Lodgers' rights to have guests

zurpher

Dear all,

Thank you for your responses, especially for those who went beyond stating how unreasonable we are.

poppysarah wrote: »

Do you have a tenancy agreement? Do you pay council tax?

If it's a sep property then you can have as many parties as you like.

We do not have a tenancy agreement but rather a lodger agreement. We do not pay council tax and that is the one big advantage.

girleight@ wrote: »

http://www.lodgerlandlord.co.uk/2010/03/09/the-five-main-differences-between-a-lodger-and-a-tenant/

Excellent link!

Svenena wrote: »

My aunt's old house had an annex, a kind of granny flat, with it's own entrance, kitchen and bathroom. It felt like a separate flat. BUT there was a door between it and the main house and they didn't have separate addresses. Maybe the set up is something like this? Not sure whether having the door there would make a difference between lodgers/tenants - if OP gives more details, I'm sure people will be able to clarify the advice given.

I could not have described it better. It is the same situation with us. The only difference is that we have two doors without locks that link both parts of the house.

Slinky wrote: »

I got 'moved on' from being a lodger in a flat, simply by being at home too often (ie when I wasn't at work!) The 'landlady' who was subletting to me said she preferred her the arrangement she had with her previous lodger who spent most of her time at her boyfriend's place! Well she would, wouldn't she, it was money for storage of her tenants stuff.

Unfortunately when you're a lodger, you're at the whim of the owner, although I have to agree given that the space you are occupying is largely separate from the main property, if you're being considerate and respectful of their 'stuff' and not noisy, it does seem a bit unreasonable.

This also appears to be the preference of our landlords. Apparently, the previous lodgers used to spent all day out of home. However, they did not check with us whether we would do the same. It is really a pity that one has to live by the mercy of the landlord.

ali-t wrote: »

With both of them, it would be fair to say that I had my cake, ate it and kept a bit of icing for later!

Good for you but this does not work for every lodger. I guess if you screen potential lodgers carefully, you might find some for whom it works but, for example, in our case it does not work out.

Anyway, I now realise that it might be better to search for an alternative. You live, you learn.

Thanks for contributing your bit!

PasturesNew

I think they're tenants and not lodgers. They do have exclusive use, except the landlord is deliberately "storing" items in their kitchen as a ruse to try to get round the legislation - and probably aren't paying council tax on it either (which I bet is technically due).

poppysarah

PasturesNew wrote: »

I think they're tenants and not lodgers. They do have exclusive use, except the landlord is deliberately "storing" items in their kitchen as a ruse to try to get round the legislation - and probably aren't paying council tax on it either (which I bet is technically due).

I suspect the same.

If they're lodgers though the notice period is much easier and perhaps the OP should find somewhere where they have sole use properly of a property.

And if they start saying it's proper notice cos they're tenants then that works too.

missile

If it were my house I would give you a weeks notice.