Tenant has taken a lodger

[oursurveysays]

Hi all. My tenant, who has been in occupation since Dec 17 took a lodger in last year. He did ask and as he has been a good tenant and has a two month deposit as well as guarantees in place I made it clear a lodger is his responsibility and the tenancy agreement clearly states that it is his responsibility to provide vacant possession at the end of the tenancy.

I had three options really, refuse and potentially deal with tenant leaving. Accept reality this girl, whom I assume is his partner, would move in and start eviction proceedings or just let them get on with it. Opted for the latter as I believe he will be on the hook in the event of her remaining after he leaves.

I did request a credit score which has come back with a score of 199 (high risk). She has no records of CCJs and limited credit history (she is young to be fair) but curiously her residency and identity have come back as not confirmed on the credit score.

Two questions:

1) legally do I need to see identity information or is that the responsibility of my tenant as she is his lodger and not my tenant?
2) with regards Landlord insurance are there any issues and do I just fill it in as one tenant as legally that is the case, albeit that tenant has a lodger?

[blinko]

Goodness some interesting questions here unfortunately I can't help you but I would definitely contact the rla helpline they should be able to advise on this.

same with the insurance I probably contact or look over my insurance policy in terms of legally the lodger has little to no right to remain in the property so the only person you would issue notice to would be the tenant who would then issue notice to the lodger as that's who the agreement would be with but I'm guessing you'll probably have to put some kind of clothes in there that the tenant is to notify the lodger and all relevant parties blah blah blah

but yeah that's just my thoughts will be interesting to see what the more knowledgeable members think

[theartfullodger]

What does YOUR insurance say about this? Different policies, different conditions.

[alice123]

Rather than lodger she becomes his guest ? and is never named on the tenancy agreement and as such does not have any tenants rights apart from being 'guest'
Apart from that it up to your tenant to make some informal agreement with the guest as to paying towards bills and rents
Thats how I see it anyway as i did have a similar situation a while back and rang my insurance about it - i also called the mortgage company and asked them it it was ok if they had a dog > (the things we think of )

I may be wrong but thats how it seems to be

[oursurveysays]

Rather than lodger she becomes his guest ? and is never named on the tenancy agreement and as such does not have any tenants rights apart from being 'guest'
Apart from that it up to your tenant to make some informal agreement with the guest as to paying towards bills and rents
Thats how I see it anyway as i did have a similar situation a while back and rang my insurance about it - i also called the mortgage company and asked them it it was ok if they had a dog > (the things we think of )

I may be wrong but thats how it seems to be

Yeah that is pretty much the situation. It is his responsibility and I don't want to formalise an AST with this girl as if there are any issues I'll go after my tenant. I doubt there will be cos he is a decent guy, but any issues with her is his problem.

I need to renew my insurance so I'll maybe speak to my insurers and explain the circumstances. Its just a bit of a chew on because it will be more than filling in an online application for insurance and I'll need to contact insurers by phone to explain the nuance of the situation.

Anybody have a view whether I legally need to see her ID docs? My view is that is my tenants responsibility and as head landlord not my issue.

Thanks to all for replies thus far.

[theartfullodger]

Correct:. Check insurance but otherwise do nothing.

[MdeB]

Anybody have a view whether I legally need to see her ID docs? My view is that is my tenants responsibility and as head landlord not my issue.

You are not letting to her, so not your responsibility.

[alice123]

i didnt ask for any id documents it was in fact my sons girlfrriend . The only thing with this is that when they split up she had to find somewhere and i told her that as she had no tenancy rights she couldnt stay and she found somewhere else and I did get involved with it as she thought she had 'rights' but the citizens advice told her she hadnt as shes not mentioned on the tenancy - which im glad i didnt put the agreement in both their names anyway -
He then got another girlfiend and moved her in and now shes gone back to her mothers.
I would say as long as the person seems an ok person (not on drugs ect not been convicted or any offences ect )
As far as insurance goes check it becasue mine did say something along the lines of tenants/guests not having crimminal offences ect or it may have been under the tenancy agreement (check ) this also mentions tenants/guests in the same context but check it as well as it all seemed to be the responsibility of the tenant and hes responsible for the behaviour of the guest (I think) sorry

[DPT57]

Rather than lodger she becomes his guest ?

If she has a lodger agreement or is paying him rent then she would be a lodger. Still worth checking the landlord insurance though.

[leaseholder64]

A lodger is a licensee, so it would not be a sub-let.

[alice123]

Apparently this is possible with your permission but it does seem complicate to me --

https://www.tenancyagreementservice....ke-in-a-lodger

[mariner]

A Tenant can take in a Lodger since Rent a Room Scheme was introducfored & LL can not object, but always best for T to inform LL of their intention.

[DPT57]

The problem arises if the landlords insurance says that all adults living at the property must be tenants or at least named on the AST.