AIBU for not letting my lodger go on the council tax bill?

[Georgeoftheinternet]

She’s under the assumption it will give her magical powers with regards to residency and it’s a better utility bill. I’ve already put her on the water and electric (2 by mistake) and she keeps on asking me to put her on the council tax.

She’s got an eu passport but from South America. Wants residency.

I’ve told her to get on the electoral roll as it’s good for credit checks/finding your last address etc.

I’ve given her a utility bill (was easy to add at 7pm on a Friday night and bill the next day).

She’s under the assumption that it’s going to help her open a bank account and the banks have already told her the water utility bill is fine.

I’ve lived overseas for many years and came back - so I’ve gone through this process.

She’s read that if you are in council tax arrears it can affect your permanent resident status - she’s read this as “if you don’t pay council tax” which she does, as part of her rent.

I’ve told her to get a driving licence as it’s good ID and address.

I just don’t want to feel pressurised into doing stuff because she disbelieves everything I say.

[quote Georgeoftheinternet]@YellowBeryl1 why are you assuming I’m claiming the single persons rent?[/quote]
Because if only one person is named on the account then you get it automatically as well you know

@Georgeoftheinternet

Sub tenants and lodgers are different things, so you're wrong there.

You do need to be on the electoral role, or you face a fine of £1000, so you're wrong there.

You automatically get the single person discount and the council think you're the only adult living there, so you're commuting fraus there.

HTH

I'm think like missnevermind that you have to be entitled to vote to go on the Electoral Register.

In any case tell her to contact the Electoral Registrar

Whoa no this is a REALLY bad idea.

Get her name off the bills.

Lodger's rights are clear - and there are not many of them. Renters = very, very different. You're on the path to giving her 'proof' that she is a tenant in the house with responsibilities that go beyond keeping her one room clean. And I am pretty sure that she might know that and the residency thing is quite possibly a sideline to her being well aware that with her name on some bills, if you tell her to leave she can chance her arm at going to Citizens Advice and telling them she's a tenant but you've never given her a contract, look, here, I'm even on the bills - can she throw me out. And they'd probably tell her to sit tight, not pay anything and wait for you to go through an expensive eviction process to get rid of her.

Worst case scenario, but why the fuck would you risk it?

And, more to the point - I just don’t want to feel pressurised into doing stuff because she disbelieves everything I say. - oooh no. Seriously, if you are in this dynamic with someone who is supposed to be your lodger then GET RID. If you cannot say to someone in this position 'Sorry, my house my rules - if you don't like it, you're going to have to move on' - then you should not be having a lodger.

I think you do need to be entitled to vote in order to register, but the OP made a blanket statement in a previous post that no one actually needs to be on the electoral role. That's wrong. If you're entitled to be on it then not registering is a crime.

Hey my sister lives in the house as well, so you can put a dampener on your single person discount rubbish.

EU residents could vote in some elections (not general, but EU and I think local).

Currently, they're still listed as able to register, but I'm not sure what's going to happen with that next year. As others said, she needs to get that sorted.

She needs to be a British or EU citizen to be on the electoral roll.

You say she pays council tax as part of the bill, then she should be on the bill, surely? If she isn't on it, she shouldn't have to pay the council tax?

@Georgeoftheinternet

The thing is, I’ve faked a utility bill to get car finance. It was my parents bill and I just changed my name. I removed the QR code and that was it. No one can check the account with the utility company so I know these don’t mean anything.

So you committed fraud for financial gain.

Nice.

Op, I work in immigration and I can confirm that your lodger does not need to be on the council tax, this will not affect her application. If she is a EU:/ EEA national she will only have to provide evidence of 5 years continuous residence in the UK. This can be done by providing payslips, utility bills, p60/ P45. Being on the council tax does not add any weight to the application.

@YoniAndGuy

Whoa no this is a REALLY bad idea.

Get her name off the bills.

Lodger's rights are clear - and there are not many of them. Renters = very, very different. You're on the path to giving her 'proof' that she is a tenant in the house with responsibilities that go beyond keeping her one room clean. And I am pretty sure that she might know that and the residency thing is quite possibly a sideline to her being well aware that with her name on some bills, if you tell her to leave she can chance her arm at going to Citizens Advice and telling them she's a tenant but you've never given her a contract, look, here, I'm even on the bills - can she throw me out. And they'd probably tell her to sit tight, not pay anything and wait for you to go through an expensive eviction process to get rid of her.

Worst case scenario, but why the fuck would you risk it?

And, more to the point - I just don’t want to feel pressurised into doing stuff because she disbelieves everything I say. - oooh no. Seriously, if you are in this dynamic with someone who is supposed to be your lodger then GET RID. If you cannot say to someone in this position 'Sorry, my house my rules - if you don't like it, you're going to have to move on' - then you should not be having a lodger.

I think that’s the issue. I go from the extreme of not wanting to cause conflict and being a pushover to not negotiating.

I truly don’t think she cares about the tenant thing.

She’s started to annoy me as well and I wish she would move out. Me getting a new kitchen was meet with - why did you change the sink and now I can’t find anything tut tut.

She now smokes weed (outside) and smokes. She started to leave the new kitchen and bathroom dirty. She doesn’t do what I ask her to do - eg don’t come in the front door with your bike because my new worktops are behind the front door and there is no room. Huff huff. Etc. Which is weird as she was leaving her bike around the back randomly over the past few months.

Issue is I need her money :/

@Maze76 what what, five years? She’s been here a year. Do you have any links I can read?

@Hopeisnotastrategy fraud means you gain something. Nothing to be gained when they refused my car finance because I hadn’t lived in the country for long enough lol

Does she have limited/ discretionary leave to remain on a student visa?

@KarmaNoMore I don’t think it’s about trust, it’s about her not listening and thinking she’s right about every thing. She’s never used an iPhone but thought I was incorrect when I was struggling to take out the SIM card. Rolls eyes.

@Maze76 she’s not on a student via. She has an eu passport.

Ok so you don’t like her - ask her to leave.

And to be honest - faking a bill to get finance is most definitely fraud - your gain was quite literally money.

Is it hard to get new lodgers where you are?

I thought I read that she was studying here? go into this site www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families look up eu settlement- this will give you everything you need to know.

@Hopeisnotastrategy

@Georgeoftheinternet
The thing is, I’ve faked a utility bill to get car finance. It was my parents bill and I just changed my name. I removed the QR code and that was it. No one can check the account with the utility company so I know these don’t mean anything.

So you committed fraud for financial gain

Nice

I thought that. Seems landlady and lodger are on the same page when it comes to ethics.

Fraud is when you falsify something with the intention of personal gain using the false info. You dont have to be successful for it to be called fraud.

she’s got no European address as she lived in Europe for a few months.

How did she manage to get an Eu passport?