Accommodation - House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) situation

Dear members,

I would appreciate if you could shed some lights and guide me with the following:

I live in a house which is occupied by 4 people (in four different rooms), none of us are related so this is basically 4 different households. Only I have a tenancy agreement with the landlord, none of the other three tenants have any tenancy agreement with the landlord directly. Landlord has given me the HMO licence (obtained from council by the landlord) which states that 5 people can live in this property.

I then have separate 3 tenancy agreements with the other 3 tenants (subletting situation - these agreements are just between me as an agent and the tenants).

I am wondering, would I be able to show my current tenancy agreement for accommodation purpose? Or do I have to get a separate house inspection report alongside? Also would the subletting situation be a problem in this case?

I would appreciate your comments.

Thank you,
AA

How is your landlord happy for you to profit from sub-letting part of his property

How many names are registered for Council tax?

Wherever there is HMO then home inspection report become mandatory to satisfy HO. Under HO calculations about 4 rooms the maximum number of people can live are about 7.5. In your situation you simply get room tenancy agreement, no objection letter from landlord for your partner to stay and home inspection report.

Thank you Casa

Basically, I pay rent for the whole house which is £1,500 and this is a fixed rent. It does it matter whether the house is empty or full house - I will still have to pay the landlord £1,500 each month.

Council tax, utility bill they are all under landlords name.

Thank you

AA

You will still need permission letter from Landlord allowing your spouse to join you in that property.

Thank you all,

Few more questions please:

1. Because this is a HMO, do I have to get the House inspection done via someone from council?
2. Do I have to show any utility bills with my names on it – as all utility bills are under landlords name?

Many thanks,

Adeel

Adeellab14 wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 25, 2018 9:36 am

Thank you all,

Few more questions please:

1. Because this is a HMO, do I have to get the House inspection done via someone from council?
2. Do I have to show any utility bills with my names on it – as all utility bills are under landlords name?

Many thanks,

Adeel

1. There is no HO approved list of surveyors/estate agents so it means home inspection report any estate agent/surveyor can do.

2. Utility bills & council tax bill is not mandatory if it's included in rent rather in my opinion the same payslips & bank statements for meeting the financial requirement can work as proof of address too.

Thank you All, appreciate your comments,

I have one more question please.

Given the fololowing scenario, do you think HO might question to say why the tenants are paying me?
Also, legally is the following arrangement seems OK?

I rented the whole house myself and have a tenancy agreement in place which is between me and the landlord. The tenancy agreement also states that I act as an agent of the house and must not allow more than 5 people in the house per the HMO licence. Subsequently, I then rented the other 3 rooms to the other 3 people who pay me directly. These 3 payments amounting £1,800 from the tenants are showing in the bank statement that I am providing to HO. I pay one monthly payment to the landlord amounting £1,500. All transactions can be seen in the bank statements.

Sincerely appreciate your comments.
Adeel

Adeellab14 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 26, 2018 12:58 pm

Thank you All, appreciate your comments,

I have one more question please.

Given the fololowing scenario, do you think HO might question to say why the tenants are paying me?
Also, legally is the following arrangement seems OK?

I rented the whole house myself and have a tenancy agreement in place which is between me and the landlord. The tenancy agreement also states that I act as an agent of the house and must not allow more than 5 people in the house per the HMO licence. Subsequently, I then rented the other 3 rooms to the other 3 people who pay me directly. These 3 payments amounting £1,800 from the tenants are showing in the bank statement that I am providing to HO. I pay one monthly payment to the landlord amounting £1,500. All transactions can be seen in the bank statements.

Sincerely appreciate your comments.
Adeel

Have you declared the rental income to HMRC for tax purposes.

Hi Casa,

I have not submitted any self assessment tax return.

Would this be a problem?

Adeel

Adeellab14 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 26, 2018 2:00 pm

Hi ,

I have not submitted any self assessment tax return.

Would this be a problem?

Adeel

If you are working and will meet financial requirement through category A or B then no issue at spouse visa stage. But if you will apply naturalization in future then might caught in good character requirement but if you are already British then again no issues.

Adeellab14 wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 26, 2018 2:00 pm

Hi Casa,

I have not submitted any self assessment tax return.

Would this be a problem?

Adeel

The ECO may well query the source of your £1,800 sub-letting income shown on your bank accounts which are submitted with the visa application. You are required to declare the difference between the £1,500 paid to the landlord and the £1,800 from the sub-tenants. The monthly rental income of £300 should be reported to HMRC on Schedule E of form 1040 I believe.

If the ECO wants clarification on the source of the funds, even though you're not declaring this to meet the minimum income level, they can easily cross-check with HMRC. They may, or they may not.

Hi Casa/ Seagul,

Thank you for your comments.

I am currently employed full time, earning £41K (so I believe I am under category A), also British Citizen.

I pay landlord £1,500 not £1,000, this leaves me with £300 profit per month, but then again there were periods when I had vacant rooms hence nothing received by me but I still had to pay £1,500 to the landlord.

I believe it kind of balances it out.

But to be in the safe side, shall I still speak to hmrc on this?

Thanks,

Adeel

Your other deposits in account won't be queried because those will be irrelevant as long as your payslips match with bank statements. Your rental income only be queried if you combining that income to cover shortfall which in your case there isn't any. Simply arrange house inspection, attach landlord tenancy agreement & landlord noc letter along with your proof of addresses you will be alright.

Thank you all for your comments.
Adeel