Tenancy help really needed

L0701738

Hi there,

im hoping someone can help me relating to an international student renting out a room in Scotland. I have an international student living with me where he rents out a room in my home. He is originally from Africa and is here on a visa. He is in his final year and finishes in May 2021. Two weeks ago I asked him if he was going home for Christmas (he usually does) but he said he wouldn’t be returning home until his course finishes at which point he won’t be coming back to the Uk. I asked him yesterday if we could renew the tenancy agreement for 2021 and if he could provide me with a date he would be leaving. He said that due to coronavirus his funding from investors has stopped and he can’t sign anything as he can’t pay me. Due to recent legislation with Covid I can’t ask him to leave for six months which means I can’t another lodger in and by that point he will be back in Africa. I depend on his money to pay bills etc. I’m worried he is planning on living in my home rent free and will not make any payments as he won’t be back to the UK anyway. If he does this I literally won’t have any money for my gas, electric, food etc and I will have to move in with my mum. 

Is there anything I can do? If he is here rent free do I still have to pay for his gas and electric if I move in with my mum?  That was included in the tenancy agreement which runs out at the end of this month. 
Any help would be greatly appreciated, I’m starting to get really worried. 

princeofpounds

First thing - is he actually a tenant?

Scottish rules aren't my thing, but in England someone living in their landlord's home would be considered a lodger (an excluded occupier, to use the jargon), not a tenant, and will have very few rights.

A couple of links below from Shelter describe the definition. Note that exclusive occupation of the room isn't the same thing as 'having your own room'. It means that the occupier can keep the landlord out. This may be indicated by e.g. the terms of your rental agreement or by physical actions, such as having a lock on the door.

If he is literally sleeping in a room in your house, that you can wander into and out of at all, then he may not have tenancy rights.

I'm sure other posters with more direct Scottish experience will come along to help, but this is the first thing to establish.

https://scotland.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/advice_topics/renting_rights/about_your_tenancy_rights/non-tenant_occupiers#:~:text=non-tenant occupier?-,A non-tenant occupier is someone who has an agreement,your landlord must have agreed:&text=which property, or rooms, you,of rent you will pay

https://scotland.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/advice_topics/renting_rights/resident_landlords

saajan_12

L0701738 said:

Hi there,

im hoping someone can help me relating to an international student renting out a room in Scotland. I have an international student living with me where he rents out a room in my home. He is originally from Africa and is here on a visa. He is in his final year and finishes in May 2021. Two weeks ago I asked him if he was going home for Christmas (he usually does) but he said he wouldn’t be returning home until his course finishes at which point he won’t be coming back to the Uk. I asked him yesterday if we could renew the tenancy agreement for 2021 and if he could provide me with a date he would be leaving. He said that due to coronavirus his funding from investors has stopped and he can’t sign anything as he can’t pay me. Due to recent legislation with Covid I can’t ask him to leave for six months which means I can’t another lodger in and by that point he will be back in Africa. I depend on his money to pay bills etc. I’m worried he is planning on living in my home rent free and will not make any payments as he won’t be back to the UK anyway. If he does this I literally won’t have any money for my gas, electric, food etc and I will have to move in with my mum. 

Is there anything I can do? If he is here rent free do I still have to pay for his gas and electric if I move in with my mum?  That was included in the tenancy agreement which runs out at the end of this month. 
Any help would be greatly appreciated, I’m starting to get really worried. 

**Is he a tenant or a lodger?**
Usually a person living with the landlord, sharing kitchen / bathroom / living room facilties and no expectation of exclusive use (ie no lock on their bedroom) would be a lodger. They have a licence, not a tenancy so the Covid 6 months notice period etc does not apply. You would have to give "reasonable" notice or per your contract. 

If you gave him tenant rights by calling him a tenant, granting exclusive use of a bedroom (ie has a lock), etc, that may create a tenancy, not licence. You can't evict except via courts, which is subject to the 6 months notice etc and you can't create an uninhabitable living situation by turning off the water / heat supply. 

Shouldn't give a tenancy contract for a lodger, or even a long fixed term licence. You end up granting extra rights than you needed and lose the flexibility of a short notice period both ways which can be important if you live in such close quarters. 

