UK Landlord Forum / Life

 Hello. I have been trying to find out what the situation is about "managers accommodation" with regard to renting it out. There is a - now- Bangladeshi  Takeaway in a small 2 bed terraced victorian converted  house with a flat above that has rights to private access over my property. It used to be a shoe menders. The manager/owner used to live there and we knew him as a neighbour. The Takeaway has recently been leased by the owner - the business and flat separately.  The business has no connection to the flat and vice versa.The rooms are advertised on Gumtree at £400 a month.The Takeaway does not let the people enter the flat by the front business door because the flat has nothing to do with him. We now have a constant stream of short term "guests" from abroad arriving and departing and accessing the flat above via my pathway over my property. Is it ok to rent out the managers flat when the manager does not live there?

Not enough detail here...why do you call it a managers accommodation?
Sounds to me like a flat above commercial premises. The flat has some right of way...
The flat is rented, the commercial property is rented.
Do you have some document specifying who can live in the flat?

I have that One Post Wonder feeling.....

Hi - thanks for replying Martha and theangrylandlord. I go to bed early these days !! - but will always pop by to see if somebody can help as this is a tricky one I think!! I am a small landlord myself which is why I have started this post on the landlords forum. I really would appreciate others thoughts on this new situation I have to pay attention to now. I am more than a bit "lost"  in this situation. This pathway with access goes past the ground floor of my tenants accommodation. The to-ing and fro-ing of "guests " from the flat now is annoying my tenants. I have just lost a tenant because of this and have been advised by her to fit extra security locks to the windows because of these unaccountable strangers that are using the pathway (which is a Private pedestrian access for 3 houses in the terrace). So more details yes. The flat above the Takeaway had problems with their rubbish bins. They kept putting them out in the street but they were not collected and the rubbish piled up in the back of their property. Well - an issue with some admin that entitles bin collection? The Business has proper commercial bin collection no problems, but not the flat it seemed. But that got resolved last year and the bins started to be collected.  Recently new people have been putting bins from the flats out in the wrong area and they have not been collected again!-nuisance, so I looked at the Council website for when their bins should be collected and the address for the flat is now "Managers Accommodation" at the address of the Takeaway! They have only landfill collection and not recycled collection which is also a bit odd- but- anyway, the angylandlord, thats what started me off on this research.. i.e What is "managers accommodation "in the flat above the Takeaway ?.....and if the manager does not live there,  is a rental to short stay "guests" - who use the Right of Way and annoy my tenants- in order? I dont understand the casual landlord/tenant/rental situation for this accommodation in the flat if the manager does not live there!! It seems flats above premises like pubs etc are classed as "Managers Accommodation"- a new one on me!! Any thoughts?

theangrylandlord...I didnt answer your question.. do I have a document specifying who can live in the flat? ....No. This is my point I guess. Its "Managers Accommodation"... so who can live there? Access to the flat is ONLY from the back now- and over the Right of Way.The flat occupants cannot use the front entry to the premises because it is the ground floor Takeaway and locked up when the business is not open. It is a "mixed use" street with a few of these terraced houses converted to small shops and small commercial premises over the years.We have had a neighbour relationship with the people in this building for years in the past and the people in the Takeaway have been co-operative and pleasant if we have had any problems -so far. Our tenants have been ok with the use of the pathway by neighbours. But we asked why the change and "strangers" - people are coming and going at all hours and the Takeaway manager said they are "guests". It seems a Right of Access to the Takeaway property is a dominant one and the pathway over my property it is the servient so that must be allowed. Paying "guests" are staying in the "Managers Accommodation" because the rooms in the flat are advertised on Gumtree and other casual accommodation sites.... but who is renting the rooms?.. Dont know if its the Manager of the Takeaway who does not live on the premises or if it is the owner of the whole building- or someone else who may have  rented the flat and is taking paying "guests". Somebody pointed out that these old terraced properties are on the street as many British Victorian houses are, and people pass by on the street all the time, so why did the tenant complain about this pathway being used like a path on the street? Well, who knows, it was her right to leave when the situation changed and she felt less secure due to changed circumstances in the use of the back Right of Way by the occupants of the flat.

Always be wary of advice from a forum (especially my own)
Do your own research

inmystreet
I think perhaps the confusion regarding "managers accommodation" has arisen due to the label that you have seen in the council website?
Typically the categorisation is done for tax purposes pursuant to ITEPA 2003, s 314
This is done so that accommodation provided to an employee is not a tax burden ( incl. council tax) on that employee.
You could approach the council to see if they expect such a restriction to apply.

It is unlikely that you will be able to use this categorisation alone as an avenue to seek changes in the rental of the property.  It may well be an old categorisation that the council simply have not updated.
You, I'm sure, have no idea of the tax treatment being used by the manager, owner, or resident of the property.

You should for a small fee be able to apply to the land registry for title deeds and see if there is a covenant within that restricts the tenancy of the flat to an employee.  However this would not be the silver bullet in itself as you would then need to prove the manager is renting it out rather than having guests (I guess gumtree can do this).
I am dubious that such a restrictive covenant would exist and likely there is nothing that will prevent the owner/landlord letting out the flat to whomever.  Furthermore there may not be a restriction on subletting (you won't be able to see that from the title deeds) so the flat tenant can effectively let this out to whomever they wish.  It is even more unlikely that the right of way within your title specifies the type of tenant that may have access, usually it doesn't specify anything like that.

You don't seem to indicate any issues than the tenants of the flats using the right of way (no anti social behaviour ?) so it is highly unlikely you will be able to do anything.  Normally I would recommend some verbal communication but it doesn't seem the flat tenants have done anything wrong so what could you say to them?

Maybe there is some vital information you haven't revealed but quite honestly I don't see what the issue is.....the tenants of the flat are using their legal access to the flat and as far as you know there is nothing preventing those tenants from being there.

Finally you indicate the path is in used by the residents of three other properties ...? Well what if they were rented to "strangers" ...same issue?
Sorry about the loss of tenant but you need another tenant not a legal wrangle.

Best of luck.

Thanks for this theangrylanlord. Thanks for taking the time to talk it through with me. You are correct on all counts, so the "Managers Accommodation" is nothing to do with who should live there.Its a Tax matter. OK  I wanted to see if perhaps there is a way to improve my tenants accommodation again so that they dont get worried by the coming and going "all the time"- this is the bit that is agitating them I think, people moving about in the garden at night etc. Well the other neighbours who have  this Right of Way cross their gardens are also agitated by unknown people coming and going as well. Its not just my tenant. We have to accept the changes and find a new tenant that accepts them too. This is the first time I have been here. Its interesting. I often have some questions about being a landlord.Its very helpful thanks.

You're very welcome.  Come back anytime
Nice to get a response after providing advice.