Have I got a H-M-O situation here? Tenants have pulled the wool over my eyes.

[Cheesecakelover9]

I currently rent out my old house. House is a 2 bed that has 2 single people sharing.

I saw my old neighbour yesterday who said there are actually 3 people living in the property. She is quite friendly with the girl who lives in my old house and has been in and it seems a 3rd person has supposedly set up a bedroom in the dining room.

If there is in fact 3 people living there (I don’t know how I would prove this) would that make me in breech of HMO?

I’m not sure what to do with this information as I self manage the property and have no agent to turn to. The house is being privately let and I found the tenants myself.

I’m just trying to look at all the options first before bulldozing in and getting it completely wrong.

I agree with Hello Buddy. Talk to them. Subletting is against the terms of the AST. They either stop subletting or move out. Keep in simple. Sever them with a section 21 for starters. Often that is a useful shot over the bows

The Council's HMO licensing policy will be on the website. Just Google the Authority name and HMO. And very probably the policy will be the default National one, which means you would not need to be licensed.

Really don't worry. Sharers often do this. If students, I read out the riot act in advance, tell them I will find out and that they will be evicted. Some groups, often international students, may really try it on, happy to share rooms with a couple of others. Another group are building workers. I was recently told by the agent that two Directors of a building services company wanted to rent my property. Next I knew they were flying in trades from Northern Ireland on a Monday morning, back again on Friday evening, there were matresses all over the place and the house stank of stale beer and bodies. But more normally it is girl/boyfriends. If they are good tenants I tend to choose not to know about regular overnight guests.

"Sever them with a section 21 for starters. Often that is a useful shot over the bows"

No! This is very bad advice. Keep things friendly for as long as possible. Get advice from a landlord association, and set up a history of reasonable correspondence starting with a letter reminding them of the tenancy terms. Courts do not like unreasonable and bullying landlords.

Needmore they aren’t students. They are young foreign professionals. Actually all three have very good jobs.

Am I right in thinking that this 3rd person is classed as a lodger and doesn’t technically have any rights? So if I say want him out by the end of the week that it is legal and above board from my point of view?

I’m just exploring all the options at the moment getting my ducks in a row so to speak.

Again.

Remind them of the contract clause, and that they cannot allow other people to live in the house.

Say you plan to do a house inspection next week.

Join a landlord association or see if your landlord insurance offers legal advice. The one thing landlords can afford to do is going into any dispute/potential eviction without the paperwork being absolutely right. Keep things as amicable as possible but make sure that your have evidence that you remided them of their contractural duties etc.

It could be that their friend had nowhere to live so they agreed that the third could move in. He has no contract with you. Do not engage with him. Explain to the two others that they need to keep to the contract they have signed. Suggest that their failure to do so will mnean that you may have to cut short their tenancy. I am not a lawyer but you should not accept him being there, without a tenancy, as this could lead to him achieving some form of rights. And certainly never accpet rent from him without him being added to an AST tenancy.

Did you let through an agency? Would someone there be able to read them the riot act/explain how things are? My experience is of 25 years of letting property is that you need to be quite assertive, whilst at the same time being fair and constructive.

Why haven't you spoken to the tenants?

You don't want a 3rd person, it's against the tenancy agreement so you tell them the 3rd person has to move out.

Why would you be taking up the councils time with theoretical queries.

Take some action before the problem gets bigger.

The one thing landlords CANNOT afford to do

I didn’t use a agency no. I usually use a agency to find tenants. The previous 2 I had were found through the agency. 1 left the other decided to stay at the property and asked to bring a friend on the tenancy.
The original person the agency found then moved to another city. The 2nd person the friend then moved another friend in. They are both on the tenancy and I did all the checks etc protected deposit.

Spoken to council, would need a license there is a huge waiting list and been told application will take about 8 months.

So the lodger will be given there marching orders today.

Do you have landlord insurance? Do you belong to a Landlord Assn?

If you are not using a reputable and experienced agency, you should do one or the other, if not both. Things go wrong, even for the most experienced landlord. (Not long ago a good letting agency told me the story about a seemingly perfect tenant with good references. Three months later neighbours complained about smells. They found themselves dealing with a the police, a criminal gang and a wrecked house. It was a cannabis farm.) Most tenants are fine. However the most important thing is to have access to good advice if things go wrong.

Go round and look through the window to confirm first hand and leave a letter explaining no subletting and an inspection by the end of the week.

Don't panic yet. It may be that they don't even realise if they aren't trying to keep it secret.
First, step is to tell them that they are breaking the contract and ask them to get the other person to move out by the weekend. How you proceed from there will depend on their reaction. If they are genuinely contrite and are nice about it then you can consider making it legal with HMO. If they are arsey then you want then you need to give them all notice and be aware you might be in it for the long haul eviction route.

Hey OP any progress?