CML highlights plight of “unofficial” tenants

Permalink: CML highlights plight of “unofficial” tenants
by Gill Montia

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has welcomed Government proposals to improve the private rental sector in England by creating of a register of landlords and the properties they let.

The measures under discussion also include extending the period of notice for tenants who have to leave their homes because their landlord is being repossessed.

However, the CML points out that “it is important to recognise that the legal position of tenants whose landlords default on their mortgage will vary”.

It will depend on whether their landlord has a buy-to-let mortgage, in which case the tenancy is recognised, or whether the landlord has an owner-occupier mortgage, in which case the landlord has breached the terms of the mortgage agreement and the lender will not even be aware of the tenancy.

The CML’s director general, Michael Coogan, comments: “Everyone sympathises with the position of good tenants who were unaware their landlord was not paying the mortgage.”

He adds: “In most cases, tenants have a recognised tenancy because their landlord has a buy-to-let mortgage, and these tenants are protected. For the minority of tenants whose landlords should never have been renting out the property at all, we look forward to working with government towards a resolution that appropriately balances the outcomes for lender, borrower and tenant.”