Restrictions on renting out second bedroom in lease?

bigbermus

Hi all
I am in the process of checking leases and survey reports on a flat in London.
The lease was written in the 1970s.
I queried this bit with the conveyencors: ‘To use the demised premises as a private residence in the occupation of a single family only.’
I asked whether it would be possible to live in one of the bedrooms and rent out the other one.
He said 'No, you absolutely may not rent out one bedroom only. The whole flat or not at all.'
I find it absurd that when you buy a flat, a clause written in the 1970s says you cannot rent out a room!
Are the conveyencors misinterpreting this bit?
Many thanks for any advice x

lincroft1710

My opinion would be that renting out a room would mean that the flat was no longer in the occupation of a single family and so I do not agree that the conveyancer has misinterpreted the lease.

MalMonroe

bigbermus said:

Hi all
I am in the process of checking leases and survey reports on a flat in London.
The lease was written in the 1970s.
I queried this bit with the conveyencors: ‘To use the demised premises as a private residence in the occupation of a single family only.’
I asked whether it would be possible to live in one of the bedrooms and rent out the other one.
He said 'No, you absolutely may not rent out one bedroom only. The whole flat or not at all.'
I find it absurd that when you buy a flat, a clause written in the 1970s says you cannot rent out a room!
Are the conveyencors misinterpreting this bit?
Many thanks for any advice x

Have a read of this document, particularly numbers 5.7 and 5.8. https://www.lease-advice.org/advice-guide/understanding-lease/

There's also some government guidance here : https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letting-rooms-in-your-home-a-guide-for-resident-landlords/letting-rooms-in-your-home-a-guide-for-resident-landlords#introduction-to-letting-rooms--some-important-principles

bigbermus

I found another part of this lease:

'Not in any circumstances whatsoever to assign or underlet or part or share possession or grant any licence of any parts or parts only (as opposed to the whole) of the demised premises'

I find it extraordinary at a time where London has a housing crisis to need to abide by leases written in the 1970s that forbid people from renting out their spare room!

greatcrested

Whether the lease was written in the 1970s or last year makes no difference! It is a term of the lease - not that uncommon. Breaching it could have serious consequences. This may not be the flat for you if having a lodger is important.

You may find it 'extraordinary', but I could show you dozens of laws I myself find 'extraordinary'. But that does not mean I'm stupid enough to ignore them.....

Yes - London (indeed the UK) has a housing crisis, and one solution would be for Pariament to nullify clauses like this.But as yet they have not doe so.

davidmcn

bigbermus said:

I found another part of this lease:

'Not in any circumstances whatsoever to assign or underlet or part or share possession or grant any licence of any parts or parts only (as opposed to the whole) of the demised premises'

I find it extraordinary at a time where London has a housing crisis to need to abide by leases written in the 1970s that forbid people from renting out their spare room!

"Housing crisis" or not, it's not absurd or extraordinary to believe that others may not want flats in the block to become multiple-occupancy flats, even if only to a minor degree. Your conveyancers are correct.

GDB2222

Whilst I agree with the above, it may be a bit OTT. If you behave in a pleasant quiet way, and then you take in a pleasant, quiet lodger, it's very likely that nobody will notice.

And, if there are objections, the freeholders will write to you in the first instance and tell you to get rid of the lodger. The courts won't rescind a long lease easily.

In the worst case scenario, you could marry the lodger.

newsgroupmonkey_

I've seen these before.

Are we saying then that 2 friends couldn't buy this flat and both live in the apartment happily? We're not talking HMOs here.

Also, what about a couple co-habiting? Or worse, a couple who are no longer co-habiting, but have chosen for financial reasons to continue to live in the same property.

macman

An unmarried couple, or two friends sharing, is still a 'single family'.

davidmcn

I guess the distinction between one household and more than one household is whether you write your name on your stuff in the fridge...