AIBU to want to leave our unlicensed rental before tensions worsen?

[Tiredboymum22]

Our family have been renting for seven years and we haven’t had much luck. We lived somewhere for just under 4 years before our landlord decided to sell the property. We moved somewhere else before being given notice after 6 months. I really wanted to try for a council house and move into temporary accommodation but DH refused as we had a newborn baby so we borrowed money off my mum for a bond and moved into a tiny cottage type house that was out the way for me as I don’t have a car. I was miserable there as the living room wasn’t big enough to swing a cat and it was difficult living there as a family of four.

A family member asked us if we wanted to live in her partner’s house that was in town, closer to the school, and much more spacious. We moved in about 2 years ago and have been paying below market price in rent. He’s been very good with repairs, etc., and left us furniture and everything in good working order. We were under the impression it was a long term let as he wanted to keep this house for his daughter. Anyway, he gave us notice this summer as his relationship broke down unexpectedly and he has nowhere to stay with his kids. We were going to apply for social housing and he was willing to help us before he found out he’d get in a lot of trouble for renting to us unlicensed. Since then he’s had trouble getting landlord insurance and there’s no way for him to register now without getting in a lot of trouble.

I’ve told DH that we should try and leave. The alternative is that we stay for as long as possible and the house either gets repossessed or he pays a hefty fine and can evict us properly. I know that legally he doesn’t have a leg to stand on but I feel like the decent thing to do is to try find somewhere as the latter could take years and cause tension within the family.

The boys’ bedroom is still painted pink and has his daughter’s bed in it. The boys want a bunk bed and a more boyish room but I don’t want to dismantle her bed and paint the room knowing he’s trying to move back. DH doesn’t care and says he has no empathy for him as essentially he committed tax fraud.

I just want to be done with the whole situation but I can’t move somewhere private with DH who just won’t compromise.

AIBU or is DH being unreasonable?

@Tiredboymum22 - you are unlikely to find correct and comprehensive information here. Ask at LandlordZone - as should your relative who really needs to sort out the mess he has got himself into.

The local council website and Shelter website also have useful information.

Key issues to check out are the Renters Rights Act and HMRC obligations for landlords.

Then he can* apply without me I meant

You need to leave and rent something else. If your DH won’t go go by yourself.

your relative has done you a big favour for two years.

I agree! I’d love the security of a council house but I refuse to get it that way!

You probably need to focus on just getting a job rather than retraining or an apprenticeship OP, those things can wait until you have a stable home. Right now priority is getting an income to strengthen your home search.

You should pay back all the extra rent you owe so this man can pay his tax bill.

Dh sounds like an absolute user.
How is the rest of your marriage ???

Some councils do require landlords to be licensed.

You said there's a 2 bed place in the next village that is suitable, (the one your husband doesn't like). If that's suitable then you don't need a council house? I don't think your husband being picky is enough reason to capitalise on public supported housing?

The man was also an idiot for not doing it all legally, even if it was with the best intentions. It's not the OP's fault that he didn't even do a simple "what do landlords have to do" search so that the arrangement was set up to protect both parties. The landlord's tax bill is not the OP's problem any more than it would be her local supermarket.

OP, you need to speak to somewhere like Shelter to ask what your options are now your landlord has given you notice, given your credit history sounds like it's going to be a barrier to you finding another private rental. You may need to consider something like a HMO that takes families.

Ok.

so - your dh wants to go in the council list and the only way onto that is a legal eviction.

you cannot get a legal eviction as this was a “mates rates off the record” sort of situation.

in your shoes I would do some research about your chances of getting a council property. In some areas (London and south east) it’s very very unlikely in others it is more possible.

then explore other options.

speak to other relatives let them know the situation. The more people that know you are looking the more likely to find something.

could you move in with your mum and apply to the council from there?

Can you afford to move out to another private rental?
Also there may be nuances between renting to family/friends around the license.
I would approach your local council and be honest about the situation. Also shelter regarding your stance on if there is an agreement in place and how to move forward.
Councils see this every day, it’s not uncommon at all and nothing to be scared of. I would word it in a sense that you rent off a relative, not formally as in no agreement /deposit etc , and he needs the property back. Whether he has a license or not isn’t really anything to do with you, so wouldn’t mention this . He wants the house back end of

its affordable for us but my husband has an IVA so I plan on providing years of bank statements proving we’ve never missed a rent payment plus a guarantor. Even then it’s not likely but worth a shot.

Surely you just tell the council you were a lodger and that has now become an untenable thing. Similar as if you had been living with your parents? I think you need to speak to shelter.

However is it not illegal to not have a licence. It is just a scheme to encourage good LL. Of course he may well have been defrauding HMRC, who knows?
But it looks as if OP doesn't understand the law around renting.

Why can’t he register now? The council has no way of finding out whether you were paying rent previously or just staying there unless you tell them. Paying council tax doesn’t mean you are renting the property. If you were claiming UC for the rent, that’s a different matter, but I’m surprised they haven’t found out already. They do cross reference.

How many laws has he broken? Does he have all the correct paperwork eg gas safety check, EPC, electrical safety etc? Did he do a right to rent check? Did he protect your deposit? Did he declare the income for tax? Is it just the license he didn’t get?

@Tiredboymum22 do you have a tenancy agreement?

Even if you did get evicted . That doesn't automatically equal council house. There is homless intervention. The council try and find you a private rent. It could be anywhere you can't normally refuse as the council would say your intentionally homeless.

Temporary accommodation could anything from your same town to 50+ miles away also Temporary accommodation could be a hostel, self contained flat, house, hotel, b&b. You could be sharing toilets/bathroom/kitchen with stranger's. They are often, not always. Substandard. Very dirty.. damp mould, rats mice, bed bugs.

If you are in a position to do so, I would show your husband this thread. Maybe then he will get the message.

@Tiredboymum22 Maybe I’m being really thick - which I probably am lol! But I don’t understand your quandary. You don’t really have any option but to stay?
You can’t leave the property and go to the council.
it sounds like the landlord will struggle to legally evict you.
your husband has an IVA and you have no guarantor.. bank statements showing rent payments will mean nothing. So I doubt you’d get a private rental

What message ? Where are they going to go ? Council won’t assist them and it doesn’t seem like they’d qualify for a private rental.

I’d get an appointment at CAB/Shelter/Welfare rights asap and take what paperwork you have. Do you have a rental agreement? Proof you live there eg electoral roll, proof paid bills and Council tax.

They will not be classed as a lodger if the landlord has not been occupying the property. The council will check. They don’t just take what people say at face value.

Yes and not all councils have a licensing scheme . Hastings introduced one a few years ago and then had to stop as it was deemed illegal .

The message that he is being unreasonable, and will have to find an alternative solution. You can rent with an IVA, although I do accept it is more challenging.

Can you not move in with family and apply for council housing on the grounds of over crowding? Or if you move in with family ask them to give you notice and present that to the council for temp accommodation. Apologies if this is all incorrect I am not sure how emergency accommodation / council applications work.