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.

*contract

in all the properties I rented, bought and visited, you could escape by the windows and needed a key to open the doors when locked...

I don't know anyone who has a fire blanket or does a yearly gas check

So what? You don't know everyone. Most if not all gas companies offer yearly checks, anyone with any sense has a fire blanket in their kitchen, and there are thousands of properties with doors with Yale locks.

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

People on this thread are seriously naive. For a landlord as happy to disregard the law as this one plainly was, asking a question would be a very quick route to eviction.

He can't escape from the window in his room. The small section at the top opens which is too high and too small. The rest of the window is just a big glass pane with no hinges.

Some people are like this - proud to exploit and demand their rights loudly wherever they are, demanding the letter of the law and never considering anyone else or the implications beyond making a quick opportunistic buck.

What implications? The implication that this landlord will no longer be able to carry on putting impoverished people in danger? That he will be stopped from disregarding laws designed to stop exploitation and keep people safe? How absolutely dreadful of OP not to have considered these.

My Landlord was reported for our 3 flats being an unlicensed HMO & no fire alarm & no fire safety doors. It took 2years of letters he ignored before they threatened legal action (shortly after Grenfell they had a crackdown on a lot of rogue private landlords where I live in NE London) & even then he was given another 3months to get it done. You'll likely not get any £ but you will get a safer place for future lodgers.

I hope you're very certain that the landlord and the other tenants don't have any detrimental knowledge about your son- drug taking, criminal activity, claiming benefits he's not entitled to, non payment of council tax? It could seriously backfire on your son unfortunately
Also, even in the unlikely event that you could reclaim the rent, it wouldn't actually be £6000 would it? By your own admission, the rent also included bills so his share of the gas, electric, council tax that should have been paid, water rates, landline and broadband would need to be deducted to find the actual rent element.
Like others on here, I think you're being very oportunistic.

Isn't any reporting up to DS to decide?

& as he didn't do so throughout his time lodging there, & you seem more concerned about gas regs / fire hazard for future lodgers who you are never going to meet that you were about your son for the duration of his stay there, what is your actual motivation here?

Do you want to cause trouble for the landlord, are you looking for money back, or are you genuinely more concerned about reporting now your son is safe from any fire hazard than you were when he was apparently exposed to it?

Weird.

I want to stop him from letting out the room again.
But were happy for your own son to remain there for however long it was, despite your concerns?

We didn't report it because then he would have had nowhere else to live
Making an anonymous report to the council does not cause a person to instantly lose their home. The landord would not even have known if it was a tenant, & even if he suspected, he would not know which one.
The place would not have been closed down & all lodgers thrown on the street because a complaint had been made. It takes time, investigation & procedures, & it's likely a complaint could have resulted in at least some of the issues fixed for your son to enjoy better living circumstances - had you complained while he was actually living there.

So I'm still none the wiser as to your motivations.

He can't escape from the window in his room. The small section at the top opens which is too high and too small. The rest of the window is just a big glass pane with no hinges.

If only there was a way to penetrate a large expanse of fragile material to escape from danger...oh wait...hmm... you’re right he was doomed if there was a fire.

OP...your son took advantage of the cheap rent knowing all of this wasn’t above board. And now that I’m presuming he doesn’t need to you are looking for a way to profit. You can couch this in all the faux concern in the world but you are greedy plain and simple. I’m going to give your son the benefit of the doubt here and assume this is your idea.

OP, well if your DS would have been on the streets if he hadn't used this awful landlord, it is a good job that the lodger (or his mum) who had the room before your DS didn't make that complaint to the local council, or your DS would have been homeless! I guess you don't care that the potential next lodger in that house (maybe a young male or female who has left home for the first time) would now be homeless, instead of at least having a roof over their head, or do you think that your precious child is/was the only child in the UK in that predicament?? This is all about your DS, and getting his money back - even though he did have a service for it - or are you now trying to imply that any future resident's health and safety is more important to you than your DS's was? IMHO OP you are being both very selfish, and ingenious, and if you are not prepared for any 'negative' comments I suggest that you don't post on MN in the future!

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/renting-privately/during-your-tenancy/complaining-about-your-landlord/

Check out this advice from Citizens Advice about how to deal with any complaints you have about your landlord. You will see that going to the Council and court is always a last resort.
Even if you do report him, the chance of you getting a refund are low as you haven’t raised the issue previously and they will recognise you for the chancer you are.

Strange that you only want to report this now he's leaving. We're these things not a concern or annoying enough to report during his time in the property?
The possibility of 12 months rent back must be exciting hmm?

Funny how OP is ignoring all the posts pointing out there are plenty of legit HMOs her ds could have had. Mind you a legit one wouldn't have been worth a £6k windfall...

If only there was a way to penetrate a large expanse of fragile material to escape from danger...oh wait...hmm... you’re right he was doomed if there was a fire.

