LL & T rights in tact if third party pays rent?

[OneOfTheseDays]

Hi,

I am a LL, and have had the same T in my house in the west country for around 3 years. The tenency agreement lapsed into Periodic by mutual agreement. My T has been building a new house having sold his own, thus needing to rent until his new house was ready to move into.

After about 18 months it became clear that Ts house would not be ready on time, and it seems T had a non-performance penalty clause in his contract with his builders, such that his builder is now responsible for paying his rent.

T has arranged for builder to pay rent directly to my LA. In cash. The payments are ALWAYS late, but never more than 3 weeks, and never referenced with either my name or T's name.

So, ignoring the lateness issue for now, am I exposing myself to any risk of reduced rights as a LL / is T gaining any rights, since he is enjoying occupancy of my property without paying for it?

[jeffrey]

1. As L, you have the same T as before. T has the same rent-payment obligations as before.
2. That someone else pays rent for T is irrelevant.
3. It's similar to an HB/LHA case, isn't it, where Local Housing Authority pays some/all of T's rent to T for onward payment to L (if T feels like it!)
4. In your case, T is paying rent (albeit funded by someone else); and you could even serve s.8 Notice on T for non/late-payment.

[Lawcruncher]

So, ignoring the lateness issue for now, am I exposing myself to any risk of reduced rights as a LL / is T gaining any rights, since he is enjoying occupancy of my property without paying for it?

No. The tenant is still deemed to be paying rent even if someone is paying it on his behalf.

[dominic]

I would say it is more an issue for T, not knowing whether his obligations have been satisfied. If I were T, I would ask for confirmation by LL each time rent was paid (and received by LL) on T's behalf.

[OneOfTheseDays]

Thanks, Jeffrey. I had hoped it would be simple!

Now I can start moaning about late payments

[jeffrey]

Thanks, Jeffrey. I had hoped it would be simple!

Now I can start moaning about late payments
Whoever said that life had to be simple?

[OneOfTheseDays]

Thanks for the advice. Is reassuring.

I have tried to insist, in writing, that T reinstates DD from his bank on a certain date as specified in the TA, then make his own arrangements with the builder, but these requests have been studiously ignored.

I have re-scheduled my mortgage payment date to accommodate the late rent, but even with that in place I've often had to pay mortgage before rent arrive. Either way, the final picture is that rent always does get paid so perhaps I should be grateful for that, given some of the horror stories posted here.

[jeffrey]

Not Direct Debit, but Standing Order.