Although hopefully this will never happen to you, very occasionally lodger landlords will need to evict their lodger. Todays tips give guidance on this.
Caution – todays tip only applies to lodger landlords who share living accommodation with their lodgers.
The guidance given here regarding eviction, will *only* be applicable to landlords with lodgers living in their own home where at least some living space (e.g. kitchen, bathroom, sitting room – and preferably more than one room) are shared with the lodger (this is explained on day 1).
If your lodger only uses his own room, and in practice does not use any of the rooms used by you, the advice here will not apply to you and you should take legal advice.
Note also that the property must have been your main residence for the whole of the time the lodger has been living there.
If you use the procedure set out here in circumstances where you are not entitled to, you will be committing the criminal offence of unlawful eviction. You may also be at risk of being sued for financial compensation, and/or an injunction ordering you to let him back in again.
Notice to quit
Before following the information given in this tip, you must have given your lodger formal notice to leave. This was discussed on Day 19. The effect of this will be to end your lodgers legal right to live in the property.
If your lodger refuses to go
In most cases, your lodger will leave as asked on or before the day given in the notice you have given him. However in a few cases (and this happens only *very* rarely) your lodger may refuse to move out. If this happens, consider first the following options:
- If your lodger is a student, complaining to his university or college may help. Or have a word with the accommodation office.
- If your lodger came to you via the HR Department of a local employer talk to them about it.
- Have a look at the lodgers application form (see Day 11). If there are any next of kin, consider contacting them to see if they can help.
However if none of this helps, you may have no option but to proceed to eviction.
Eviction
If you have a lodger who refuses to go, you can follow the procedure below. Note that save in cases of exceptional bad behaviour (preferably where you have reported matters to the police), you should not use this procedure unless you have given your lodger at least 28 days formal notice to leave. In all cases, at least one letter giving notice to vacate *must* have been given to the lodger, and the notice period must have expired.
Where you are evicting your lodger for violent or criminal behaviour, you should make sure you will be able to prove this if it is ever challenged by your lodger. This is why getting the police involved when there are incidents, as suggested on Day 19, is a recommended. Keeping a diary of events is another good idea.
1. On or shortly before the day the lodger is supposed to move out, ask him when he will be leaving. If he asks for just a day or two longer, you should normally agree to this, particularly if there is a genuine reason for his request (e.g. if he cannot move into his new accommodation immediately). Otherwise, proceed as follows.
2. Arrange for the locks on your property to be changed at a time when your lodger is likely to be out for some time. (It is probably best not to warn your lodger of this beforehand in case he decides to stay in the property to prevent you doing it).
3. When you lodger returns, refuse to let him in. If you think that he is likely to cause trouble, arrange for the police to be present (it may be a good idea to arrange for this anyway). The police should attend if you tell them that you expect there to be a breach of the peace. If the police will not attend, make sure that you have someone else with you, to act as an independent witness.
If the police are not there and your lodger starts causing trouble, do not open the door (or shut the door before he gets in). Ring the police and ask them to come out immediately. Do not let the lodger back into the property.
It is very important that you use no force or violence whatsoever when evicting your lodger. If you do, this will put you in breach of the law yourself, and you will be vulnerable to being arrested and prosecuted by the police. This is why a passive eviction process of refusing to allow him back in is recommended. If your lodger attacks you, you can defend yourself, but you should be careful to avoid any situation where this can happen (e.g. don’t open the door). This is why having a Police presence is so important, as if your lodger becomes violent, they can deal with it for you.
4. Your lodger will be entitled to have his possessions returned to him. However, in most cases he should only be allowed back into your property (e.g. to pack) if there is police presence.
5. Under no circumstances should you or anyone in your house let the lodger in again after this. If he continues to cause problems, consider going to a solicitor and asking for an injunction. However it is most unlikely that this will be necessary. In most cases the lodger will accept the situation, particularly if the police have been involved.
