Does your landlord have permission to let your home?

When we’re moving into a new rented property we happily (maybe grudgingly) see credit and background checks for prospective tenants as a necessary part of the process. How many of us stop to think about checking out our potential landlord?

In these times of economic trouble many home owners are renting out their properties without permission from their mortgage lender or insurance provider.  Which can potentially lead to problems for the unwitting tenant months or even years down the line.  Most residential mortgage agreements do not allow for properties to be let, meaning most landlords need to obtain specific permission from their lender to rent out their property. However because mortgage prices may increase when consent to let is granted and there is no need to declare if they have obtained said permission to potential tenants or most letting agencies, quite a few don’t bother.

If a landlord defaults on the mortgage and doesn’t have consent to let the home, the tenants have very few rights. Although they can claim up to a 2 month delay of eviction in the event of repossession due to The Mortgage Possessions  (Protection of Tenants etc.) Act 2010, however it’s a huge hassle involving a great deal of time, money and heartache.

Be warned, it isn’t easy or even in some cases possible.

Because every mortgage and circumstance is a bit different and there is no law or process in place requiring landlords to provide proof of permission to let, there’s no hard and fast way to go about it but here are a few tips.

1. Ask your potential landlord to provide proof of permission

They’re not obliged to provide any such proof, however many will happily do so. When we moved to our most recent home our landlord was a bit funny about the very idea however she approached her mortgage company who provided a letter which acknowledged she had consent to let but did not put her financial details at risk.

2. Ask to see an insurance document

A property which is being let requires different insurance to an owner occupied home. Whilst a landlord may be reluctant to provide their mortgage details (that’s a whole lot of personal information to be handing around) they may be more likely to show you their insurance details

3. Do your homework

Make sure you have your prospective landlord’s full, correct name and google it. It may seem basic

4. Pay £4 to check the Land Registry

Whilst it isn’t the most speedy in updating details, the Land Registry website can at least provide you with details of property ownership. As someone who once let a flat from a person I belived to be the landlord, and it turned out it was an illegal sub-let I wish I’d known about this in 2004.

As you can see there is no hard and fast way to go about it and no direct or ‘normal’ route but it is most definitely worth looking into and at least asking if your landlord has the correct paperwork.

Do you think landlords should have to provide legal proof of consent to let? Should landlords be registered? What do you think?

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A Thrifty Mrs is a twenty something journalist, radio producer and voice over artist based in Manchester. You're most likely to find Thrifty on her hands and knees sifting through boxes of junk in jumble sales or charity shops. She runs the eponymous frugal lifestyle blog A Thrifty Mrs.

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