can they say no overnight guests?

paddy0192

Hi,
I'm a student and live in a rented room. My girlfriend stays every now and again but she by mo means lives here.
The letting agent rang me today and said she's not allowed to stay as it's in my contract that the room is let to me only. Which I was aware of but took to mean no one else could live at the property (which they don't) I didn't and still don't think it means I can't have a guest stay the night every now and then. No where in the contract is there any mention of guests, overnight guests or visitors. Or rules governing such things.
My girlfriend live quite a way away and it will put strain on the relationship if she can't stay at mine when she visits.
Can someone clarify for me if my interpretation of the rental contract is right and they cannot put such a prohibition in place willy nilly. And of so give some advice on how i might combat the letting agent.
Or, give some explanation of why the agent can do this.

mashmash90

Do you share communal areas with others? If so, do you know if someone has complained (otherwise how would the agent know about this?)

It could be that your neighbours/flat mates are annoyed at your girlfriend not contributing to things like bills when she is clearly using water/electric etc. I had this issue at uni but resolved it before it got heated and agreed to pay more for utilities and boyfriend pitched in with some jobs now and again. He stayed about 2 nights a week but then I stayed 1-2 nights with him so could argue that I wasn't using electric then.

FBaby

How did the letting agent found out? It all depends on what is 'now and then'. Ultimately, if she can evidence that she lives elsewhere (bills, rental agreement etc...) then that should be the matter closed.

HouseBuyer77

I assume you're in an HMO (i.e. lots of you, all with individual contracts for your own rooms and some shared areas like kitchen/bathroom)?

If it's not in the contract I don't think they can mandate she can't stay over. Does the contract make any reference to house rules or similar? Could be there's a seperate document that specifies this kind of thing and could be seen as part of the contract?

Are you currently on a fixed term? Worst they could probably do is serve you an S21 but they can only require you to leave at the end of the fixed term and if you're just there for the year and its a 12 month term this won't be a problem for you.

Are you on good terms with your housemates? I wonder if the agent found out because one of them complained about you having your girlfriend over?

societys_child

I think the main reason for no overnight visitors in rented rooms, is to prevent the room being used for "other services". Apparently this is not an uncommon occurrence.

HappyMJ

paddy0192 wrote: »

Hi,
I'm a student and live in a rented room. My girlfriend stays every now and again but she by mo means lives here.
The letting agent rang me today and said she's not allowed to stay as it's in my contract that the room is let to me only. Which I was aware of but took to mean no one else could live at the property (which they don't) I didn't and still don't think it means I can't have a guest stay the night every now and then. No where in the contract is there any mention of guests, overnight guests or visitors. Or rules governing such things.
My girlfriend live quite a way away and it will put strain on the relationship if she can't stay at mine when she visits.
Can someone clarify for me if my interpretation of the rental contract is right and they cannot put such a prohibition in place willy nilly. And of so give some advice on how i might combat the letting agent.
Or, give some explanation of why the agent can do this.

Renting a room with all bills included (where an additional person costs others more money) is very different to renting a flat or a house where you are responsible for all bills (where the cost to have the additional person over is borne by you).

When she stays overnight in your town why not get a hotel room for the night?

silvercar

I don't think this is enforceable. Not up to the letting agent to say whether you can have guests or not. Imagine if every student in the country was not allowed any overnight guests. Totally ridiculous.

How else are we to encourage our sons to keep their rooms clean if it isn't the threat that no one will visit if their room is a pigsty.

Mossfarr

How would your letting agent know unless one of your neighbours has reported you?
Someone clearly thinks she's there more often than you suggest and is not happy about it.

There are several reasons why you are not allowed to have someone staying regularly:

your room is designed for one person so you are exceeding the allowed occupancy for that amount of square footage.

Your room rate (usually) includes a charge for services ie gas/elec, use of showers, kitchen & washing facilities. Having an additional person staying regularly you are using more than you are paying for.

There is a limit to how many occupants are allowed to occupy a HMO property. Having an additional person staying may be exceeding that limit.

Landlords have to have a licence to run a HMO. There are a lot of very strict regulations which they have to adhere to - they have no choice in the matter. Having an additional person your room on a regular basis could cause the landlord to lose that licence and face heavy penalties.

Your choice is to pay more rent for a two person room or to find yourself a flat.

vuvuzela

How often is 'every now and then' ?
Are you on good terms with your housemates ?

HappyMJ

silvercar wrote: »

I don't think this is enforceable. Not up to the letting agent to say whether you can have guests or not. Imagine if every student in the country was not allowed any overnight guests. Totally ridiculous.

How else are we to encourage our sons to keep their rooms clean if it isn't the threat that no one will visit if their room is a pigsty.

Room sizes are very important.

If the room size is less than 10 square metres and more than 6.5 square metres it can only be used for one adult for sleeping only. Less than 6.5 square metres and it can't be used as an adult bedroom. More than 10 square metres and it can be used for a couple.

If the room is used for sleeping and living which may include a table and chairs for studying and watching TV the room size must be between 9 and 14 square metres for one person. If the room exceeds 14 square metres which is quite a big room then a couple can occupy the room.

If the room however, is used for sleeping, living and cooking the room must be between 11 and 16.5 square metres just for one person. The room must exceed 16.5 square metres for a couple to occupy the room. That's now a very big room.

There are also restrictions based on the whole property. If up to 5 people share the whole property and share cooking and living areas then kitchen sizes must be no less than 7 square metres but if 6 people occupy the property as a whole then the kitchen must be no less than 10 square metres.

So therefore the letting agent can legally require no extra people be allowed to live in the property for any period of time even for one night due to overcrowding legislation for HMO's.

Note the above figures are area dependant.

danslenoir

If no overnight guests is not explicitly mentioned in the tenancy agreement I would tell the letting agent to do one. Assuming it genuinely is 'occasionally' that she visits.