Getting permission for a lodger
Before you start clearing out the spare room and buying furniture (day 6), you need to be sure that you are legally entitled to let it out to your lodger, and have any necessary permission. Otherwise you could be in trouble. These are the main points to consider:
Tenants
If you rent a property under a short let, such as an assured shorthold tenancy, your tenancy agreement will almost certainly forbid taking in a lodger. You will therefore need to get your landlords permission. Although if you explain to him that you need the extra money to pay his rent, he will probably agree! You should get him to give you a letter confirming that you have permission to rent a room to a lodger, just in case there are problems later. Keep it safe.
Social housing
If you rent from a housing association or local authority, you shouldn’t have any problem. However, there is no harm in having a word with one of the housing officers and asking for written confirmation. Keep it safe. If you are told you don’t need written permission, keep a note of the name of the person you spoke to and the date.
Owner occupiers
Normally, if you are an owner occupier, you should be all right. However if you have a long lease or a mortgage, these will almost certainly forbid any subletting, so you need to make sure that no tenancy is created. (This will also be the case with private and social short lets also). We discussed on Day 1 how a tenancy can be prevented.
The two other things that perhaps could be mentioned here are planning permission and the building regulations:
- Planning permission will probably only be needed if you are thinking of renting out rooms as a business, (although watch out for possible changes in the law relating to planning permission for HMOs). NB If you do need planning permission here is a useful planning site.
- Building regulations will only apply if you are thinking of having building work done, perhaps to create a new bedroom or bathroom. You will find some information about building regulations here.
Note that insurance is dealt with on Day 3.
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What is your experience of the things in this section? Have you had problems getting permission to take in a lodger? Were you able to overcome these? Has anyone had any problems with planning?
If you are a landlord or a tenant, you will help and guidance on Tessa's other sites, Landlord Law and the Landlord Law Blog.
[...] Day 2 – Have you got permission to take in a Lodger? This looks at the various permissions necessary before you can rent out a room in your home. [...]
I am a tenant on an AST, I have had a friend move in to the spare room and he is giving me a good will jesture of £160PCM to cover the utilities that he uses. I have contacted my landlord about this matter and they are wanting to re-write my tenancy agreement to include my friend. If this happens I am worried that he will have a right to half of the property untill my tenancy expires and if I want to I won’t be able to ask him to leave.
If he is a friend living here and offering a good will gesture with no written agreement, does he have to go on my tenancy agreement, also if we are co-tenants he would be responsible for half of all rent and bills, and he does not want this.
Help please. Thanks, Mark.
Your landlord cannot force you to sign a new tenancy agreement if you do not want to. Certainly not if neither you nor your friend want him to be a joint tenant. I would not advise that you sign a new agreement.
Explain to your landlord that the friend is just a temporary lodger and as such it is not appropriate to put him on the tenancy agreement as a tenant.
I need help please!
My boyfriend and me had an AST for 2bed flat.Our friend let us down and we found the lodgers instead into his room.The landlord agreed with it.
We shared this property with the lodgers (a couple)for 1.5year, but after they started to have arguments between themselves which became very annoying and we decided to give them a notice of 30days and find someone else. Unfortunately they asked us before to write them something “long term proof of the accommodation” to be able to prolong their visa half a year prior. We found a form on the internet, called it Flatshare Sublease Agreement and gave it to them. Now they took the case to the court and claim 3x the deposit. What shall we do? How shall I persuade the judge that they were lodgers and not tenants?
Thank you very much!
@Tanya the fact that someone takes a case to court does not mean they are going to win. The tenancy deposit regulations only apply to assured shorthold tenancies. This is explained on day 16 http://www.lodgerlandlord.co.uk/2010/02/16/day-16-deposits-inventories/
I own a house (with a small mortgage) that I was renting out. My tenants have gone, and my mother is now living there. In order to cover bills, my mum wants to take in a lodger. My mum isn’t my tenant, she isn’t my lodger. We put together to pay the bills at the moment.
- Does there have to be a legal basis to her occupation of the house, for her to be entitled to take in a lodger?
- What sort of agreement could she enter into with a lodger? (it would have to be her agreement with him/her and not mine I guess??)
- If she plans to be overseas for a couple of months at a time, could this create some sort of tenancy for the lodger?
@Nicola If you are happy with your Mother taking in a lodger then this is not a problem. She should use a normal lodger agreement such as the one we sell.
It may not be a good idea to leave the lodger alone in the house for long periods. The lodger could claim that she had moved out, turning his lodger status into that of tenant.
This is not a problem if she just goes on holiday for a couple of weeks, but I would not advise prolonged absences of months at a time.
Very helpful. Thank you!
Hi,
I have a house and a mortgage and I am wanting to take in a lodger but wanted to know if I have to notify the mortgage lender?
Hi Tessa,Thanks for this most helpful blog. I own a house where my daughter lives, and although I stay there from time to time (about once a month) when in the area on business, or for leisure trips, its not my main home- I bought it expressly for my daughter to live in. However, I haven’t given my daughter a tenancy agreement (which I suppose I should!). My daughter now wants a friend to share to help with the bills etc- can this be a lodger? In order to take in a lodger, does my daughter need to be my tenant?
@Kelly It really depends on the terms of your mortgage agreement. Maybe ring them up and ask if this is necessary.
@Angela It is possible to create a tenancy informally without a tenancy agreement, it really depends on the circumstances. However it might be an idea to give her a tenancy agreement, just to make things clear.
For example, if there is no tenancy agreement with your daughter you may find yourself in a situation where the friend is alleging she is a co tenant, which would make it difficult to get rid of her, if your daughter decided she no longer wanted her to stay.