Does A Lock Fitted On The Bedroom Door Alter Legal Position?

strawberries1

Hi all, I'll be most grateful if you could point me in the right direction. My question is whether the fact that there is a lock on the bedroom door has a lock mean the tenant is not an excluded occupier?
I have rented a room out in my flat to a man who's now verbally abusive, aggressive, imposing rules on me etc. bottom line I need him out. He's lived for 2 months but hasn't paid this months rent he claims cos there's a lock on the bedroom door he's not a lodger so not an excluded occupier. He's making me very uncomfortable in my home. How do I resolve this please? Thanks.

Lionel_Thinkbag

Sorry I can't offer any legal advice here I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be along soon. Whatever he is, being verbally abusive and agressive is not acceptable - depending on the nature of this you can involve the police, has he threatened you? Can you have a friend or relative come around in the interim while you clarify your position?

Here is what shelter have to say: http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/renting_and_leasehold/private_tenancies/excluded_occupiers

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/eviction/eviction_of_private_tenants/eviction_of_excluded_occupiers

Nothing mentioned about locks on bedrooms.

Lionel_Thinkbag

Sorry for double post: http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/renting_and_leasehold/sharing_and_subletting/lodgers

Here it mentions:

What's the difference between a lodger and a subtenant?

A lodger rents a room in the landlord's home. S/he may receive some services from the landlord, such as meals, laundry or cleaning.
A subtenant has exclusive use of at least one room (usually a bedroom) in the property. Even the landlord would need her/his permission to enter this area. The subtenant may have permission to put a lock on her/his door.
In reality, there is often little difference between the rights you have if you share facilities with the landlord.

BitterAndTwisted

What's the situation: are you the property owner or do you share a rented property with this a-hole?

[Deleted User]

The issue can be quite complex and is not as simple as there being a lock on the door or not. If you provide services to the person living in your property (for example meals, cleaning) then they are in effect a lodger and therefore do not have any real rights.

If your lodger has exclusive possession of a room and has installed a lock (with your permission) and you do not have an agreement that grants you access to the room and you do not provide any services (eg: cleaning, cooking, household items) then it's possible he may have a claim to being something beyond a lodger, I believe it hinges on the question "have they created an independent dwelling" and "does the tenancy exist in this manner to evade tenancy regulations (eg: calling an assured tenant a lodger)".

If your lodger has not paid rent and is being abusive towards you and you are fearing harm then you may wish to consider contacting the police (non emergency) and asking what they can do, it's possible that if he cannot prove he has the right to remain they will remove him and tell him to chase you through the courts if he believes he has been wronged.

I'd recommend that you contact shelter (as a matter of urgency): 0808 800 4444

moneyistooshorttomention

You are indeed providing some services (ie cleaning) to this lodger. As you are, almost certainly, doing his share of cleaning the communal areas as well as your own share (ie you are doing all the cleaning of the bathroom, kitchen, stairs, etc).

When I had lodgers in (back in the dim and distant past) none of them EVER did any communal area cleaning. I was lucky if they cleaned the bath after themselves and did their dishes promptly in fact:(

Of course you may come back and say "Actually he does do his 50% share of communal cleaning. He was only hoovering the stairs yesterday and scrubbing the bathroom tiles" but I doubt this is the case:cool:. A flatmate (on the other hand) would be doing his 50% share (well...in theory anyway).

As for the "lock on bedroom door" argument - doubt he would want to get into the "fine print" of "what type of lock is it?". A lock is a lock is a lock. There is a lock on every single internal door in my place and that's just how things are (ie the door handle is one of those standard modern pull-down handle ones and a lock is there situate just beneath the handle in all of them anyway). I doubt it would make any difference if there is a Yale lock on the door, as well as the standard (integral to the door handle) type lock.

EDIT: But then I was always very aware that they were just lodgers and, if they misbehaved, then they were out on their ear. One did get given 24 hours notice to behave or they'd be out (ie pay the rent they owed me). They didn't pay (it was clear they had never intended to)...they were literally thrown out that 24 hours later. There wasn't any attempted comeback by them.

anselld

You share living space (bathroom, kitchen, living room) so T is excluded occupier. You resolve by giving (reasonable) notice in writing asking the T to leave. This should probably be at least two weeks unless there is some immediate threat. Failing that, wait for them to leave then change the locks or call the police ( but the police stock answer is "this is a civil matter, nothing to do with us")

moneyistooshorttomention

The police did turn up actually when I had to throw that lodger out for non-payment of rent (mind...I had to phone a second time and point out just how scared I was and I know I do have a good 'respectable' telephone voice and of course its obvious I'm a woman). I imagine strawberries is a woman too.

They supervised proceedings and the lodger was duly gone.

gazter

Yes their presence there wasnt an endorsement of your actions, but to prevent a breach of the peace.

Kynthia

People need to be careful not to grant 'exclusive occupation' of their room as it can make them a sub-tenant instead of an 'excluded occupier'. OP, is the lock one that means he can lock the room when he's not in it? Does your signed lodger agreement state that you have the right to enter the room or that you provide any services such as cleaning? Shelter's website might be able to help you.

princeofpounds

It would be very hard for the lodger to argue that it was a separate dwelling despite the lock. They can't cook in there, they can't bathe in there, they can't s*** in there.

A room with an en-suite and a mini hob... well maybe you are getting into bedsit territory there and the possibility of a tenant.

Furthermore, a lock in itself does not imply exclusive possession of the room. It's just a lock. That may be implied evidence of exclusive possession - for instance in the bedsit example above it would probably be quite critical to demonstrate that it wasn't just a room with an ensuite in a larger house - but in this case I don't think it demonstrates anything except an expectation of some privacy. Just make sure in any paperwork you just said the lodger could stay, not exclusively stay!