Lodger

quinn987

Hi, would like to know some advice on my situation. I currently have a lodger in my house. The original agreement ended in February and I told her it Jan that I wanted to stop renting the room out. However, she wanted to stay until she finished buying her house (she was actively looking at that point). Therefore, I agreed to let her stay until June the latest. My mistake at this stage was that I didn't tell her I was only willing to let her stay until June if the house buying is going on. She found a house and started the process late Jan so I thought all was good and she would be leaving by late March - mid April.

Then Covid happened so the house buying is now on pause. One week before the lock down, she told me her parents were asking her if she would want to come back and I told her I would be happy for her to move. However, she didn't move and now we are in a lock down. I am becoming increasingly worried because my underlying condition makes me a high risk individual and I told her she needs to be more careful. Nevertheless, she has not really been on board like not washing her hands when coming in etc. Can I ask her to move out following the Government's advice to separate a high risk individual? She is obviously not going to be homeless as her parents already offered her a place but I don't know if I can legally ask her to move out during this stage and that I already agreed that she can move out in June? I might be a bit over the top but having her in the house really worries me. I am constantly sanitising everything and avoiding to be in the same places with her, which I think is very restrictive for me given that it is my house after all. 

Thanks for any thoughts on this.

MovingForwards

She's a lodger, very limited rights.
What notice period is in your agreement?

quinn987

MovingForwards said:

She's a lodger, very limited rights.
What notice period is in your agreement?

The notice period is 1 month in the original agreement. But we didn't have any written agreement after the original one ended in Feb. It was just a verbal agreement that she would move out in June. 

Slithery

You need to give her 1 months notice.
Why on earth did you set such a long notice period in the first place?

quinn987

angelica_sweden said:

Hi, I had a similar situation, but instead of writing here I wrote on my Facebook status: How to get rid of my awful subletter during Covid-19? and got crucified by FB activists. And honestly I would never do that, I know It makes me sound like a horrible human being, but you haven't met my subletter! Literally the personification of evil! I understand why people divorce during the crisis, I mean I was mostly out of the house before and never had contact with her, but I now understand why her roommate wanted a separate place... Anyway long story short, after I apologized to all Facebook, I tried calling the police, but they told me it was not a real emergency, to contact my landlord. My landlord told me it was my problem, not to be late with the rent, I tried legal help. Lawyers were to expensive, eviction helpers as well, I mean I needed someone just to get it done, but not overprice me... So I went with a sublet recovery company that specializes in subletting, you can check them out I will send you the website, they are very fast, and it will be worth it. Everything got resolved in 2 weeks. I was hesitant whether to comment on your post, I'm a bit socially damaged after the Facebook witch-hunt, but I felt this might help, it did for me.

Sorry that this happened to you and thanks for the advice.

greatcrested

quinn987 said:

MovingForwards said:

She's a lodger, very limited rights.
What notice period is in your agreement?

The notice period is 1 month in the original agreement. But we didn't have any written agreement after the original one ended in Feb. It was just a verbal agreement that she would move out in June. 

Well arguably you agreed contractually to a fixed term till June. Or was the agreement that she could leave at any time up till June, perhaps subject to her giving you notice? As I was not present at the conversation, it's hard to be sure.

Of course, oral contracts can be disputed and memories can be unreliable!

Perhaps safer to assume the original 1 month notice applies (hough why you specfied such a long period is a mystery!).

elsien

angelica_sweden said:

Hi, I had a similar situation, but instead of writing here I wrote on my Facebook status: How to get rid of my awful subletter during Covid-19? and got crucified by FB activists. And honestly I would never do that, I know It makes me sound like a horrible human being, but you haven't met my subletter! Literally the personification of evil! I understand why people divorce during the crisis, I mean I was mostly out of the house before and never had contact with her, but I now understand why her roommate wanted a separate place... Anyway long story short, after I apologized to all Facebook, I tried calling the police, but they told me it was not a real emergency, to contact my landlord. My landlord told me it was my problem, not to be late with the rent, I tried legal help. Lawyers were to expensive, eviction helpers as well, I mean I needed someone just to get it done, but not overprice me... So I went with a sublet recovery company that specializes in subletting, you can check them out I will send you the website, they are very fast, and it will be worth it. Everything got resolved in 2 weeks. I was hesitant whether to comment on your post, I'm a bit socially damaged after the Facebook witch-hunt, but I felt this might help, it did for me.

Subletting is completely different to having a lodger.
You don't need any specialist companies or website by people spamming the board touting for business. 

quinn987

Slithery said:

You need to give her 1 months notice.
Why on earth did you set such a long notice period in the first place?

Thank you so probably I need to accept that I have to wait at least 1 month then.

I was trying to be reasonable. I was thinking if she started the house process in Jan (which she did) she would have already moved out well before June. So I think if I was adamant on her moving out in Feb then she will basically have 2-4 months not knowing where to stay because every let I know is min 6 months. 

quinn987

greatcrested said:

quinn987 said:

MovingForwards said:

She's a lodger, very limited rights.
What notice period is in your agreement?

The notice period is 1 month in the original agreement. But we didn't have any written agreement after the original one ended in Feb. It was just a verbal agreement that she would move out in June. 

Well arguably you agreed contractually to a fixed term till June. Or was the agreement that she could leave at any time up till June, perhaps subject to her giving you notice? As I was not present at the conversation, it's hard to be sure.

Of course, oral contracts can be disputed and memories can be unreliable!

Perhaps safer to assume the original 1 month notice applies (hough why you specfied such a long period is a mystery!).

It was something along the lines that she can move out anytime after Feb but the latest would be June. I greatly regret that I didn't put anything in writing.

And isn't 1 month required? I thought it is the minimum notice period applicable to every lodgers and tenants ie. you can set a longer than 1 month notice but it has to be at least 1 month? 

elsien

quinn987 said:

greatcrested said:

quinn987 said:

MovingForwards said:

She's a lodger, very limited rights.
What notice period is in your agreement?

The notice period is 1 month in the original agreement. But we didn't have any written agreement after the original one ended in Feb. It was just a verbal agreement that she would move out in June. 

Well arguably you agreed contractually to a fixed term till June. Or was the agreement that she could leave at any time up till June, perhaps subject to her giving you notice? As I was not present at the conversation, it's hard to be sure.

Of course, oral contracts can be disputed and memories can be unreliable!

Perhaps safer to assume the original 1 month notice applies (hough why you specfied such a long period is a mystery!).

It was something along the lines that she can move out anytime after Feb but the latest would be June. I greatly regret that I didn't put anything in writing.

And isn't 1 month required? I thought it is the minimum notice period applicable to every lodgers and tenants ie. you can set a longer than 1 month notice but it has to be at least 1 month? 

With lodgers it's reasonable notice. No specific time period. So if they pay weekly, a weeks notice could be reasonable. 

[Deleted User]

Get her to watch the Channel 4 programme that was just on, and tell her she has to abide by all their recommendations if she wants to stay till June!  (In other words be a cleaning obsessive).   If not, she has to hop it!   Kick her out with 48 hours notice and let her whistle/sue if she doesn't like it.

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/coronavirus-how-clean-is-your-house/episode-guide/

I cannot imagine you will face any consequences in light of the current pandemic if you just make her move out in the next few days.