UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi out there. this is my first time on here. I've searched for an answer to this but not found quite what I'm looking for. I have a good tenant who moved in last January and the year is up for the contract. She did tell me at the start that at some point her boyfriend (and father of her new baby) would be moving in and he did so a few months ago. They are very good tenants and I was thinking of just letting the contract roll on..no need to up the rent. The estate agent has said that as the boyfriend is not named on the contract, I need legally to issue a new contract and they need to do a credit check on him, charging him £150 and me £125 for new contract. He has offered to get his own credit checks direct to me and avoid the estate agent. My first instinct is to leave things as they are and not bother any of us. Is my legal position ok doing this?

Thanks in advance for reading this! Could use an answer soonish if anyone knows!

It sounds like your agent just wants to make a tidy bundle out of the pair of you. A credit check costs buttons these days, leaving aside the fact that you've already got a tenant who capable of passing the checks on her own, and it doesn't cost £125 to add another name to a bog-standard agreement. I assume this document isn't hand-written on vellum by the monks of Lindisfarne? Like it or not, a tenancy agreement has existed between you and lover-boy ever since he moved in with your consent, so there's no legal requirement as such to have something down on paper. Having said that, there's something to be said for having it written down, so try haggling with your agent to get the price down to mild rip-off level.

Thanks for this Simon...thought as much. There is an issue, though, isn't there if he isn't named on the contract then if she leaves with the kid, we end up with a sitting tenant and no legal rights to get rid of him. He doesn't have rights, either, presumably if not named? I only ask this as my wife thinks we should renew the contract because of that.

Be wary of advice from a forum and always do your own research.

I would take Simon's advice to get it written down.
Technically speaking a tenancy agreement is unlikely to have existed between you and 'lover-boy' ever since he moved in with your consent(? did you give this?) unless he can prove that he contributed/paid the rent.
[legal blah blah bit:  it is theoretic­ally possible to create a tenancy without the payment of rent, but usually where no rent is paid it is unlikely a legally binding tenancy has been created.  Anyway since 1989, occupiers who pay no rent have been excluded from any sort of security can be removed with no court order]

If he did not pay rent then he is simply a guest with no 'interest in land' /proprietary rights at all.
So ...if the girlfirend were to get evicted he would be removed at the same time (as bailiffs remove all persons present).
You seem to have de-facto through your course of dealings given permission for him to occupy the property so he would not be a trespasser (and therefore no criminal offence would be made for the police to act on). 

Your real issue is insurance.
If the boyfriend causes damage and it becomes apparent that you had not objected to the boyfriend in most cases the insurance will not pay out.  Also if you are hoping to claim for legal expenses to evict the boyfriend then again the insurer might refuse.
If you do nothing else then I would anonomously (keep your options open) call your insurer and hypothetically test out the scenario.
Usually if you dont have a background check or he is claiming DHSS benefits and you had not told your insurer then you could be looking at a bucket of tears later.

To answer your specific questions:
if he isn't named on the contract then if she leaves with the kid, we end up with a sitting tenant :  No you do not have a "sitting tenant" you have an unauthorised occupier (perhaps a licensee) - sitting tenant means something else.
and no legal rights to get rid of him. :  No you do absolutely have rights, serving a notice (usually 28 days) then you can stop him re-entering by changing the locks.  Obvioulsy threatening is out and is an offence under the Criminal Liability Act 77 s6
He doesn't have rights, either, presumably if not named? : he has no right to remain once your notice expires nor Protection from Eviction under 77 Act but if he claims that he contributed to the rent then you have a tenant with rights ...its not dependent on whether he is named on the agreement

My advice: get the chap to provide his checks
Assign the agreement from Girlfriend to Girfriend and Boyfriend - can be done with a one page agreement - new tenant pays for it.
please be aware of other requirements (LONG LIST!) e.g. Right to Rent Checks, How to Rent Guide, Deposit Disclaimer, etc etc etc

Best of luck

If the adults in a property are changing, then I would want new documentation from beginning to end, just as if a new tenancy is commencing. That means I would do the check(s), I would re-do the Deposit in joint names, I would get a new AST signed. I would even take the hit on resetting back to a 6 month fixed term if I was in SPT. Anything else seems like seat-of-the-pants to me. Why not do it correctly if you have the opportunity?

Reading English as it was written... it seems the OP was told the other person would be moving in, it isn't mentioned that this was requested... however, that could easily be nit-picking or assumption.

But, I sense you don't want to rock the boat... and it is kinda like the boat has sailed... I mean, this happened months ago. Are you legal? Sure. Is it preferred? I'd say no.

If you don't use an Agent, then you don't have to pay their fees. Editing names on an AST should not cost anyone £125... but that is the Agent you chose and maybe they do include all the other checks (providing Right to Rent booklet, serving new Prescribed Information) etc.. Seems chicken-feed when compared to the potential worst case scenario (to me).