Think we're living in this house illegally.

[Beccy82]

Hi guys. Really need your help plz? I moved into this house in February 2020 with my 4 children, private rental. Haven't had a tenancy agreement but I didn't when I private rented yrs ago either so no problem. In march I had a letter address to my landlord and his ex wife. I told him but he hasn't collected. Since then i've had 9 unopened letters for him.
Yesterday my daughter told me there was a letter in the door so I said "open it and pass it here please" I was washing dishes. It was one of the letters for my landlord. Obviously I shouldn't have read it but seen it said from mortgage express so I did read it. It said this.

Following our previous correspondence with regards to the possible lettings of the above property (my house), to date we have received no further contact from you.

Please note that it is a condition of your loan that you cannot let this property without our permission. To date, this permission has not been granted and you may therefore be in breach of your mortgage conditions if you are letting the property.

Wtf do I do? He's obviously letting the property to me and my family. The previous tenants lived here for 10-11 yrs. Are we going to get kicked out? I'm on tenterhooks here now. I finally found the house i've been looking for and i'm worried sick we'll get kicked out.
I have proof from bank statements that i've paid him rent every month since march. I don't have proof for the first months rent or the bond that was paid in february because my parents paid that but they'll have proof. But again, I don't have a tenancy agreement. All I have is the rent payments and all our messages from him saying what date I can have the key etc.

Please can anyone help?

Well, your landlord sounds as if he definitely didn't tell his mortgage provider he was planning to let the property, but somehow they now know -- it will depend on the mortgage provider whether they are willing to allow him to apply retrospectively for approval.

But yes, it leaves you in a vulnerable position -- why on earth did you move in and start paying rent without a tenancy agreement? That leaves you far more vulnerable and unprotected to all kinds of abuses. Surely you can see that now? I mean, I'm about to rent a house for six weeks from someone I know, and I've still got a proper tenancy agreement. It protects everyone.

I have all our messages but this one in particular from 8th march. It has dates things were paid. Him asking what date I moved in. Also, when the rent gets paid the reference on my bank says RENT and the address. Then I txt him each month saying rents paid, he txts back saying thank u. He's accepting that money and thanking me for it. Surely I have some sort of right if someone tries getting us out? I know my landlord wont he's happy for me to stay here forever.

Why are you posting this again and again? Advice won’t be any different

@Puckishly I didn't get a tenancy agreement basically because the previous tenant is a friend of mine and has been for over 20yrs. She told me he's a good landlord and she's had no problems etc so when she said about moving out I asked for his details. She moved out, he fixed some things and repainted etc then we moved in. It seemed so simple. Not to sound dull or anything but when I private rented 17 yrs ago I didn't have a tenancy agreement, only ever had one when I rented through an agency. I stupidly thought that private rentals didn't have to do the tenancy agreements. But my friend told me all that changed in 2015. I didn't know.

@CayrolBaaaskin the first group I posted on was the wrong one and I don't know how to delete it. So I found the right one to post on but someone suggested I post on this one, the legal matters one. I don't know how to delete the other two.

Contact Shelter - they can help you.

www.shelter.org.uk/

You won't get different advice though. You need to go to shelter. You'll be protected for some time but not forever. You LL is shady and for your security and peace of mind, you should look for somewhere else to go.