Joint Tenancy - is paying rent to the other tenant allowed?

Dear HMRC, My mother and I have joint tenancy on a leasehold flat. She lives abroad and I live there with historical informal arrangements for me to pay for service charges, ground rent and maintenance etc in return of having the flat to myself. She is now requesting for me to pay rent (for the part that she is not using) as she is not able to rent out her 'part of her property' as I am using the whole flat. I am more than happy to do that however, I am not sure if this is allowed and if I am allowed to use a normal tenancy agreement form etc.? Your advice will be much appreciated, thank you.

Hi,

A written tenancy agreement should be in place if you are going to be paying rent. As your mother lives abroad and will be receiving rent she will be considered an overseas landlord and will be required to submit a Self Assessment return.  

You can find further information on overseas landlords here:

PIM4800 - Overseas landlords

Thank you.

Hi HMRC Admin 2, Thank you for your response. I would like to find out if it is possible to have a valid tenancy agreement in a joint tenancy property where my name is also on the property deed - can I legally be a tenant? Thank you.

Hi,

Following your previous question and subsequent response, in the situation of a joint tenancy property where your name is also on the property deed, as your mother is in a sense subletting her part of the property to yourself. We would expect that as you would be paying rent for her portion of the property, that a written tenancy agreement should be in place to distinguish the separation from the original joint tenancy arrangement.

Thank you.