Lodger situation

Honeylife

paduk wrote: »

Hello,
This is the dilemma: we have a spare bedroom in our flat with an en suite which we rent out. For ten years things have always worked pretty well but with the last lodger I am at a loss.

He is a nice guy, no problem with the rent but he NEVER goes out and he has not realized that sometime it would be good to let us enjoy the living room.

I am aware that having a lodger comes with a loss of privacy; all the other lodgers in the past got it so without the need to state that out some days they would let us staying in the living room and vice versa and sometime we would share it maybe watching a movie and/or having dinner together. This guy has not really got it as he is always in there plus in three months he has gone out only once.

I have tried to have a chat with him asking whether he is experiencing difficulties with living in a new city and he said that he is just an introvert and when he goes out it takes him a week to recover. On the top of this he said to me that now he will be working from home at least twice a week.

I honestly don't know what to do: I feel bad in kicking him out but his presence in our flat has become very intrusive.

Any thoughts on how to handle this?

We know the regulations in Scotland are different for Lodgers so assuming this is elsewhere.
Have a look at your Licence Agreement (you have one I assume) and give him the required notice. Him working from home will cost you and I am sure you didn't budget for someone working from home. At interview, I make it clear to my student lodgers that I expect them to be out of the house either at Uni or in the Library in the daytime on week days. Not having heating on during the day usually drives them out anyway.

The next lodger you have make it clear in the House Rules that the Living Room is by invitation only. No lodgers are allowed in my Living Room ever, its for the family only, you need your private space. Who wants to come home to find a lodger watching TV with their friends in your living room and you having to hide in your own room in your own house just to get privacy. No way. Give notice now. You do not have to loose all your privacy because you have a lodger. You need to just find a lodger that is not in your face and space.

Remember its your house not his. So your rules and you should never be uncomfortable in your house. He is a Lodger not a Tenant. If he requires a living room then he should look for a Tenancy in a flat/house.

Honeylife

ilikeoolongtea wrote: »

am i wrong in thinking that he's well within his right to stay in the house as long as he's paying? unless theres something in the tenancy agreement stating the tenant can only be in the house during certain hours but that in itself is a bit odd

He is a LODGER not a tenant. Completely different.

getmore4less

Simple

It's not working.

give notice, no reason, if they ask, "it's not working"

No elaboration, there is no need they are gone at end of notice.

sevenhills

paduk wrote: »

I am aware that having a lodger comes with a loss of privacy; all the other lodgers in the past got it so without the need to state that out some days they would let us staying in the living room and vice versa and sometime we would share it maybe watching a movie and/or having dinner together.

Just buy a TV for the bedroom, it could be mounted on the wall.

AdrianC

paduk wrote: »

This is the dilemma: we have a spare bedroom in our flat with an en suite which we rent out. For ten years things have always worked pretty well but with the last lodger I am at a loss.

He is a nice guy, no problem with the rent but he NEVER goes out and he has not realized that sometime it would be good to let us enjoy the living room.

He has just as much right to use the living room as you do. He is paying you to share your home. He gets exclusive use of his bedroom, and shared use of the common areas. There is no cap on the amount he can use them.

It sounds as if you're getting "buyer's remorse" on your choice of lodger, but due to your assumptions based on previous lodgers.

By all means, give him notice - but you do need to recognise that the problem here is not in his lifestyle, but your expectations.

Slinky

I got asked to leave a place I was lodging because I didn't go out much in the evenings. I'd just moved a long distance and didn't know anybody at that point. They didn't like me sitting in the lounge so when I was home I was in my room with the door shut.


The LL said we liked it when 'previous lodger' met her boyfriend - of course they did, she was virtually living at his place and they were getting money for nothing.

seven-day-weekend

We don't have space for a lodger now, but had quite a few over the years in our other house. We used to tell them the sitting room was our private space and they used it by invitation only. There was another downstairs room where they could sit.

Next time, make some house rules!

FreeBear

I'm at the other end of the spectrum. Actively encourage my two lodgers to make full use of the lounge rather than hiding up in the bedrooms. I enjoy the company in the evening, and as we have similar tastes in TV/videos, there is generally little disagreement about what to watch.

paduk

Hi All,
thanks for the answers.
Just to make it clear , I have never said that I don't want him to use the living room at all.
My expectations were probably different as during these ten years with all the other lodgers we were very respectful of each other spaces and would share the living room on this basis (some evenings were for us, some for them, other for sharing). This lodger has all the rights to spend as much time as he likes in the living room but it would be fair to leave us enjoy it sometime as we have let him do. The working from home thing was not really contemplated as when he came to see the place we asked him about his hours and he said he would work from the office 10-6 which has not really been the case. The good thing is that since a couple of weeks his social life has really picked up and he has gone out twice. I hope this trend is going to continue otherwise I will ask him to find another place and of course I would give him the 4 weeks notice. Thanks again for your answers.

AdrianC

paduk wrote: »

Just to make it clear , I have never said that I don't want him to use the living room at all.

So there y'go. The living room is definitely part of the shared space in the property. There is no argument about that.

He has as much expectation of access to it as you or any other occupant of the property have.

This lodger has all the rights to spend as much time as he likes in the living room

Correct.

...but...

Here we go...

it would be fair to leave us enjoy it sometime as we have let him do.

No, he has every right to use it as much as he wishes.

The working from home thing was not really contemplated

Well, you know for next time.

The issue here is your expectations, not his use.