Hi all. I live in a shared house in England which was on a joint tenancy direct with the landlord when I moved in 12 years ago, and all was well.
Then a few years ago, they switched to using a letting agent to manage the property. All of a sudden I was told by the agent that we could no longer be on a joint tenancy and I had to become the sole tenant, with the other 3 housemates as my "permitted occupiers".
I accepted this at the time as we didn't want to move out and all the bills are in my name anyway. I have asked if we can go back to a JT on occasion, but they refuse each time with vague explanations about it being too difficult. They have the correct hmo licence so it can't be that.
Now one person is moving out and we need to find a replacement, so I again asked if we could go back to a joint tenancy and this was their reply:
We have discussed the matter, and we can add all occupants as tenants onto a new Assured Periodic Tenancy and all tenants would need to sign the contract. This would cost £182 + VAT.
Please note, if you would like everyone to be a tenants going forward, the £182+VAT charge would apply every time someone moves out/in to update the contract.
I understand that you are aware of the reasons why all occupants were listed as ‘Permitted Occupiers’ previously due to complications with Fixed Term Contracts and re-registering the deposit etc.
However, with the law abolishing fixed term tenancies, this can now make it easier to add everyone as tenants.
Is this fee legal? I thought they could only charge £50 to amend a tenancy post 2019? In fact that is what they want to charge if I stay on this mad contract with my housemates as occupants.
Also is the current contract enforceable in law? It doesn't seem right that they can make me do this when it's a registered hmo. Seems a bit fishy to me.
Any advice gratefully received!
[Edited for typos and formatting]