Number of nights an excluded occupier can have a guest

someanonbloke

Hi, I let rooms in my property to people under the terms 'excluded occupier'.

I always make this clear from the start that this is the contract.

Usually, all other problems are solved by common sense and cooperation.

However, if someone has a guest over to stay, what are the limits that I, as landlord, can place?

As a rule of thumb, I say alternate weekends is fine or, a variation of that i.e. no guests come for the month but one stays for a few days at the end of the month.

I understand that with the 'excluded occupier' contract I have final veto here but this is not the point; it's fine for the 'occupier' to have guests occasionally but not in a way that imposes on other people (other occupiers) living in the property.

Thx in advance, and Happy 2014!

G_M

I assume you are a resident landlord?

There is no rule.

It is entirely up to you to decide what you are prepared to accept.

But of course far better to make it clear upfront as part of the contract or 'house rules', rather than have a lodger invite their boy/girlfo=iend stay a night or two, then a week-end, and then not leave..... and then you have to start making up new rules because you feel taken advantage of.

someanonbloke

I assume you are a resident landlord?

Yes.

What are the rules in an Assured shorthold tenancy? Let's say I shared a flat with 3 people and all our names were on the contract with equal responsibility etc. If one of the people started to behave unacceptably (i.e. bring boyfriend over too often), as a co-signer of the contractor, what rights would I have against the other party?

getmore4less

It may be the inconvenience has a price.

One potential solution is to have limit(N days in a rolling month) above which the rent goes up for any rent month it is exceeded.

BigAunty

getmore4less wrote: »

It may be the inconvenience has a price.

One potential solution is to have limit(N days in a rolling month) above which the rent goes up for any rent month it is exceeded.

Not necessarily.

Freakonomics is an excellent book written by economists that show the unintended consequences of rules.

For example, a children's nursery that was frustrated with late pick-ups of children by parents sought to eradicate this by introducing a penalty free. After introducing it, the number of late pick-ups soared - the parents felt it was worthwhile paying the fee, felt less guilty at their delays and believed they were paying for the service.

Penalty clauses could well be counter productive.

G_M

someanonbloke wrote: »

I assume you are a resident landlord? Yes.

What are the rules in an Assured shorthold tenancy? Let's say I shared a flat with 3 people and all our names were on the contract with equal responsibility etc. If one of the people started to behave unacceptably (i.e. bring boyfriend over too often), as a co-signer of the contractor, what rights would I have against the other party?

I don't understand.

1) you are a resident landlord, with an Excluded Occupier (lodger?). So this is not an AST
OR
2) you are a joint tenant in an AST and have a problem with a co-tenant (joint tenant). What is the relevance of the 'Excluded Occupier' Q?

If the issue is with guests visiting a joint tenant, this is not a legalissue - it is a relationship issue - you are your joint tenant must discuss and resolve your differences.

(to clarify - if one joint tenant invites a guest to stay, another joint tenant cannot kick them out)

thequant

BigAunty wrote: »

Not necessarily.

Freakonomics is an excellent book written by economists that show the unintended consequences of rules.

For example, a children's nursery that was frustrated with late pick-ups of children by parents sought to eradicate this by introducing a penalty free. After introducing it, the number of late pick-ups soared - the parents felt it was worthwhile paying the fee, felt less guilty at their delays and believed they were paying for the service.

Penalty clauses could well be counter productive.

Let say £10 a night for bf/gf to stay over.


Your lodgers have been [EMAIL="sh@ggin"]sh@ggin[/EMAIL] like bunny rabbits all weekend and fancy another night of nooky. £10 will look like good value!

someanonbloke

This is not an AST. I was just asking what the rules were here.

It'd be useful to know. If I can 'prove' that AST is more stringent than my conditions, it gives me the upper hand.

princeofpounds

As long as it's clear up front almost any rule is fair. It is your house.

However, in general I would be thinking that guests are typically people who stay less than 2 nights a week on a regular basis (e.g. friday and saturday) and almost by definition are people who are there less than half the time (i.e. 3 nights a week).

If someone is staying there 4 nights a week then I would be less reticent to address the issue.

G_M

So the AST reference is just an irrelevant Red Herring.

You might as well ask what the rules about guests are in hotels....

someanonbloke

So the AST reference is just an irrelevant Red Herring.

No, because I want the individual to stay but I have to persuade the individual to change their ways and that if they go elsewhere, which is likely to be an AST, they won't get any more freedom. Of course, I don't know, which is why I'm asking.