Running business from council house

J

janeferguson

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Three people are running businesses from a council estate in breach of their tenancy agreement. I object to this as my relation has no house. I also object on principle, they could afford their own house. It's just greed, one can close business and spend summer in Poland.

If I report can they find out by FOI who reported it. I also know one of the council staff is friendly with one of the business tenants.

I do not care for myself but my relation may get a house there
 
We can't claim you have an ulterior motive as you are quite clear and unvarnished about your, in my opinion deeply unpleasant, motivation.

In my experience your local council will be obliged to release information if requested. This is a complaint, not a protected disclosure.

If the business is causing a high level of noise, traffic disruption, uses hazardous materials, or generates hazardous waste then you will have more grounds for your objections.

If the tenant is giving piano lessons or making garden planters, I can't imagine you'll get far.
 
It's in breach of tenancy agreement and also planning. In my opinion they are taking houses from the homeless so when you are homeless you can applaud them
 
For now, the information could be communicated anonymously with an indication that the author will be keeping the situation under review.
 
janeferguson said:
I also object on principle, they could afford their own house.
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I agree with you. People who get council houses who can afford to rent or buy privately should lose their council houses.

However, everyone else and the law and practice seems to think that this is heresy. My understanding is that when a council tenant's income increases, they increase the rent. But they are never required to vacate the house.

Brendan
 
Yes, it is a lifetime tenacy.

Rents are linked to income, with a min and max rent.

There is a TD in social housing.
 
Another has two businesses registered to the address and boasts of all the money he makes. It's a disgrace they then have no houses for people who need them
 
I could be way off on this but as far as I am aware, applicants are assessed on their income before they make the application for social housing. So if the tenants subsequently make a lot of money after being housed, it does not make a difference.

You cannot assess people's incomes constantly and throw them out of their homes based on their income. If someone is working for a company that pays a big bonus to all staff one year and it put them over the threshold, you throw them out and back on the list? Where do they go? It will lead to tax evasion as people won't go over the threshold to avoid losing their homes. It will be impossible to police and administer and would cause havoc.

Even if these people were thrown out, what guarantees are there that your relation would get the house? I am presuming that you also live there and would like your relation to be a neigbour of yours?
 
janeferguson said:
Another has two businesses registered to the address and boasts of all the money he makes. It's a disgrace they then have no houses for people who need them
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There's nothing legally or morally wrong with registering a business at your home address surely? How is a sole trader, a plumber etc supposed to register as a business otherwise?

Are you calling out tenants who are actually working and running business from their house, or are you complaining only about the legal registered address for a business? That address is where the company receives mail - for many the only alternative would be to register the address of lawyer on their behalf - which would be very expensive.
 
Your starting point should be to get a copy of the local tenants handbook from your local council and that will set out what a tennant can and cannot do. In general, it is a breech of the tennancy to run a business from a council house as it potentially invalidates insurance on the property.

Secondly, what is a council house these days, is it via a housing trust or some other body or direct from the council, again you should confirm that as that may decide who you need to complain to.

Bear in mind, that just because you run your own business, especially if it is a start up, is no indication that someone can afford their own house. In many cases, businesses actually lose money in the first few years.

Odds of your relation getting the house in return is probably nil given the demand for social housing these days.

The comment on " spend summer in Poland" is awful. People are entitled to holidays. Plenty of Irish emigrants overseas come home for holidays and plenty of them run their own businesses overseas. I was one of them once. Without knowing the nature of the business, they could potentially be operating from Poland whilst on holiday remotely.

If anything, we should be applauding immigrants who come here, set up their own business and try and make a living and a life for themselves and perhaps one day, potentially employ people as well.
 
There’s hardly a private house in the country that some sort of business is being run from. Why should council houses be exempt?
 
Leper said:
There’s hardly a private house in the country that some sort of business is being run from. Why should council houses be exempt?
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I imagine it's mainly an insurance issue, the council insure the building against fire, damage etc whilst the onus is on the tennant to have contents insurance, if they want to.

Also depends on the nature of the business. One thing to develope websites from your bedroom, another thing completely to open a garage down the side of the house for fixing cars
 


I have been told that arrears of LA rents are mainly not due to the lack of payment of the original rent, but instead due to not telling the LA about extra earners and higher earnings living in the house.

Months/years later, the LA find out, they assess a higher rent, and apply that retrospectively. That means arrears.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
Is there a max rent? I had not realised that.

A local councillor told me that a doctor moved back in with his aged mother to "inherit" the council house when she died.

Brendan
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The coun I don't live there. Even if my relation didn't get it someone who needs a house would. These people can afford to have a house of their own. You are incorrect income is assessed annually
 
janeferguson said:
It's in the tenancy agreement which they sign to. Also probably needs planning
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Speaking as somebody who never qualified for anything (university grants etc) and always being truthful filling in forms attempting to enforce those is like expecting the sun not to rise. There’s a lesson there somewhere!
 
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