House sharing in London: is a Joint tenancy standard?

nigelanderson

Hi All,

I was looking to rent a 3 bedroom place with two mates in London on a long-term basis starting in the near future. The landlord for a house we've really liked is insisting on a joint tenancy. I find this undesirable, e.g. because I don't particularly fancy being on the hook if a friend is unwilling or unable to pay the rent. So my question is: are joint tenancies standard for people looking to rent like us? Or is it also fairly common to have independent contracts with legally independent rent obligations?

Thanks, all opinions welcome!

Slithery

Unless it's specified in the advert that you'll be renting a room in a shared house then it's standard practice everywhere in the country as far as I'm aware.

AlexMac

Afraid so; as a Landlord, I'd either want "jointly and severally liable" (for rent) as standard, so I didn't have to chase both of you separately, or alternatively, have one name only on the AST (then either permit or turn a blind eye to a second occupant.

Probably equally important is your stance; signalling to the Landlord that you are robust, reliable, good for the rent and not always pestering them for trivia. My last tenant was there for many years and as they were so reasonable I left the rent soft

AdrianC

Why is your inability to trust your mates the landlord's problem?

He wants to rent the property on a single tenancy. If you don't want to rent it on a single tenancy, then there are plenty of other potential tenants who will.

BrassicWoman

the landlord is a business person and not a relationship counsellor so has even less motivation to be on the hook for iffy friends leaving each other in the lurch.


So, standard.

zagubov

In London, your biggest worry might be a flatmate leaving rather than one staying and not having an income.

Finding a replacement could be a doddle. In fact you may need to fight them off with a stick.

nigelanderson

I see, thanks guys for the info :T. Seems like a joint tenancy is pretty standard then and so that's probably what we'll end up going with.

agrinnall

If you don't want a joint tenancy then moving into a HMO might be a better option, where individual tenancies are more common.

saajan_12

Certainly the standard, so if you disagree then any half desirable property will have many more potential tenants willing to sign a joint tenancy. However it also makes sense that a LL letting an entire property would insist on one tenancy for the whole property.
- on separate contracts, if one stops paying/breaches agreement, the others can't be evicted too
- harder finding tenants for just 1 room happy to live with your housemates
- LL has fewer people to chase for unpaid rent / joint responsibilities
- LL responsible for common areas, which the tenants have significant use of and could easily damage. If the LL can't prove who caused the damage, they can't chase any one person or the group.
-..