General notes on eviction
The procedure outlined above should only *ever* be used as a last resort, against a lodger who has behaved badly towards you, and who has either been given several warnings and written requests to vacate but has totally ignored them, or who has behaved so appallingly that it is unreasonable for anyone to expect you to allow him to stay in your home any longer.
If you are worried about forcible eviction, it is a good idea to take legal advice first, but make sure it is from someone who knows and understands housing and letting law (preferably a solicitor). Give them a copy of this blog post and ask them if, in their opinion, the advice given here (and the section of the Protection of Eviction Act 1977 referred to below) applies to you.
If you decide to proceed without taking legal advice first, and are challenged about your right to evict a lodger in this way without a court order (either by the lodger himself or by any legal advisor on his behalf), tell them that your legal authority is contained in section 3A(2) of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977.
In the first part of this act, it states that no residential occupier shall be evicted other than by ‘due process of law’ i.e. by obtaining a Court order for possession. Section 3 of the Act then goes on to list various types of occupation where this rule does not apply – they are described in the act as ‘excluded tenancies and licenses’. Sub sections (2) and (3) are the sections which provide for lodgers to be excluded.
You can read Protection from Eviction Act 1977 via this link.
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What is your experience of the things in this section? Have you ever had to evict a lodger forcibly? Were the police supportive? Do you have any tips for other lodger landlords?
Hi Tessa
What would your view be on using the courts? I searched the HM-Courts website and found claim form N130 which appears to offer a quick route to criminalising a lodger who stays-on without permission. The police could then be called and would be required to remove the lodger?
Hi Paul. Form N130 is the application form for an interim possession order. This is really intended for squatters occupying land rather then lodgers outstaying their welcome. It also involves two court hearings and you have to give an undertaking at the first hearing, that you will let the defendants back in if you do not succeed on the second hearing. Most people will not want to do that.
I am shortly to launch a new service (http://www.evictingsquatters.co.uk) which will be selling a kit you can use to evict squatters (although not using the N130 process).
However in the vast majority of lodger situations, Court action is not necessary. As discussed above, the Police should help you anyway if you think the lodger is going to cause trouble, you do not need a court order.
Hi Tessa,
What would I do about someone that just causes me upset, It’s a serious personality clash and she is now pushing to become a tenant and I am worried about my own right to stay if that happens.
I have a secure tenancy from my landlady and my new flatmate has a lodger agreement with me, there is a lock on the door but she does use the kitchen to cook and occasionally uses the living room to watch TV.
What should I do?
Ben
Hi Ben. I don’t think your lodger can become a joint tenant on your tenancy without your consent! Any agreement she signed with your landlord (where you were not involved) would be void as you have an existing tenancy.
If she is your lodger and you don’t want her to stay, ask her to leave and serve a notice to quit. If you want more details guidance, use our advice service.
If you are giving notice to quit on a lodger, does this have to happen at the end of a rental period (as with a tenant) or can it be at any time?
It is not so much the date that you serve the notice that is important (ie the day you hand it to them or leave it on their bed or table in their room) but the amount of notice you give them to leave. This should ideally be at least 28 days/four weeks and the notice period should (in some cases, depending on what the lodger agreement says) end at the end of a rental period.
So, for example, if they always pay rent on a Thursday, they should be asked to leave on the next Wednesday after 28 days after you serve the notice.
But things are a lot more flexible with lodgers. So long as you give them at least four weeks to get out (less is sometimes acceptable if they have behaved badly), you should be all right.
Does the letter have to be handed to them personally or can it just be pushed under a door for them? I am thinking about lodgers that make a point of not being around much.
You can leave it where you know they will find it. For example put it on their bed, or stick it over the door handle so they will have to remove it to get into their room.
