eviction is again likely for the same reasons outlined in the previous paragraph.

With regard to 'sharing' many tenancy agreements say that you can not share or sublet the property to others - in which case (depending on the wording) the landlord could try to evict you under section 8 (ground 12) of the 1988 Housing Act.

[westminster]

Hi, it was just a theoretical question as I am just someone whos hobby is property market

Strange hobby. Do you go HMO spotting?

[westminster]

P.S. What does the title of the thread mean and how is it related to your post?

[new in business]

Thanks Snorkerz for your reply. Now i get it
So the license would be the reason why Landlords/Agency want 4 people on a contract and in some cases don't want to "officially" know about the 5th, 6th etc?

[new in business]

Hi Westminster
Not everybody likes reading romances
What HMO spotting is??

[Snorkerz]

Thanks Snorkerz for your reply. Now i get it
So the license would be the reason why Landlords/Agency want 4 people on a contract and in some cases don't want to "officially" know about the 5th, 6th etc?

It is certainly a possibility

[new in business]

P.S. What does the title of the thread mean and how is it related to your post?

yeah all i should put in the title was breaking a contract by tenant

[new in business]

It is certainly a possibility

so if I am a Landlord and got 5 potential tenants but i dont have that licence for my house i would have to refuse singing contract with them?

[mariner]

So the license would be the reason why Landlords/Agency want 4 people on a contract and in some cases don't want to "officially" know about the 5th, 6th etc?

I don't think that is what Snorkez said, he just gave one possible reason.
I would think a LL would want to know about anyone living in their property and not just 'visiting'. He prob ran ckecks on legit Ts who may have Guarantees which would not cover an unregistered T. IMO any extra could become a squatter if the others vacated. For many other reasons an 'other' should always be notified to LL

[Snorkerz]

so if I am a Landlord and got 5 potential tenants but i dont have that license for my house i would have to refuse singing contract with them?

NO, you would have the choice to either:
Get a HMO license, or get your HMO license changed (if the property would then become a licensable HMO); or
Refuse the tenancy to those people, and find some who could legally live there.

That is assuming that changing the property from 4 to 5 people would make the property a licensable HMO. A HMO spread over 2 floors can sleep as many as you like - so long as it isn't in an area that the local authority has decided doesn't need additional licensing.

The basic premise is that if the property is 3 storeys or more AND contains 5 or more unrelated individuals, then it HAS to be licensed. If it doesn't meet these criteria, it MAY still need to be licensed if it is in an area where the local authority have decided additional licensing is required - ie places where a surfeit of HMOs may become a problem.

I am not 100% sure on this - so check it out if it is relevant to you - but I believe the penalty for a non-licensed (licensable) HMO is iro £10k with an additional £1k for any breach of the regulations (mainly safety related) that is found.