Ok i will try and put all of the details surrouding the question so you can answer.

l rent a flat in hackney with three others (four of us together) However we are renting a three bedroom flat, the living room is converted into a fourth bedroom.
There are only three names on the tenancy agreement (not agreed to by us). The estate agents are being very secretive as to why theres only three people on the tenancy agreement and are implying that we cannot change it.

What l wanna know is what would be the possible reasons for the landlord for doing this, any benefits, is it legal?

l am also wanting to claim housing benefit, but the landlords are being uncooperative which is how l found out the person missing from the tenancy agreement. We have all four of us signed applications for tenancy AND guarantors.

Also what rights does the person missing off the tenancy agreement have, considering they pay their share of the rent to the estate agents separately.

Any help is very appreciated. Thanks

Oh there r a few issues here. Firstly look at this site for HMO.http://communities.gov.uk/housing/rentingandletting/privaterenting/housesmultiple/
It does sound as if u r a HMO, & possible the landlord believes that leaving one tenant off the agreement stops it becoming a HMO.
l do not see why the landlord needs to know about ur housing Benefit claim. Just take ur copy of the tenancy agreement to the council.

As for the missing person, is there no mention of him on the agreement? You say he pays his rent to the agent, he must get a receipt from them, he should pay them via bank transfer or cheque then there is something to check back. He would not be able to apply for housing benefit as he has no agreement ! But then again how can the LL claim anything from him, as he does not exist!

l would think that the LL is trying to stop his property being classes as a HMO, which means a lot of alterations, such as fire doors ect.
Do u have gas appliances? You must legally have a gas certificate every year. You can report the landlord to the council regarding HMO without giving ur name.
Good Luck

Okay, l have just answered ur other question.

It sounds to me like ur house is not classed as an HMO.

In an HMO, each person rents one room.

It sounds like in ur house, the three people who r named on the tenancy rent the whole house.

There r a lot of other differences from the landlord is perspective, but that is really the main one from ur perspective.

In an HMO, the tenants have more *individual* rights. If you're renting the whole flat, then the group of u have the same rights collectively but fewer individual rights. So, if u r renting the whole flat, then the biggest problem is going to be what happens if u all fall out with each other, more than what the landlord could do.