YMS to unmarried partner - cohabitation proof

[Superimposer]

Hi, hoping someone with prior experience can be of help.

My girlfriend moved here on a YMS visa from Canada in May 2017 and since day 1 has been living with me (a UK citizen). We asked the landlord before her arrival, he agreed and she moved straight in off the plane. However, her name doesn’t appear on the lease until September 2017 as this is when the original lease was due for renewal. We do however have the email trail showing the landlord agreeing to her moving in in May.

The plan is for my girlfriend to complete the 2 years here and then apply immediately for an unmarried partner visa which obviously has a 2 year cohabitation requirement. We therefore need proof she was living here since May and not September. The landlord has been reluctant to redraft historical tenancy agreements to include her name from May. We are going to explain to him the situation and hope he will reconsider.

My question is: if the landlord is not able to redraft the tenancy from May to September to show my girlfriend lived here with me, would it be enough to submit a letter written by him stating that she has been living here with me since May 2017 together with the email trail that shows him agreeing to it? We will obviously have the other pieces of evidence together, e.g. bank statements, council tax bills etc.

Thanks for your time.

Note: we hope we will be able to find payslips, doctors' records, bank statements or something else that will show she lived here before September in addition to the lease. However the rent is the only way we can show she has been here for the full 2 years, but we might be able to fill in the gap a little bit.

[CR001]

You cannot change an old tenancy agreement. It is a legal document.

A letter is fine as is any other correspondence address to both of you.

[Superimposer]

Thanks for the reply. Just to be clear, you mean a letter from the landlord should be fine?

[CR001]

you mean a letter from the landlord should be fine?

Yes.