Letting to lodger: what Agreement form/wording?

[jeffrey]

Bel is right.
An Assignment is safer than if you only "make the tenants know that you hold them responsible" which would have no legal effect at all.

[MDM]

Dear all,

Thank you very much for your useful advice. I have found a deed of assignment of tenancy with the help of google and the university of london accomodation office.

I was worried about making contact with the departing tenant, who left under something of a thunderstorm. However, have successfully crossed that bridge. Should just be a few i's to be dotted and t's crossed between cup and lip now.

[arusha]

lodger but with a 6 month term

Can you have an agreement with a lodger that says they can't leave until after 6 months? My friend wants to take two lodgers in to help make ends meet but she doesn't want them to be able to leave straight away as she will be relying on the money.

I don't know much about lodgers but, I said she should be wary of giving them too many rights by accidentally creating a tenancy.

Am I right in thinking if one has a lodger, they aren't a 'tenant' and she should therefore also be wary of calling them a tenant in the agreement.

[MrShed]

Yes you can sign a 6 month agreement with a lodger. However, bear in mind this basically makes them liable for the rent for this period of time. If they leave part way through, you may have a hard job persuing them for the rent if they do not leave a forwarding address.

[arusha]

Thanks MrShed.

Anyone know where I can get a free lodger agreement? I can see plenty that you pay for but a free one would be better.

[Beeber]

[QUOTE=arusha;55623]Can you have an agreement with a lodger that says they can't leave until after 6 months? [QUOTE]

So your friend is happy that the lodger can remain in the property driving her mad for that entire period, should the relationship break down?

[cmbhappy]

Tenant takes in a lodger

One of my tenants of only a month or so has just sent me a letter to explain that my permission is sought to take in a lodger. In the letter the tenant accepts continuing full responsibility for upkeep, rent etc and that the lodger (woman and child) will be staying until further notice.

As it happens the woman and child have already moved in.

My question is: are there any key issues that I should address in my letter of response?

I'm actually quite cool about the whole thing, is that wise?

[justaboutsane]

Tenant can have guests and not need your permission so I guess this is no different. Just don't take any rent direct from the tenants guests or you could create a tenancy with them! .. Try doing a search on guests and you may well come up with some answers xx

[Surrey]

Ensure that the tenant knows he cannot give any rights that he does not have himself. For example, he can't promise that they can stay longer than he is allowed to.

It's actually pretty decent of him to tell you, so with luck it'll all be fine.

[darkfox]

has my tenant now become a lodger?

When away from the country I took on 2 shorthold tenants into my only residential property. Both signed standard 6 month contracts. On returning one tenant moved out to make space for me, where I continue to live now.

Did the remaining tenant become a lodger (excluded occupier) when I moved back in? I moved in during the 6 months covered by his contract but that term has now lapsed and no new contract has been signed. Technically we share the bathroom and kitchen areas but he is never there.

I wish to serve him notice to leave and wonder whether I should treat him as a tenant or as a lodger.

[Bel]

If he was a tenant at the start, he cannot be demoted to 'lodger' status

Lodger status depends where your main residence was at all stages of this tenancy.

If you all lived together at the start of the tenancy (how long?) and you have not had a main residence in between, and you are now all living together again it sounds like he is your lodger.

If you did not live together at the start then it sounds like a tenancy.



If in doubt, treat him as a tenant, but as a residential LL, the tenancy is outside the housing act and you need to serve a 'notice to quit' (one months notice) and not a section 21 notice. If your tenant does not leave, you will need to get a court order for possession.

[missdistressed]

i want lodger to leave - please help!

Hi,

I am in quite a stressful situation with a lodger - but I dont know what my rights are and whether I am being fair or not. Can anyone help?

She has lived in my house for over a year, and originally we had an informal agreement over email that she stays until one or both of us give one month notice (emails now lost). She has become a friend as well as lodger so I have never worried about this informal agreement.

A month ago she flooded the house by accident - causing thousands of pounds of damage. Luckily I have insurance - but the stress of this happening and the time/effort involved in sorting out has taken its toll and I no longer want a lodger to cause the risk of anything happening again.

I explained this to her - said there was no blame involved - but I would like her to leave as soon as she could so I could dry out her bathroom, get the workmen in, and then not have any further risk of damage.

Now, a month later, she is still here - and says that by law she can stay 2 months. When I asked about the one month agreement, she claimed to have forgotten. Also, she is now 2 and a half weeks late in her rent, and has said it is the banks fault it is late when I have asked.

Do I have the right to ask her to leave now, as per our original agreement? And/or do I have the right to insist that she pays before she goes?

Thanks for your help... look forward to hearing some views/advice as I dont know what to think except that I dont want lodgers ever again!

[Ericthelobster]

There is certainly no law which would give her the right to being given 2 months' notice (unless you had given her a contract stating that, which you haven't). She would get that if she was a tenant; however she is a lodger and has far less security than that. A months' notice does sound perfectly normal and fair - however, you haven't given specifically her a month yet, it all sounds very woolly.

Also you are now in a situation where there's nothing in writing and it's down to her word against yours, I'm not sure where that leaves you in practice.

First off, I think you need to give her a fixed deadline in writing by which you want her out (and including pointing out the date you originally asked her to leave ASAP) - until you've done that I think your hands are somewhat tied.

[missdistressed]

Thanks for your advice... It is much appreciated.

Even though I dont have anything formally written down we both agreed on the date I asked her to leave - and she has texted me about it confirming the specfic date - because she was convinced she had a legal right to 8 weeks from then... do you think this counts for anything?

Also, as there is no formal agreement, if a tenant is allowed 8 weeks what is a lodger allowed?

[caroline7758]

AST for lodger?

If someone takes on a lodger and gives them an AST on paper (because that's all there was in WHSmith!) does the lodger have the same rights as a tenant on an AST where the landlord isn't living in the property? Or can a lodger not have an AST?