Am I a tenant or lodger?

CrumpetCombe

The landlord whom I'll be paying rent to does not own the property and lives at this property which is owned by the landlord's parents. The parents do not live at this property, they live overseas.



I get the bedroom and shared access of the kitchen and bathroom, there's no lock on the bedroom, there is no cleaner who walks in my bedroom so you can say I have exclusive access, I have paid a deposit which I referred to as a tenancy deposit in an email and the landlord did not dispute this. There is no written contract, the verbal agreement is when I leave I give one month's notice and the deposit can be used as the last month's rent.


So if the landlord is a tenant/property manager and I'm living with the landlord whom I'm paying rent to, am I a tenant or lodger?

Cakeguts

If you live with the landlord and pay rent to the person you live with you are a lodger not a tenant. You could only be a tenant if your landlord did not live with you.

McKneff

You are not paying the ladlord, you are paying the landlords son.
The landlord is the person who owns the property, therefore you are a tenant

getmore4less

McKneff wrote: »

You are not paying the ladlord, you are paying the landlords son.
The landlord is the person who owns the property, therefore you are a tenant

what you have said is if you rent(ie not owner) somewhere and take someone in they are a tenant not your lodger?

That is going to be news to a lot of people.

G_M

McKneff wrote: »

You are not paying the ladlord, you are paying the landlords son.
The landlord is the person who owns the property, therefore you are a tenant

This is completely wrong.

There are 2 landlords.

The owner of the property is their son's landlord. The son is their tenant.

The son is your landlord. You are the son's lodger.


(as an aside, and irrelavant to you, one hopes that the overseas owner is complying with their landlord obligations - often where their tenant is a relative, as here, things are done somewhat informally.......
* HMRC informed rent is paid direct to overseas LL?
* address in UK provided to tenant for 'serving notices'?
* gas report? Gov leaflet? EPC? etc)


But none of that affects your relationship with your landlord.

CrumpetCombe

Does it make a different if the landlord self-proclaimed to be the landlord when advertising the available room in this property? The advert does not state specifically if the room is for a tenant or lodger, and does it make a difference if the landlord did not dispute my use of the words tenancy deposit? I was not corrected and told it's actually a lodger's deposit.


It's only when I viewed the property did the landlord state the property is actually owned by the parents.


And what happens if the parents die in the next year and the landlord then inherits the property? If I'm assuming even if I'm classed as a tenant I can downgrade to a lodger in such circumstance? :eek:

Cakeguts

CrumpetCombe wrote: »

Does it make a different if the landlord self-proclaimed to be the landlord when advertising the available room in this property? The advert does not state specifically if the room is for a tenant or lodger, and does it make a difference if the landlord did not dispute my use of the words tenancy deposit? I was not corrected and told it's actually a lodger's deposit.


It's only when I viewed the property did the landlord state the property is actually owned by the parents.


And what happens if the parents die in the next year and the landlord then inherits the property? If I'm assuming even if I'm classed as a tenant I can downgrade to a lodger in such circumstance? :eek:

You aren't a tenant. Your landlord is the person you pay your rent to. You say that this is the person who is the owner's son. The son is your landlord and because you live with him you are his lodger.



Have a think about this. People who rent a council house can have lodgers. So the council owns the house but the tenant who rents from the council can rent a room to a lodger. This is very similar to your situation. The lodgers in the council house don't become tenants just because the council owns the property they are still only lodgers.


You are a lodger in this property. You can't be downgraded to a lodger from a tenant because you aren't a tenant you are already a lodger. You may have been told that the deposit was a tenant's deposit but that is because someone has used the wrong description of it. That doesn't make you into a tenant you are still a lodger.

zagubov

You're obviously a lodger. You may have mistakenly referred to your deposit as a tenant's deposit but that's just an honest mistake you made. The landlord's parents have duties to their son as a tenant whether or not they're charging him rent.

If the landlord's parents die, you don't change from being a lodger. The shared facilities is another indication of your lodger status. Not having a cleaner come in doesn't mean you're not a lodger.

The exception might be if you're in Scotland where everything's a bit more formal about this, and lodgers are a special kind of tenant.

onwards&upwards

If you want to have the protection of being a tenant you’ll need to look elsewhere, for a room in a HMO or a flat share where all residents are on the tenancy agreement.

G_M

and just to be clear, it is the actual circumstances of the situation that determine whether you are a tenant or lodger, not the words used.


* Use of the term 'tenant deposit' does not make you a tenant.
* Failure by your landlord to correct this to 'lodger deposit' does not make you a tenant.
* In the advert, your landlord (this was the son, yes?) appears to have correctly 'self-proclaimed' himself to be your landlord. Whether he advertised for a lodger or a tenant (had he done so) would have made no difference. The circumstances make you a lodger, not the content of any advert, or indeed the wording in any contract.


The only way you could now become a tenant would be if your landlord, the son, moved out, leaving you in exclusive occupationof the property.

00ec25

McKneff wrote: »

You are not paying the ladlord, you are paying the landlords son.
The landlord is the person who owns the property, therefore you are a tenant

you cannot make such an assertion when OP has categorically stated he pays the resident LL (the son)

the son has a lodger

the fact the parents own the property does not make them the LL of the OP.