Book review – The Essential Guide to Flatsharing by Rupert Hunt and Matt Hutchinson

This book is written by the owners of the popular SpareRoom.co.uk flatsharing web-site. It is addressed to ‘sharers,lodgers, and everyone renting out a room’, and is very much a companion book to their web site service. As the authors have been working in the field for such a long time (their London flatsharing site, intolondon.com […]

The five main differences between a lodger and a tenant

If you provide meals your lodger cannot claim a tenancy

From talking to people and reading the questions that people ask, it is clear that many are hopelessly confused about the difference between a lodger (which is a type of occupation license) and a tenant. I am not surprised!  It is a typical lawyerlike distinction and can be confusing even for the lawyers.  However, it is […]

How to deal with a disappearing lodger (and get your room back)

Disappearing like a Cheshire cat

When I mean disappearing lodger, I don’t mean one who fades away like the Cheshire Cat!  I mean the tenant who just goes off and never comes back.  Generally owing you rent. I had an email from a reader about this just the other day, who said, quite rightly that this is not covered in […]

21 days of tips for lodger landlords – summary of posts

Here is a list of all the posts published in the 21 days of tips series: Day 1 – What is a lodger? This looks at whether there is a legal definition of a lodger and gives advice on avoiding creating a tenancy. There are some interesting comments on this tip. Day 2 – Have […]

My book – The Quick Guide to Taking in a Lodger

As well as writing this  web-site, I have also written a book on lodgers,  published by Lawpack.  Previously it was only available as a download from the Lawpack web-site, but excitingly, it has now been printed, so you can buy it in the shops or download it from Amazon. It is called The Quick Guide […]

Day 21 – What should you do when your lodger leaves?

Day 21 Sometimes it is good to get your home back again

Our last few tips have looked a problem lodger situations, but of course this is not the norm.  Most lodgers get on very well with their landlord.  However all good things have to end, and sooner or later the day will come when your lodger leaves. There are many reasons.  Most of my lodgers, for […]

Day 20 – How do you evict a lodger who won’t go?

Day 20 - You should not use any force when evicting a lodger

Although hopefully, this will never happen to you, very occasionally lodger landlords will need to evict their lodger. Today’s tips give guidance on this. Caution – today’s 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 […]

Day 19 – How should you deal with problem lodgers?

Day 19 - try not to get into an argument with your lodger

In most cases your lodger experience will be a positive one. However sadly, this is not always the case. If you do experience problems, todays tips should help. Stage 1 – talk to your lodger If you are unhappy about something, have a word with your lodger about it. For example if he is not […]

Day 18 – How should you behave towards your lodger?

Day 18 - you should allow your lodger a certain amount of privacy

Making friends Every lodger / landlord relationship is different, as all people are different. However on the whole, it is best not to be too friendly with your lodger. Although you may personally like your lodger, the main reason they are in your house is to earn you some money. In the majority of cases […]

Day 17 – How much paperwork and record keeping is involved?

Day 17 - Keep careful records of everything

Documents and record keeping Although not yet as bad as tenancies, there can still be quite a lot of paperwork involved in renting out a room. It is possible to do things just on a handshake, but this is not really recommended. This is probably a good place to list all the paperwork which could […]