when to complain about guests to landlord

atarisrocks

my bf lives in a house share and one of the people who lives there is having her mother move in for what she says is a short while
last time she had family over her sister stayed for almost 8 weeks and stole food and a whole tube of toothpaste and i suspect £5 i left on my bf desk.
none of this girl family speak english so wont say a word to you as they barge pass to use the sink and one time almost ripped the door off the hinge when the toilet door was locked and i was shouting im in there also they dont understand that people have their own personal space and items.
my bf is worried her mother will be moving in until end of january as this is when she is aiming to be living in england.
my bf has explained that he is not happy with this situation as he dont mind a few nights as everyone has guest a few nights (i stay once a week) but a week plus is too much and will put strain on the household of 4 people 5 when her mum there (one bathroom with toilet in the same room, one small fridge freezer and small kitchen that fit 2 people max).
her reaction was to say is it only a short while so she cant understand why people are upset about this.
my bf is having a few friends over for one night for his birthday and asked for the living room for around 2 hours but she didnt like this idea as she wants to watch polish films with her mum.
my bf is going to complain to his landlord after the first week (earlier if stuff goes missing again) or should he tell his landlord now before her mum comes.
her mum is coming friday night/saturday morning and they were told about this sunday

sirmosh

If she has someone staying for more than a few days then she should be paying more rent, that's an extra person using all the shared areas of the house, increasing utility bills and various other drains on the household. It sounds like a horrible situation and hopefully the landlord will put their foot down.

atarisrocks

so do you think it better to let her stay a week as she coming all the way from poland before complaining or tell the landlord today so he can sort it out and this gives her mum a few days to find a hotel

BigAunty

There may be two responses from the landlord - serving notice on the tenant because they do not like the idea of long stay guests alienating the other tenants - or ignoring the complaint. Many landlords will not involve themselves in personal disputes between tenants.

What sort of tenancy does he and the other tenants have? Are they on individual agreements or a joint one together? Do they share a fixed term contract and if so when does it end? Is it in England/Wales or Scotland?

Might be worth checking on the local council website if the property is supposed to be registered with them a HMO (house of multiple occupancy) but mandatory licensing only usually covers a small amount of properties, much larger than this.

atarisrocks

it in england and i think it individual as each tenant sign their own contract when they move in and everyone on a monthly rolling contract. it not need to be a hmo when there is 4 people only after 5 people in my area. also the landlord pays the bill so this might cause him to react to someone living for weeks rent free

BitterAndTwisted

I doubt the landlord will relish becoming embroiled in their tenant's difficulties or disagreements: this is really something your b/f and the other tenants should sort out between themselves.

Meanwhile he should be thinking of strategies to make this cuckoo in the nest as unwelcome as possible. Like charging them the equivalent of 20% of the current rent and utility bills.

heretolearn_2

'i stay once a week'

so you live there for 52 nights a year - basically a month and a half in total. A month and a half! Without paying extra rent or anything towards the utilities/hot water/supplies etc you use...?

In that case I think your bf has a cheek complaining about someone staying for a week.

atarisrocks

i dont pay rent but i clean their kitchen 3 times a week and their living room once a week and buy shared item such as toilet rolls and cleaning products as this has been the agreement

also it probably wont be a week it be around 2 months again

dorisday

I wouldnt be having any of it. just tell her its not on a couple of nights is ok but any longer then if all agreeable she gets charged an equal share. If everyone doesnt agree to her staying then she stays in a hotel. Sorted.

thegirlintheattic

IMHO I don't think a week is too long for someone's family member who is coming from abroad. Over Christmas at my old halls two international students had people over for two weeks and it was fine, and we understood.

If she is still there after the week her daughter has said then you can contact the LL, be be aware he may just ignore it or he may just serve notice on the lot of them.

Have you added up all the time you are there, not just the night's you stay over, and I'm sure his flatmate will have something to say about it.

Annisele

atarisrocks wrote: »

i dont pay rent but i clean their kitchen 3 times a week and their living room once a week and buy shared item such as toilet rolls and cleaning products as this has been the agreement

In that case, whilst you might not stay over more than once a week you're clearly there at least three times a week. I do think your boyfriend has a bit of a cheek to complain about somebody else's one week stay in those circumstances!

If you do complain to the LL, he might want to stay out of it completely. However, he might take the view "this is the last straw, I'm fed up of them all arguing over this, no overnight guests for anybody ever" - and that would hurt you more than it hurt your boyfriend's housemate. (I'm not convinced the LL would be able to ban your boyfriend from having overnight guests - but if he can't, then he probably can't ban the housemate from doing so either).