Lodger Agreement for Lodger, rent book?

ben1985

Hi there,

A property is under offer from myself awaiting the valuation from the lenders. I have spoken to one of my mates and It is very likely I will 'rent him a room' under the rent a room scheme. I have spoken to my lender and they was fine with this.

I found out a few days ago (on here incidentally) that I would need a rent book if the lodger was paying me rent weekly (which they will be doing as it's when they get paid). I purchased a rent book from Whsmith today, the only problem is in the type of letting section it only has the 3 options:

• Assured or Assured Shorthold Tenancy
• Restricted Contract Letting
• Protected or Statutory Tenancy

Which one of these would apply for a 'lodger agreement', would I need to cross out all them and just write Lodger agreement on the rent book or what?

I just want all the legal side of things to be watertight to protect me in the future if ever I don't get on with my mate or he decides to be funny.

Kind Regards

Ben

ben1985

can anybody help:):j

HappyMJ

A lodger has no rights. You can ask a lodger to leave straight away so just treat it as a receipt book to acknowledge you have got that weeks money.

theartfullodger

Dunno if you've heard about this new thingy that the techies are getting quite keen on "Google"... it finds things and "Lodger agreement" finds this...

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/lodgers_rent-a-room.htm

In particular
http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/pdf/Lodger%20Application.pdf

NB landlordzone is a very useful site...

I know he's a mate but you REALLY REGALLY REALLY want his NI #, copy of payslip, copy of driving licence or passport so that in the very unlikely event that he disnae pay up you can later find him & get the money back...

Treat it as a formal business arrangement & it might work. Treat it as a casual thing between mates & it will go t*ts up...

Don't use the WHSmith AST - it may appear to give him rights he shouldnae have...

Cheers!

Lodger

ben1985

cheers for all the advice so far, especially about payslips and NI numbers, I'll ensure I get all of that.

We've mentioned about 4 weeks notice. So does that mean I can't just kick him out if he did something REALLY Bad, I understand about him saying he wants to leave and giving me 4 weeks notice and 4 weeks more rent but not how to him out if he did something really bad?

Regards

Ben

theartfullodger

There are differing opinions on this... but i think 28days makes sense and would be (probably) found by a court to be reasonable.. Put it in writing!

See
http://www.lodgershares.co.uk/getting-rid-of-a-lodger.html

Cheers!

Lodger (A landlord but not had lodgers for over 25years..)

BitterAndTwisted

Theartfullodger was pulling your leg: the links would be useful for anyone considering taking a stranger into their home, not a pal.

Four week's notice sounds fair but if your pal mucks up and makes an absolutely horrific transgression, you are well within your rights to ask them to leave immediately. A pal you probably wouldn't which could make the whole situation a bit trickier.

What I would do in your situation is to have a really hard think about whether you want to agree to some basic guidelines together about share of the bills, what food would be communal, share of the housework, that sort of thing. Maybe consider chipping in and have a kitty for laundry and cleaning products, loo rolls, tea and milk sort of stuff.

l have to say that whenever I've had lodgers in the past, friends for some reason have been guilty of taking the mickey much, much more than any stranger has.

theartfullodger

Nope, no leg pulling here.


Cheers!

Lodger

Andy_Hamilton

For my lodgers, I leave the notice period blank for them to fill in when they move in. I tell them what ever they write we both stick to between 2 days and a month. One logder put 1 month and the next put 2 weeks. If they were doing some horrific act you can get them to leave there and then.
If I was taking in a friend as a lodger I would honestly put a clause in a contract to say for the first 3 months the notice period is 1-2 weeks then goes up to 1 month. That would give a chance to see if your still friends or if they just take the pee.

As for the rent book, The one you have sounds like the wrong one. I never use a rent book (always ask for standing order) or give a very basic reciept to say:
Date
Money paid
For what
signed by you.

flowerpotgirl2006

I am a tenant of a 3 bed flat and am on my own, looking to 'rent a room' to someone who is not a good mate, butneeds somewhere to stay

I am looking for a lodger agreement whereby then have some sort of agreement with me, but not as tight as a tenant, as I am the tenant of the property and do not want a joint tenancy

everywhere i look online i need to pay for a template of a lodger agreement, but am cautious as i dont wanna pay for something until i know what it says

does anyone happen to have a lodger agreement or know somewhere that does free templates?

I have a lodger application form done already from landlordzone.co.uk but they dont offer free templates.

Dont need anything majorly agressively formal, but a good agreement that means if they do a runner or something (as happened with my last 'co-tenant') I have some come back if I want to pursue it.

Regards

Potential 'Landlord'

N79

flowerpotgirl2006 wrote: »

I am a tenant of a 3 bed flat and am on my own, looking to 'rent a room' to someone who is not a good mate, butneeds somewhere to stay

I am looking for a lodger agreement whereby then have some sort of agreement with me, but not as tight as a tenant, as I am the tenant of the property and do not want a joint tenancy

everywhere i look online i need to pay for a template of a lodger agreement, but am cautious as i dont wanna pay for something until i know what it says

does anyone happen to have a lodger agreement or know somewhere that does free templates?

I have a lodger application form done already from landlordzone.co.uk but they dont offer free templates.

Dont need anything majorly agressively formal, but a good agreement that means if they do a runner or something (as happened with my last 'co-tenant') I have some come back if I want to pursue it.

Regards

Potential 'Landlord'

Do you have permission to sublet? This would normally be excluded on an AST agreement.