Electoral registration impact on credit history?

[farazfastian]

Hi all,

One of my friend is been living in a rental property which is basically built on the house garage, so he's not paying any council tax or bills as everything included in the rent which is not cheap either. The way he has explained me the things, looks like the landlord hasn't declared the property to Council.

He registered himself and wife straight away on the electoral which was exposed to his landlord recently because of recent elections. Now his landlord is asking him to remove their name from electoral as this could be dangerous for him.

I know if he does that it'll have an impact on his credit history, probably he won't be able to take mortgage etc but will there be any legal problems in living on a property like that though he's paying the fair amount of rent? or there could be any issues on his visa/ILR in future?

Regards
Faraz

[farazfastian]

Is there anyone who can advise?

[batleykhan]

There should be no problem as far as his ILR or visa is concerned. However looking at the landlord, he doesnt appear to be declaring this income or even whether the room where your friend is staying is deemed habitable and safe.

What kind of an agreement does your friend have with landlord?. That is important as he may need to show proof of that as well as proof of the rent that he has paid to the landlord. I hope he has something in writting to say how much rent he pays and what is included in the rent.

My advise to your friend would be to move out to where he is safe and getting his moneys worth for the rent that he is paying. At the same time report the landlord to the taxman

[PaperPusher]

If we are in the reporting mood, the planning enforcement team at the local council would be interested. No planning permission means that it has not been checked to see if it meets building regulations. It could be a death trap.

Lots of areas near me have been made incredibly ugly by these sorts of extensions, although usually it is a giant "garden shed" that is rented out to a family of four, or more.

[John]

One of my friend is been living in a rental property which is basically built on the house garage, so he's not paying any council tax or bills as everything included in the rent which is not cheap either.

I think some assumptions are being made here, and whilst those assumptions might be correct, equally they could be wrong, at least in part.

For starters, we cannot just assume that no planning permissions has been granted. Of course it is not unknown for living accommodation to be built above a garage, and planning permission could may well have been obtained. Indeed in the past I bought a house that had a "granny flat" above the garage, and my solicitor at the time certainly checked that planning permission had been obtained, which it had.

Certainly the fact that the rent is inclusive of bills is proof of .... absolutely nothing!

To me the only worrying aspect is them being asked to remove themselves from the electoral register. But to me that points towards tax evasion, and not necessarily anything else at all.

[PaperPusher]

A phone call to the council would find out if there had been recent planning applications. Dodgy extensions and 'improvements' can be a death trap unfortunately. Landlords do have obligations towards their tennants.

[John]

If there is a planning application it may not be recent at all. Even if the work was done recently the planning permission might have been granted say nearly 3 years ago, subject to say a 3-year limit on the work starting.

In many Council areas full details of planning applications are available online. That might be a better way of checking initially.

[PaperPusher]

And it could not need planning permission at all because it is permitted development and so on.

I would still consider moving somewhere else, or get loads of mobile phone bills, bank statements and so on delivered to the address! There is also the census coming up, I would fill that in
too!!

[farazfastian]

After speaking with my friend again, looks like landlord is quite decent and normal person BUT using this extension to earn some extra tax free money which is not decent at all i know.
He has clearly explained to my friend that he don't want to be trapped by council as he hasn't declared that as a separate flat though he took the planning permissions etc before building it. He also mentioned that he pays the rent by cash every month as again he don't want to get records of regular money coming in.

Btw i've been to that house quite a few time and it's an excellent quality flat. Also his landlord doing the tenancy agreement on regular basis on the proper tenancy agreement template with the signatures of both parties plus a witness.

So i think if my friend not allowed for electoral registration and to pay rent by bank transfer, it could be risky for him to prove his circumtances if required?