Help on Tenancy Agreements much appreciated!

[matthewwarren106]

Hi,

JUst wondering if anyone could help me out. Me and four friends are looking to rent a five person house, and the landlord is saying that only three of us need to go on the lease, as he claims this is a new law. IS this true, as it sounds like we could end up in trouble with only three of us on the lease? Its never happened to me before when renting. Would anybody else do this, and what are the possible consequences?

Many thanks for your help

Matt

[MrShed]

Hmmmm...sounds slightly dodgy. Sounds to me as if the landlord is trying to avoid declaring his property as an HMO(house of multiple occupation), and avoid the stricter legislation surrounding this, as well as the extra costs due to licencing etc. I don't think that this would get him out of the regulations, he just thinks it would.

Where you could come into problems is with regards deposits and rent. Should the two not listed on the agreement not pay they rent, the responsibility would fall squarely on the shoulders of the three on the agreement. If the landlord does you out of the deposit, the two not listed would have problems trying to claim it back.

My advice would be not to take the property.

[matthewwarren106]

Many thanks for your advice, thats what I was worried about as well. Think ill have to tred very carefully!