L0701738

Hi there, 

thank you very much for getting back to me. Unfortunately one of the first things he asked for was a lock on his door so he has this and I don’t have access. I don’t think there is anything in the agreement other than he has access to that room and “shared areas” such as the bathroom and kitchen etc. 

He also refused to provide his details for the electoral roll a few months ago. I had to email the local council and provide his contact number as he refused to give his date of birth. The council called him and emailed me after saying that on this occasion, because he is leaving in 2021 he did not have to provide this. He did show me his visa at the beginning so I wasn’t worried about him being here illegally but his secrecy along with not signing a new agreement does worry me. 

Thanks again for your help I will look at the link now! 

[Deleted User]

L0701738 said:

Hi there,

im hoping someone can help me relating to an international student renting out a room in Scotland. I have an international student living with me where he rents out a room in my home. He is originally from Africa and is here on a visa. He is in his final year and finishes in May 2021. Two weeks ago I asked him if he was going home for Christmas (he usually does) but he said he wouldn’t be returning home until his course finishes at which point he won’t be coming back to the Uk. I asked him yesterday if we could renew the tenancy agreement for 2021 and if he could provide me with a date he would be leaving. He said that due to coronavirus his funding from investors has stopped and he can’t sign anything as he can’t pay me. Due to recent legislation with Covid I can’t ask him to leave for six months which means I can’t another lodger in and by that point he will be back in Africa. I depend on his money to pay bills etc. I’m worried he is planning on living in my home rent free and will not make any payments as he won’t be back to the UK anyway. If he does this I literally won’t have any money for my gas, electric, food etc and I will have to move in with my mum. 

Is there anything I can do? If he is here rent free do I still have to pay for his gas and electric if I move in with my mum?  That was included in the tenancy agreement which runs out at the end of this month. 
Any help would be greatly appreciated, I’m starting to get really worried. 

It sounds like the international student is a common law tenant i.e. a lodger because he rents a room in your main residence in which case you do not need a court order to evict him nor are you required to give him 6 months notice.

RAS

Scottish law is so different that you really need to take advice from a specialist advisor, although artful might be able to help you. I'd suggest to you that your student may know enough about tenancy law to understand that getting a lock is makes it harder to remove him practically and legally.

And whatever you do, do NOT move out as that gives him exclusive use of the whole house and will make it impossible to remove him.

L0701738

Thank you very much everyone. I checked the agreement and it clearly states “lodger agreement” so I guess the only issue is the lock on his door that you have all specified. 

Thank you again everyone! 

theartfullodger

They are a common law tenant.  If the don't go when asked (politely ) then a court order will be required to force them to leave.

See shelter Scotland on common law tenancies.

Many people do not understand this.

Hopefully tenant is viewing this and can see situation (free open forum) and can 'phone Shelter on 0808 800 4444 free helpline

RAS

The presence of a lock may affect the legal situation, you need to clarify that before you do anything.

Cross-posted.

L0701738

Thank you,
He does have a lock and I don’t enter the room but equally when he has returned home in the past (and still paid rent - although I would always give him £100 to compensate for the gas and electric he wasn’t using) he has left the door open so I can have access to the boiler. The last time he left was this time last year where I identified a damp problem in his room so I informed him that I would be changing his room and moved his belongings to do so. He hasn’t left this year because of Covid but I was planning on telling him to keep his door open if he did, just  in case anything happened to the internet while he was away as this is based in his new room.  

I’m imagining that means he hasn’t had sole access in the time he has been here. I can confirm this due to previous mobile communication thankfully. 

If he genuinely was having financial trouble and he was able to prove this I would try my best to help where I could but with such a big dent in my income I couldn’t afford to support him entirely. 

Naturally if there was any way I could help him make the payments then I’d happily pass any information over to him.

Thanks again for your help. 

[Deleted User]

theartfullodger said:

They are a common law tenant.  If the don't go when asked (politely ) then a court order will be required to force them to leave.

See shelter Scotland on common law tenancies.

Many people do not understand this.

Hopefully tenant is viewing this and can see situation (free open forum) and can 'phone Shelter on 0808 800 4444 free helpline

According to Shelter Scotland a court order is not required for resident landlords who share a home with the common law tenant.

"If you live with your landlord then they won't need to get a court order before they can evict you. However, your landlord will still need to give you proper notice that they want you to leave, as outlined above."

http://scotland.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/advice_topics/eviction/eviction_of_common_law_tenants