Hello there,
my lodger, Kathy, moved in recently with contract for 6 months. Unfortunately here is a personality clash and also breach of contract (coming home in the middle of the night with a “friend” and not asking if we are OK if he will stay over night and use the room to sleep in it). She comes back home drunk and behaves loudly, too. I won’t her to leave asap as I don’t feel comfortable at my own house any more (I was to scared to not sleep last night not knowing who is her “friend” sleeping in my house). What is the best and quickest way to remove her from our home? I understand I need to pay her the deposit back. Thank you, Anna
Follow the advice given in these tips. Carry out the procedure as set out on day 19 and then take it from there.
What happens if there is no lodger agreement?
For example, if there is no formal written agreement between LL and lodger. If the lodger has become violent:
(1) Can the LL ask the lodger to leave without any notice being given at all; and
(2) Call the Police to remove the lodger?
Thanks.
Hi Jim. Not having a lodger agreement is not a major problem. It is just easier if you have one.
Certainly if the lodger becomes violent you can ask him to leave with a short notice period. I think only if his behaviour is exceptionally bad can you ask him to go with no notice at all. However it is your home and no-one can expect you to put up with a violent lodger.
Follow the procedure set out here, ie change the locks while he is out and refuse to let him in again. Make sure the police are present – which they should be if you tell them you expect there to be a breach of the peace.
i have lodger which my ex partner let stay in my house without my permission,now i want them out as they are leaving the house in a right mess,they have ruined and the fridge and microwave are thick in dirt and mould beyond cleaning am i well with in my right just to remove them.
Hi Alison. There is guidance on these 21 days of tips, and in some of the other blog posts here, to help you. If you need further help, there is also a fixed fee advice service, which you will find linked from the navigation bar at the top of the site.
I have two friends of a friend living with me at the moment who lost their house. They are mother and son, but since they are both legally adults, they are not entitled to social housing other than the promise of eventual separate hostels. They moved in two years ago but it was supposed to be temporary until they found somewhere else. My husband and I let them stay rent free for six months and then we asked them to pay rent. They have paid rent intermittently for the last 18 months but our circumstances have changed as I now have a young child who needs a room of his own. They have known that staying with us was only temporary from the start and I did tell them that my child will need a room soon. Three months ago we wrote them a letter telling them to vacate this weekend, we also sent a copy to our local housing office. Well it’s Sunday now and they are not moving out, they say they have no place to go. I tried to help them, showing them local listings for rooms to rent but they just never rang and enquired. They seem to think they can live here forever. They both do not work and are in more than we are. They hardly leave the house but we work. Where do we go from here? Would the police just come and remove them? Do we have to wait patiently until they eventually go out somewhere together then change the locks?
You could try speaking to the police about it. They may be prepared to help.
If the police won’t come and remove them for you, you could be a bit devious and arrange an outing. Perhaps suggest they come to the pub with one of you and discuss things. Or say you have got hold of some free theatre tickets which they can have. There must be some way you can get them out of the house at the same time.
Make sure you have served a formal notice to quit first and the notice period has expired.
Hi Tessa,
I have a house that I own and have took on two lodgers who are friends of mine. One of them has a secure job and pays rent regularly and also helps with the bills. The other has lost his job for the second time in a few months, he continues to renage on his agreement to pay, he has also built up a massive phone bill of which has already left my account.
The lodger has a history of violence and also has begun to damage my property such as the back window has been broke and still not replaced.
I have today given him a months notice but I am worried that he will wreck the house as he has already said this to my other lodger behind my back.
Any help on this would be thankful.
Many thanks in advance.
He doesn’t sound much like a friend to me. Damaging the property is clearly in breach of any lodger agreement and I think you might be justified in giving him less than a months notice.
It is difficult to judge these matters however without knowing the people involved. What can you do which would influence him to behave properly? Would reporting him to the police help? Getting a CCJ for his rent arrears? Speaking to his mother?
You probably also need to talk about it with your other lodger and see what he thinks. No doubt he is fed up with things as well – a damaged window affects the security of the house and his possessions will be vulnerable as well as yours.