Lodgers Agreement - a free download

Jesca

Ive recently agreed to rent out my spare room to help with paying the bills and have found a really nice girl of similar age to share with. She is moving in on 30th May 2013.

However I would like to ask her to sign a lodgers agreement so we both know where we stand. Including a few house rules!

Does anyone have a lodgers agreement which is properly written so it will stand up in court? SpareRoom is offering a £10 download but I have been told it isn't actionable by law.

Any help on this would be gratefully received so we both know where we stand and hopefully this will be a start of a great lodging arrangement.

Many Thanks

Jesca.

RAS

Hi

If you are in England and Wales, lodgers have no legal rights and even the Shelter lodger's agreement has sections that do not repesent the legal situation (it requires one month's notice on either side when the law requires reasonable notice).

I suggest you do an advanced search for house rules on this forum; there have been a number of discussions.

G_M

RAS wrote: »

Hi

If you are in England and Wales, lodgers have no legal rights and even the Shelter lodger's agreement has sections that do not repesent the legal situation (it requires one month's notice on either side when the law requires reasonable notice).

I suggest you do an advanced search for house rules on this forum; there have been a number of discussions.

Whilst a lodgers rights are not protected by statute, a 'lodgers agreement' is a contract and as such its terms could be enforced by either side.

If the terms are clear, do not conflict with, for example, the OFT's Unfair Terms rules, it could stand up in court.

But having said that you can include almost anything. A week's notice... a month.... up to you.

Personally I would have a very simple 'Agreement', and specify a very short notice period. Yes, it means you might lose your lodger with little warning, but if things turn sour you don't want an unpleasant, or bitter/angry, or resentful lodger living in your home for a month...

You can then draw up a seperate list of house rules to make clear what you expect the lodger to do/don't do. This does not need to be part of the contract/agreement. After all, if they break the rules to the extent that you cannot discuss the problem & reach an agreement/compromise, you just give a week's notice as per the Agreement!

LODGERS (Licencees/Excluded Occupiers)
A lodger (broadly) lives in the same property with their resident landlord, and shares facilities. Unlike tenants, lodgers have few rights.

The Housing Act 1988 (above) provides definitions of 'Resident Landlord' and 'same property'.

There is advice for landlords considering taking in lodgers here:

LodgerLandlord (General information site)

Landlordzone (General advice on taking in lodgers)

Renting out rooms in your home (Government info)

Rent a Room Scheme (Government scheme for tax-free income from lodgers)

http://www.lawontheweb.co.uk/Legal_Documents/Tenancy/Lodger_Agreement

Jesca

Thank you for all this info. I will have a good read through it all but I like the idea of having an agreement and a separate "Rules" agreement.

I forgot to mention I am in Scotland.

G_M

Jesca wrote: »

I forgot to mention I am in Scotland.

Ah!

I have no idea if the law is the same in Scotland as regards lodgers.

It may well not be.

Start by checking Shelter Scotland?