Sophies1992

Hello.

At the final stage now to complete my husbands application.

Ran into some trouble in getting the landlord accommodation letter . First off I rent through a letting agency so I contacted them and asked if they can ask the landlord for a letter to say my husband can stay . After a few weeks back and forth and then unable to get in contact with landlord . I have just received this email .



so my question is where to go from here, of course I will submit to her the relevant information she has requested. But how can they perform right to rent checks when he won’t even be on the tenancy and is not even in the country ?

spouse of scouse

The letting company are not understanding what's required. All the letter from the landlord needs to state is that she/he has no objection to your husband being added to the lease providing he obtains his visa and passes the right to rent check.

Every landlord must perform this check under legislation, but obviously they can't check if a person has a legal right to live in the UK until the person actually has that legal right! In your husband's case he will use his Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) and his passport as proof.

Sophies1992

thank you!

what do you recommend I say now to the letting agents ? I had previously already told them that all I need is a no objection letter. It seems like the landlord too does not know what is required .

Pulaski

I would try to speak to the person, as you are likely to get involved in a futile back and forth exchange of emails.

If that isn't possible, emphasise that this is the first step in the visa process - and that to enable a visa application to be submitted you need a letter from the landlord saying that, once a visa has been granted, that the landlord will allow the person to be added. The primary issue being that the home/ accomodation is large enough to add an other person in the living space.

spouse of scouse

I'd tell them that I have read and understand the Right to Rent legislation, and that I also understand that my husband will need to provide his documents prior to the landlord adding him to my lease. However, he of course cannot provide these documents until his visa application has been granted.

I'd add that I've spoken to several people who have been required to provide proof of accommodation for a spouse visa, and the accepted process is this. The landlord writes a letter stating that they have no objection to your husband being added to the tenancy agreement after he has obtained his visa and is able to provide the necessary documents to enable the landlord to ascertain that he meets the requirements of the Right to Rent legislation.

The above satisfies both the accommodation requirement for the spouse visa, and the Right to Rent legislation. The landlord is only committing to adding your husband to the tenancy agreement if he passes the Right to Rent check. Neither the letting agents nor the landlord should have a problem with this - it just sounds (as you've said) that neither have come across the situation before so are unsure of the process.

Sophies1992

Thank you for your input, I will be writing a email tomorrow. Hopefully if I use what you have said they will understand better. She has said in a previous email to draw up a letter I have to pay !? Is this correct ? Apparently it’s policy.

Sophies1992

Thank you for your response! Yeah unfortunately I don’t have any contact for the landlord it’s all done via the letting agency. I’m going to use what you & spouse of scouse have said and see what she comes back with.

Pulaski

Have you looked at your lease - does it already say anything about (i) the number of persons that can occupy the property? Or (ii) the procedure for adding another person?

spouse of scouse

These type of admin costs (for writing letters/emails) used to be chargeable to tenants by agencies and landlords. However, a recent change in legislation has made it illegal to charge tenants for anything more than a few items such as rent, refundable deposit and utilities.

The agency/landlord is also allowed to charge a reasonable fee, capped at £50, for any change to the tenancy requested by the tenant. Adding your husband to your tenancy agreement would fall under this, but until he's passed his Right to Rent check there can't be any changes to the agreement so in my opinion you shouldn't be charged yet.

It's up to you whether or not you feel it's worth making a fuss of with the agent. Maybe a polite inquiry saying that given you're paying a 'change of tenancy agreement' fee now, you're just wanting to clarify that you won't be charged a further fee when the actual change is made.

ps the above is applicable to tenants, letting agents and landlords in England. Letting fees have been banned for some time in Scotland, but for now they're still legal in Wales and Northern Ireland. Wales is set to ban them next month (September).

Sophies1992

Thank you for your advice .
UPDATE on the situation after more back and forth and stating what you said . The letting agency did do some checks on my husband and this below now is the response. Basically they have strung me along for weeks now and now are ending the tenancy. Apologies for the delay. I have now spoken with the landlord. He is not comfortable with the whole situation and that it wasn’t highlighted at any point to us during your application that your husband would want to move in after the application and agreement was for you as a sole tenant.



He has advised that he will release you from the tenancy early. The terms of this are :



I) That you pay the landlord’s re-marketing fee of £400 + VAT before the property is marketed

II) The rent must continue to be paid up to and including the day before a new tenant moves in or the expiry of the tenancy agreement, whichever is sooner. Please keep your standing order live and any overpayments will be reimbursed to you once a new tenant takes residency.

III) All utilities plus Council Tax must be paid up to and including the day before a new tenant(s) move in or the expiry of the tenancy agreement, whichever is sooner. We will take care of the meter readings on your behalf.

IV) There needs to be a gap of at least 10 days in between you vacating and the new tenant(s) moving in if further cleaning/gardening/maintenance etc. is required.

V) You remain fully responsible for the property as per the Terms of your Tenancy Agreement, until which time you are checked out and keys are handed back to Belvoir, even if you choose not to live there in the interim period. You are strongly advised to regularly check the property, particularly during colder weather.

Sophies1992

sorry for late reply. Long stressful week! The tenancy stated that I could not have anyone stay longer that 3 weeks with out permission.

Pulaski

Understood. That's exactly as I would expect, but that's not quite what I meant ..... does the lease specify what the procedure is for requesting such permission?

SanDiegogirl

How long have you lived in the apartment?

What type is it? Studio? One bedroom?

Sophies1992

A few months and it’s one bedroom .

spouse of scouse

Where in the UK are you renting? ie England, Wales etc
What type of tenancy do you have? Most are an AST.
Is the property you're renting a residential property, ie not a holiday let?
Is your landlord a private landlord, not a Council?