Can a Landlord do this

Legacy_user

Hi,

I live in a house-share, I rent a room in a 4 bed property.....

We have a double-garage. The landlord has decided they want to rent out half the garage to someone else. They want to partition half of it off.

We are all easy-going and we have all just accepted it. Only one of us really stores anything in the garage....

But now she wants to put our rent up too. So this has now annoyed us. We have been totally accepting to the landlord to take half the garage away from us and have sometime in the near future - a stranger storing their car in it......

The landlord will obviously be getting extra rent from the lease of the garage. But still wants to put our rent up also.

I totally understand the landlord can put the rent up.....but can the landlord legally take half the garage away from us?

The tenancy agreement is pretty basic and doesn't say anything about whether they can or can't take part of the house away from us. But common sense tells me that this cannot be within the law. When we all moved into the house, it was pretty clear that 'communal areas' - areas that were included with the house would be everything other than other people's bedrooms.

If the landlord can take the garage away from us.....then what next - the garden?, the driveway.....etc etc....


Can anyone let me know whether the landlord can take the garage away from us?

I they can't - then we could use that as a bargaining tool and say - if you want to put the rent up - you can't take the garage away from us....

The landlord will be getting enough extra money out of renting the garage out through us being easy going and decent people and accepting that when I'm fairly sure we are within our right to object to it.....

[Deleted User]

Is there any mention of the garage in your tenancy agreement?

I would say that the garage and the rent are two seperate things. If you were amicable to him taking half you can't now say you're not because you don't want the rent going up, they're nothing to do with each other. If he agreed to leave the garage as is would that really make a difference to whether or not you could afford extra rent?

Are you in a fixed term tenancy agreement, and how far in? He cannot put the rent up if you are still in this term. If you're out of this term and haven't signed a new contract then he's entitled to put it up, with one month's notice. That said you don't have to accept the increase in rent, you can negotiate, or you could always move out.

davidmcn

Whatever happens in a prospective new lease after your current one ends is up for negotiation - so if the landlord is entitled to serve notice and end your tenancy (and it's not clear from what you've said when/how they can do that), then yes they can propose anything they like for a replacement lease, whether that's higher rent, a smaller garage, etc - as can you.

theartfullodger

Unless the landlord is resident (lives there & always did for all the time you've been there) you have an AST tenancy (Assured Shorthold tenancy). Landlord can ASK you to pay more but if you say no (or don't reply) he has 3 options...
- evict you - he does not need a reason. Most likely using a "Section21" notice.
- accept rent as it is..
- issue a "Section 13" notice which increases rent unless you appeal. See...
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/private_renting/costs_of_renting/private_tenancies

Ignore his request for more rent & see what he does.

Did you pay a deposit & is it protected??

Does the property have an HMO licence or fire evacuation procedures up for all to see??

AdrianC

You rent a room...
Is the landlord resident?
Do you have a tenancy for just the room, or between you for the whole property?
If just the room, does it make any mention of what the common parts of the property consist of?
If the whole property, is the garage mentioned?

What does your tenancy say about rent rises?

Guest101

Is it a joint tenancy? Ie £xxxx per month and you all just pay up to the total, all 4 named on one agreement?

Or is there 4 separate agreements? Each paying a set amount?

thesaint

theartfullodger wrote: »

Unless the landlord is resident (lives there & always did for all the time you've been there) you have an AST tenancy (Assured Shorthold tenancy).

Maybe, maybe not.

System

AdrianC wrote: »

You rent a room...
Is the landlord resident?
Do you have a tenancy for just the room, or between you for the whole property?
If just the room, does it make any mention of what the common parts of the property consist of?
If the whole property, is the garage mentioned?

What does your tenancy say about rent rises?

1. Landlord is not resident.

2. Owner had an agent running the property for them. Now owner has decided they would like to manage the property and the agent is no longer required.

3. The existing tenancy agreements are individual to each resident.

4. The existing tenancy agreements are signed for by us and the agent and is month-by-month. Nothing is mentioned about common parts of the house.

5. We are waiting on a new tenancy agreement to be written up by the owner/new landlord.



If what one other person said that the garage is part of the house that the landlord can rent out to others then fine. That is all I need to know. If anyone can confirm that then great....

Just doesn't really seem right to me. When we were shown around the house when we all moved in - we were shown the garage - which says to me that is included as part of the house we are renting. There is someone in the house who stores a lot of stuff in there. And there is a driveway in front of the garage we use for parking. If the garage was to be rented out - a parking space disappears also......So as no common areas are declared in the agreement - the landlord could rent out the garden as an allotment?, could rent our living room out as another bedroom?, could rent out the bathroom for homeless people to get a shower?

AdrianC

dburford9 wrote: »

1. Landlord is not resident.

OK, so you're tenants not lodgers.

3. The existing tenancy agreements are individual to each resident.

4. The existing tenancy agreements are signed for by us and the agent and is month-by-month. Nothing is mentioned about common parts of the house.

There's your answer, then.

So as no common areas are declared in the agreement - the landlord could rent out the garden as an allotment?, could rent our living room out as another bedroom?, could rent out the bathroom for homeless people to get a shower?

Yup. You are renting exclusive use of your bedroom, and non-exclusive use of (undefined) common areas. If you want exclusive use of an entire house, you need to move into a house that you rent in entirety, either on your own or by sharing the tenancy of the entire property with others.

Angelicdevil

Do you have a copy of or could you find a copy of the original advert and see what that said about the house and garage?

theartfullodger

Your existing tenancy agreement is fine & carries on: You cannot be made to agree to or sign any new tenancy agreement:

Now, if the new agreement suits you that's a decision for you to decide on.