Should I report DS's landlord to the council?

[Cherryma]

DS lives in Brighton which has some of the strictest housing regulations in the country. Currently he's a lodger with a live-in landlord (I know that lodgers have fewer rights than tenants). There are 2 other lodgers in the property. He's moving out next week (staying in Brighton).

In Brighton, you are allowed to have 2 lodgers without a licence, any more than that and it's classed as a house of multiple occupation if the lodgers aren't related to each other, which requires a licence and planning permission (I know the landlord has neither of these). HMOs have certain regulations which I know are not being followed.

HMO residents should be allowed to individually control the heating in their bedrooms which they can't do. There should be internal thumb turn locks on the front and back doors to escape the property without using a key, in the event of fire. There are just normal locks which require keys. There is no fire blanket in the kitchen when there should be. A gas safety inspection should be carried out every year and a copy of the certificate given to the residents. They have never had this.

He live in area in Brighton with lots of HMOs, I have read online that licences have been refused in his area as local residents and the council have agreed there are too many. The landlord probably hasn't applied for one as they know it would be rejected. The landlord could be fined £20,000 by the council, additionally paying back the lodgers 12 months' rent and have the property being banned from running as an HMO indefinitely. Should I report them? I live in Brighton too so it would be easy to help him with the report.

So it was ok to compromise his safety when it suited you both so he could afford somewhere to live, but it doesn't anymore. How odd.

I don't understand this line of reasoning - having no money is always going to involve compromising somewhere for a more affordable option. When I was younger and didn't have money for a cab to get home after work, I would accept the risks of walking alone in the dark, but once I was more financially stable I didn't have to compromise my safety to take the affordable option. I still don't have enough to buy a brand new car with the very latest safety features, but I can afford an older car which might be less safe, but still gets me around. It's an a risk I have to take for the sake of affordability. Don't we all do that to a greater or lesser extent?

Saying 'don't complain about poor conditions unless you can afford not to live in them' seems to penalise the wrong person. Why so much sympathy for a landlord who has been making money from those too poor to afford better conditions?

But Charity, the fact that neither you nor your son were bothered enough to mention it until he was moving out and there was no inconvenience to yourself, plus money to be made, makes you sound like an ambulance chaser.

Will you be reporting any other LLs who you know are also doing this or just the one where there is money to be made? If you knew for sure that there would be zero potential gain in it for yourself, would you be considering it? Is it because you are concerned for the safety of the next tenant or are you on the make?

I'd also be interested to know what rent he paid and how long there were 3 rather than 2 lodgers in the house.

He paid £500 a month with all bills included and he's lived there for a year, so he should be able to get a rent repayment order of £6000. Yes I would report other landlords for doing this if I knew of any. There have always been 3 lodgers in the house including him when he moved in.

I thought you said it wasnt about money? It was about safety?

You really are just after the money. And you knew about it a year ago. The plan was for him to stay for 12 months, then get all the money back. So a year of free accommodation. It's just so underhand.

You should have reported him 12 months ago. You shouldn't have hatched your little plan to get a year of free rent. Its really despicable.

I bet hope the landlord's licensed under the old regs.....

Yes I would report other landlords for doing this if I knew of any.

But not if your DS needed to live there apparently.

This really is CF territory. And I don’t mean the landlord.

I think if you were genuinely concerned about his safety then you would have complained asap. You don't say how long he lived there but did it not worry you then?

Now he is moving and you have found out you can reclaim the years rent it appears to have become an issue?

Report if it is unsafe but don't report just to make a buck.

Let me guess there are also some irregularities in your own current share and you are planning to screw your current landlord as well in order to finance your new place!

@cabbageking

He's lived there for a year, and he can claim back a years rent with the report. No doubt part of the plan. He only stayed for as long as he could get for fred.

The really does sound more like a money grab than health and safety concerns.

All of these problems should have been brought up with the landlord throughout the year, rather than when hes leaving and through an option to get money back.

Well I wouldn’t report it.

Dd lives in a similar situation with a married couple and two other students. When she first moved in it was just 2 students plus the couples daughter. The daughter moved away for work and so they decided to take in another student. I don’t see how, safety wise it’s any different. They are like a second family to the kids.

She has to move into a shared house next year as the couple are retiring from renting and I’m not looking forward to it.

We felt we couldn't bring the problems up over the year because otherwise he wouldn't have anywhere else to live. Now he has somewhere else to live we're not scared to report any more.

But it didn’t need to be reported. Asking a question wouldn’t have led to him loosing that room.

You're not going to make yourselves clean in this.

You stayed there because if the money. You're reporting because of the money. It's like when a cartoon gets dollar signs in its eyes. Thatd why you're doing it.

I find the vitriol on here saddening. And I’m a landlord. Can posters not imagine that sometimes when people don’t have much money they put up with less than ideal living conditions. I’ve been there. And yes there probably is a temptation, after the event, to make some money. Let they who have never sinned cast the first stone.

Is there a way to find out if the landlord is declaring the rent to HMRC? I wouldn't be surprised if he isn't. He got annoyed when DS updated his address so he could vote as then DS was on the council tax bill and the landlord lost the single person's discount as he didn't declare anyone else was living there. Thankfully he couldn't raise the rent to cover the council tax as the contract says all bills included.

It's all bollocks.

He paid £500 a month with all bills included
Just have a look at properties available in Brighton and Hove and you find plenty for that price... You can find house share bills included from £400 a month...If he wanted to move to similar or cheaper rent, he could have done so easily. The OP only want to make a quick buck or 2.

If the LL lives in the same property they can earn approx 7k tax free per year, the info is on www.gov.uk

Above this amount or if someone lets

a property that you don't live in. The LL should be submit a self assessment tax return. This is voluntary.
I wonder how many people run a/any business & don't submit a tax return
Do they sleep at night, because there is no escape from taxes & death. Taxes can be collected 25 years in arrears

Do you have special keys for your property incase of fire ?

If your son had issues, why weren't these addressed at the start of the tenancy ?

Cherryma I sincerely hope karma gets you back and you find the landlord you deserve.

I am wondering why you didn't bring these issues up with the landlord at the begining of the tenancy. He would then have had a chance to put the issues right and you could have had peace of mind about your son's safety. It's not a forgone conclusion that he will be prosecuted. They may give him a chance to put things right. Would that disappoint you?

As a landlord he should know what his responsibilities are before he rents out rooms. He had his chance to put things right before anyone moved in. You can't just please ignorance when any sensible person would know that being landlord obviously is going to come with rules and regulations.

I doubt the council will give him a chance to put things right. I have looked up articles in the local paper online that lots of landlords have been prosecuted for the same things. The local community and the council have locked up a stink about increasing numbers of HMOs over the years. It's a big issue in Brighton.

Wow @Cherryma so now you’re going to report to HMRC too. What an absolute knob this guy must have been for renting a room to your precious son!

Watch out. Karma is real and I hope it bites you for being so damn nasty. What exactly has he done to you to deserve all this? Merry Christmas 🎄

As a landlord he should know what his responsibilities are before he rents out rooms.

no one is disagreeing with that - but you clearly want to make money and be as spiteful to that landlord as you can.

Is that an ex or something?