2 people living in a one bedroom flat - legal help please :)

Nubble_2

Hi there, my friend and I are looking to rent a flat but due to the high house prices have decided to get a one bedroom flat that has a seperate lounge/kitchen so that one of use can have the bedroom and one of us can live in the lounge.

I was just wondering if there was any legal reason why we couldnt have seperate bedrooms (i.e. not using the the lounge as a lounge).

We will be approaching estate agents as a couple.

any ideas?

Thanks in advance for any reply, a poor student.

Jowo_2

No legal reason that I can think of. However, landlords/agents undertake regular inspections when they will discover the bed in the lounge and it may look like you have taken on an extra tenant against the terms of the AST.

princeofpounds

Nothing to stop you doing this. In a lot of student houses the landlords turn the lounge into a bedroom anyway. So they can squeeze every last pound from them ;-)

poppysarah

Apart from the fact you will have no privacy, drive each other mad etc .... are 2 beds that much dearer? What about rooms in a shared house?

Fire_Fox

Nubble wrote: »

Hi there, my friend and I are looking to rent a flat but due to the high house prices have decided to get a one bedroom flat that has a seperate lounge/kitchen so that one of use can have the bedroom and one of us can live in the lounge.

I was just wondering if there was any legal reason why we couldnt have seperate bedrooms (i.e. not using the the lounge as a lounge).

We will be approaching estate agents as a couple.

any ideas?

Thanks in advance for any reply, a poor student.

You cannot use a combined living room/ kitchen as a bedroom due to fire regs, you might be able to use a living room that is completely isolated from the kitchen tho. Basically there must be a pathway from each bedroom to the front door of the flat that is walled off from the kitchen. You would put the landlord in a very difficult position if you go ahead with this plan and he might be able to insist one of you move out or evict you both for breaching the lease.

You should not lie to the letting agents on your application, this may come back to bite you in the rear if one of you ends up needing to claim means-tested benefits or for your student finance applications. The DWP/ council/ student loans company may not believe you are not a couple in a one bed place. If you are students why not take two rooms in a shared house? It will be far cheaper in utility bills and telecoms than a flat.

Svenena

Fire_Fox wrote: »

You cannot use a combined living room/ kitchen as a bedroom due to fire regs, you might be able to use a living room that is completely isolated from the kitchen tho. Basically there must be a pathway from each bedroom to the front door of the flat that is walled off from the kitchen.

Presumably this doesn't apply to studio flats? Just curious as you have to walk through my kitchen to get to the bed/sitting room, and there are no doors between them.

moromir

Another thing to mind - I think there are problems if there is a gas fire in the room you intend to use, I don't think these rooms are allowed to be used as bedrooms.

puddy

Svenena wrote: »

Presumably this doesn't apply to studio flats? Just curious as you have to walk through my kitchen to get to the bed/sitting room, and there are no doors between them.

yes, i keep hearing on here about this fire regs and doors in between, i watch a lot of grand designs and all these houses seem to be one huge open plan space with no doors between the rooms downstairs and yet they obviously pass fire regs and building regs so i reckon its not true