Not all glass is breakable, particularly if double glazing is used.

Even if you do report him, the chance of you getting a refund are low as you haven’t raised the issue previously

Rent tribunals are well aware that tenants are often in a position where they can't realistically report whilst the tenancy subsists. It's all very well saying they can move elsewhere, but they will usually need a deposit and a reference for that purpose and the existing landlord could make life very awkward on both counts.

Your son must be cringing with embarrassment over this. I bet he wants nothing to do with it - it's very clear you're the pushy parent driving it.

Bear in mind that it is he who has the contract with the landlord and it is he who will have to follow it through to the rent tribunal if you take it that far.
Perhaps it will then be picked up by the local media - these sort of cases often are because the NGOs are pushing the 'Evil Bastard Landlord' narrative at every turn these days. Your son's name will then be splashed all over the place, shared on Facebook etc.
When he applies for a job, or if he ever needs to rent again, it will be the first thing a future employer or landlord will find out about him and they will think 'ah, troublemaker, steer clear.'

Be careful what you wish for, OP.

You or your son should have reported this at the START of his tenancy. You are being CFs wanting his rent back. (I do agree that the LL needs reporting though.)

I cannot seriously believe that there is a SINGLE person on this thread supporting a landlord who has clearly contravened building regulations , fire safety requirements and breaches of HMO licensing. (All of which are in law for a bloody good reason.)

I work on a multi agency team and sit next to the housing enforcement officer.
She has just confirmed that the onus is ENTIRELY on the landlord.
The fact that the tenant didn't report earlier is of absolutely no interest to them. The fault for renting out substandard property lies entirely with the landlord. It is their responsibility to make themselves aware of the law related to the letting of property and to properly comply with all parts of that law. It's not optional !

The tenant has no culpability at all. Regardless of how long he has lived there.

As for getting the rent back.. yes that is possible. . and a lesson to landlords not to cut corners. However it will take the tenant taking the landlord to court. (If the landlord refuses to pay up)

For all you supporting the poor landlord... I would consider £6k very cheap for risking people's lives !

I cannot seriously believe that there is a SINGLE person on this thread supporting a landlord

PatchworkPatty - it's possible to not support the landlord while simultaneously feeling consternation/bewilderment about a mother who feels the dangerous living conditions are ok for her son to live in, but need to be reported after said son is safely moved out - & who justifies that DoubleThink by maintaining that her son could have lost his home if the landlord was reported, but is OK with current tenants losing their home when she reports the landlord.

It's all a bit boggling & unreal feeling ...

Mushypeasandchipstogo really sad to read your comment. That anyone could condone contravention of fire regs/gas safety as 'CFuckery' defies belief.

IFTHE LL HADNT BROKEN THE LAW
no one could 'take advantage'

TIS the price you pay for being a substandard LL

Please do report him. He is breaking the law. Hopefully the Council will issue him a notice giving him X amount of time to rectify the issue (which I understand is common). Hopefully there will be no penalties applied and definitely hope your son doesn't see a penny of it. He chose the situation, he wasn't vulnerable, nothing happened to him.

We need to stop opportunitic people like you who are prepared to put their lives in danger to extract large sum of money there are no good reasons for them to recieve.

@patchworkpatty have you actually read the thread?

Almost no-one said do not report.

And nobody needed you to ask the person sat next to you! Everyone is perfectly clear that the LL is in the wrong, and that when this tenant (or rather, mummy) reports it has no bearing on that.

The discussion is separate, that plenty of us think OP’s son should get on and report - and lucky for him, possibly claim back his rent - but we think the OP is having a laugh when she says money isn’t her motivation for reporting.

You need to RTFT!

Why not ask your housing enforcement colleague “why do you include a potential penalty of returning rent?”. They will tell you “because it creates an incentive to report, for people who wouldn’t have bothered purely on safety grounds”.

You're just doing it to get money back for your son who lived there happily for however long and should have been paying rent so he's not entitled to any of it back. If you were so unhappy with it, you should have reported it long a go or got your son to leave. The landlord has 3 lodgers, soon to be two. It's not a massive big deal and there's not hoards of people living there making it a fire risk. I imagine the rent is also cheaper than if it was an HMO. I would say leave it alone, you're doing it for the wrong reasons really

We need to stop opportunistic people like you who are prepared to put their lives in danger to extract large sum of money there are no good reasons for them to receive.

^This 100%

Yes, the LL should get his act together but you and your son shouldn't get a penny.
I doubt the house is that dangerous - let's not forget the LL is living there too - and if it had been that dangerous for your son then any decent mother would have made sure the issues were resolved sooner.

Interestingly the responses to the Leeds Uni students (who made the news when they successfully fought a similar issue with their landlord) were very mixed, not least because they admitted it was a clean, comfortable, reasonably-priced place which they'd enjoyed living in, and they were looking forward to paying off their overdraft and going on holiday.

Parasites.