Possible tenant may want a flatmate - How to deal with it?

manic

Had a lady look at renting my 2 bed flat today.

She is looking for herself at the moment because she needs to move out of her (ex) boyfriend's house.

She asked if it would be OK to find a flatmate after she moved in. I wasn't sure if this was possible or legal.

Does anyone have any advice please?

jonesMUFCforever

I would say no.
A joint tenancy - fine as long as both sign your tenancy agreement before moving in and you make the appropriate checks and get a deposit.

abaxas

Or just sublet to the other tennant. No need to contact the LL, but it would better if you at least told them.

(correct me if I'm wrong but it is illegal to ban subletting in an AST?)

prudryden

It is possible and legal. Have a new tenancy contract written to include the new tenant - making them jointly and severably liable for the rent and deposit. The new tenant would be subject to your approval and satisfactory references. Do not allow them to stay for any extended period of time without being on the tenancy agreement.

manic

ejones999 wrote:

I would say no.
A joint tenancy - fine as long as both sign your tenancy agreement before moving in and you make the appropriate checks and get a deposit.

I would prefer it this way, but at the moment she will be the tenant, paying the full deposit etc.

abaxas wrote:

Or just sublet to the other tennant. No need to contact the LL, but it would better if you at least told them.

(correct me if I'm wrong but it is illegal to ban subletting in an AST?)

I am the landlord .

manic

prudryden wrote:

It is possible and legal. Have a new tenancy contract written to include the new tenant - making them jointly and severably liable for the rent and deposit. The new tenant would be subject to your approval and satisfactory references. Do not allow them to stay for any extended period of time without being on the tenancy agreement.

So, say she finds someone 2 months into the tenancy. Would I just tear up the existing agreement & make a new one for the joint tenants?

If so, I assume that I would return some of the original tenant's deposit & replace that with a deposit from the additional tenant.

prudryden

You can keep the same contract as long as there is a statement that they are jointly and severably liable. Just add new tenants name and have them sign and date.
Re: deposit. Since you have allowed her to find a suitable sharer, I would ask her to sort out the deposit with the new tenant. But, if she prefers you to do it and you don't mind - then why not.

jonesMUFCforever

What would happen if second person stopped paying rent or tenant decided that it was not working out but second person refused to move out?
How would landlord evict because I assume that if she had been paying some rent then that person would aquire rights?

jennilb

Hi

I rented a property in my name only but my partner was listed as a household member. This meant the landlord (in this case a housing association) knew who he was, but under the terms of the assured tenancy I was responsible for his conduct in the home. I was responsible solely for the rent and the tenancy, so it was my job to keep him in check and get the money!

In my tenancy it said that he would not get rights to succeed the tenancy unless he had lived there for the preceding 12months before I died(!). I had the right to assign the tenancy after 12months, provided they accepted the new tenant met their criteria (so I could have left and he could have taken over the tenancy or I could have added him to the tenancy after 12months - but only if they approved).

I would say that if you want to avoid having to renew tenancies when / if a flatmate moves in then you could put in stuff now about household members. I assume you will be using assured shorthold, so you can specifically avoid succession / assignments and it should still be ok!

Jenni

silvercar

Problem can occur of the second tenant fails the credit checks.

Question is whether it is better to have one person or two liable for the rent.

I have a tenant who has moved new partner in. Rather than draw up a new agreement and to protect the position of the original tenant (ie only she has the right to be there), I have left the tennacy unchanged. The partner is a guest of the original tenant. If there was an issue and partner refused to leave when tenant left, ecivtion proceedings could be started on the original tenant which would force the guest to leave.

jonesMUFCforever

silvercar wrote:

Problem can occur of the second tenant fails the credit checks.

Question is whether it is better to have one person or two liable for the rent.

I have a tenant who has moved new partner in. Rather than draw up a new agreement and to protect the position of the original tenant (ie only she has the right to be there), I have left the tennacy unchanged. The partner is a guest of the original tenant. If there was an issue and partner refused to leave when tenant left, ecivtion proceedings could be started on the original tenant which would force the guest to leave.

What if second tenant could provide proof that they were paying part rent?